EarthBound (SNES)

EarthBound
- Nintendo, 1994, 1995 -


(SNES) RPG, Japanese-style RPG (2D/pseudo-3D - Overhead View) with Turn-Based fighting
SCORE: 90 out of 100
RECOMMENDED PLAY!
Bold, original RPG set in contemporary times that forever changed the genre


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Out Of This World!


- An In-Depth Study and Analysis of EarthBound (SNES) -


     (with limited SPOILERS)


Shigesato Itoi's revolutionary and daring vision of a fictionalized America would go on to inform the direction of the genre of RPG and inspire legions of future game developers. Taking place in a current-day setting in 199x, the story follows the epic journey of the youthful hero, Ness, and his three friends, Paula, Jeff and Poo, as they attempt to save humanity and the future from the vile, intergalactic threat of Giygas. It would go down as an historic title that influenced creative freedom and storytelling, while flirting with censorship and controversy. However, due—in part—to a poor marketing campaign, the game initially had a poor reception... but was it because "the game stinks" or did a lot of gamers miss out on a true classic?



EarthBound intro screen - EarthBound - The War Against Giygas!




EarthBound (SNES)

Do not attempt to adjust your television sets!

Upon pressing that EarthBound Game Pak snugly into your Super Nintendo (SNES) console and hearing (and feeling!) that satisfying click, as you toggled the "POWER" button to the ON position, you may have stood stupefied with mouth open wide.

Back in 1994 and 1995, the crackling dance of lurid, red static across the TV screen would suggest a poor signal—or something much more sinister. But, this is the next century and today is a new day, so don't turn that dial just yet! Just as soon as things seem that they could get no better, the reception slowly clears and a rather upsetting image sharpens into focus.

And just like that, a strident distortion of metal guitar-like licks grates from the speakers, as a scene ripped straight from the cult-classic film, The War Of The Worlds (1953), flashes:

A low-resolution snapshot of three flying saucers pouring high-voltage bolts into the deserted, main street of a defenseless town stands frozen in place. The phrase—"THE WAR AGAINST GIYGAS!"—hangs suspended in bold, block letters, just above the imagery. Resting atop this, the game's title hovers.

And if the UFOs weren't enough of a clue, perhaps the title reveals what the ambiguous box art could not: that EarthBound was about something totally out of this world... and with that something not necessarily being friendly. 👽



The year is 199X . . . Onett, a small town in Eagleland

Forgoing those fantasy lands rife with the stale, overdone mustiness of medieval European lore, this role-playing game (or RPG for short)—with its unconventional, yet ingeniously commonplace and contemporary setting and characters—stood out in striking, stark contrast.



The opening EarthBound animation was inspired in part by action sequences from the 1953 movie, The War Of The Worlds.
The opening EarthBound animation was inspired in part by a newspaper screenshot from the 1951 movie, The Day The Earth Stood Still.EarthBound is a treasure trove of references from popular culture. In this particular case, two early examples of science-fiction film—(above top) The War Of The Worlds (1953) and (above bottom) The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)—influenced the opening animated sequence. Click here to see many more in our EarthBound Popular References Galore! section.

In the most ironic sense, a game about outer space invaders and extraterrestrial escapades was grounded in everyday life, modeled after preconceptions of America (and Western society, to a lesser extent) that were projected upon the globe in the 1990s.

To be more precise: "The year is 199X ... Onett, a small town in Eagleland"—as in America, the land whose national bird and prominent, national symbol is the bald eagle.

That vagueness of an exact year invoked a kind of timelessness to the tale. This was further punctuated by the vibes of the opening, which gives off a feeling reminiscent of 1950s or 1960s suburbia in Americana.

Just beyond the planned rows of unexceptional, tract housing that caught the Levittown, New York contagion and spread across the country (i.e. the birth and proliferation of the modern, American suburb)... just past those historical town squares, surrounded by the charm of small, hometown businesses brimmed looming fears that no white picket fence or corroded statue of some near-forgotten military officer that time passed by could allay.

The paranoia of the Red Scare, arms race and Communism that pervaded American society in that era—not to mention, the struggle and fight for civil rights and equality against the prevalent, social injustice and growing unrest at home—fed into the frenzy of aliens and B-movie horror.

Enhancing that feel in EarthBound was the kind of retro-futuristic look of "the world of tomorrow"—with its streamlined, steely Starman enemy characters and wingless, flying ships (e.g., the Sky Runner and Phase Distorters) and its "better living through better science" notions with nods to Ray Guns (Laser, Stun and Death varieties (Yikes!)), robots, nuclear energy (Atomic Power Robot and Nuclear Reactor Robot) and time machines.

But, simultaneously, the contrasting touches of contemporary 1980s/1990s life made the needle of any chronometer, or special instrument that measures time periods or eras, bounce around restlessly, making it hard to fix in on an exact frame of time with any precision or certainty.

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I recently read a book titled "Our Convenient Society."

Some modern conveniences—or, at least, current, technological advances up to the time the game was released circa 1994 and 1995—were utilized to move the plot along convincingly in a plausible and realistic manner not seen in many RPG titles.



'It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood...' Or is it? There was just such a comfort level found in the familiarity of the mundane in EarthBound that helped to draw gamers into this curious, newer genre that would soon explode and take hold in America and throughout the globe outside of Japan."It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood..." Or is it? There was just such a comfort level found in the familiarity of the mundane in EarthBound that helped to draw gamers into this curious, newer genre that would soon explode and take hold in America and throughout the globe outside of Japan.

There are landline telephones (when wireless capability or smartphones seemed more like a science fantasy!) for communicating long-distance, instead of having to back-track and expend extra time to find an NPC (non-playable character) you may need to talk to.

There are automatic teller machines (ATMs) for the convenience of depositing and withdrawing money earned in battle to purchase items along your quest.

And how many RPGs supply—even now—Cold Remedy Pills or Wet Towels for their adventurers? [There will be much more about the everyday items and ailments found in EarthBound later.]

Popular establishments in actual brick-and-mortar form perform tasks that were reserved for olden towns, walled cities or fortified castles in the majority of RPGs of the day.

There are no inns in Eagleland or abroad in EarthBound, but saving your game's progress and resting your party come with the modern amenities found in Hotels.

Bus stations connect some points and provide one mode of transportation unheard of in other games. There is even a bicycle rental shop (the "Punk-Sure" cycle shop) in Twoson to speed up Ness' travel time while there.

Delivery services (Mach Pizza and Escargo Express) can rush food and/or other items to your party when you are nowhere near a shop or can store your excess items to free up the invaluable, finite number of slots in your inventory.

The local library in Onett provides a map, free of cost, that any party going out on a big adventure in the big world needs to have to help guide them. (Yes. Actual, paper maps kept people from getting lost, years before satellites beamed down directions to GPS (Global Positioning System) devices.)



The psuedo-3D street grids and diagonally-skewed vantage point of the game subtly suggests a not-so-straight(forward) or on the up-and-up adventure ahead. In fact, the town view isn't the only thing askew:  the whole game teeters on "authority figures" and "adult role models" whose moral compasses have clearly spun off-course, thus turning many of the social expectations of this world upside-down.The pseudo-3D street grids and diagonally-skewed vantage point of the game subtly suggests a not-so-straight(forward) or on the up-and-up adventure ahead. In fact, the town view isn't the only thing askew: the whole game teeters on "authority figures" and "adult role models" whose moral compasses have clearly spun off-course, thus turning many of the social expectations of this world upside-down.

Doctors and nurses in the town hospitals bring a touch of modern medicine to heal your party, but healers use alternative medicine to cure and restore, as well. (Perhaps bringing in a bit of the magic common in other role-playing titles, but also revealing a bit of the playful subversiveness found in EarthBound by acknowledging and actually having healers have the audacity to practice their less established or less widely-accepted forms of medicine (at least, presumably in a majority of Western culture) inside the lobbies of the game's hospitals.)

(Stay tuned... EarthBound will amusingly sabotage many expectations and preconceived notions, making you reconsider many ideas in video games, RPGs and, most surprisingly, your everyday life and world.)

Shops are usually the one-stop places to outfit your questers for their every RPG need.

But, in EarthBound, there are item-specific shops: bakeries; cafés where a, perhaps, not-so-much kid-friendlier kind of brew is served (but, at least, one that is presumably spiked with caffeine and not alcohol); drugstores; parks with vendors and bazaars in the game's exotic, desert locale, Scaraba; and even a multistory department store in the game's big city, Fourside, where you can find everything.

And there are even venues of entertainment within this entertaining game: an arcade for the gamers of Onett and gang members alike; theaters for the resident concertgoers to rush the stage and jam out to the R&B-flavored funk of the Runaway Five or the sultry blues of the mesmerizing Miss Venus; competing museums in Fourside and Summers with mischief and mysterious happenings aplenty; and the freak(y)-show circus that brings thrills and chills to the gloomy town of Threed.

Unfortunately for our party, there is no time to dawdle or have fun in any of these locations... they will need to rectify major problems for the townsfolk in these one-off stops.

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I can't believe I saw it with my own eyes.

In this parallel universe that is EarthBound, since alien lifeforms and UFOs exist, it isn't so improbable or absurd to believe that urban legends, fantasy folklore, science fiction, the supernatural and locales from works of literature all hold credence.

Tessie—EarthBound's version of and/or perhaps, distant cousin to "Nessie", the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland—swims in waters near where the mystical epicenter, Stonehenge, rests. Within this same area, Bigfoot can be spotted in the form of caveman-like characters patrolling for intruders.

Ghosts, zombies and other terrifying figments of the imagination haunt and terrorize the perpetual darkness and heavy layer of perma-gloom that weighs down upon the town of Threed.

There is a "DON'T ENTER" sign hanging on the fence of the town's cemetery—which occupies an uncomfortably large percentage of the municipality's total area. A joyless, permanent circus tent provides refuge from the phantasms that have overrun the streets. The Zombie Relief Corps resides under that big top, forming an uneasy juxtaposition of clashing realities where things associated with fun and laughter are supplanted by the creepy and scary.

The lands of EarthBound are so distinct.  For instance, bogeymen of all kinds trespass within the dreary city limits of Threed... even suspicious characters in hockey masks are spooked.
The lands of EarthBound are so distinct. For instance, bogeymen of all kinds trespass within the dreary city limits of Threed... even suspicious characters in hockey masks are spooked.

Place-names from Lilliput Steps to the sea town of Toto and elsewhere evoke imagery and characters from literary tales of fiction that center around imaginary travels: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (1900); Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (or its original title - Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World) (1726); Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness (1899); and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) even!

There are exotic locales to visit... exotic from the sense of the American- or Western world-centric perspective that the game centers around. Beyond the European-flavored areas of Winters and Summers, Scaraba, Deep Darkness, Lost Underworld and Dalaam (inspired by Egypt, greater Africa, South America perhaps and Asia, respectively) introduce varied world cultures to add international spice.

For an even wilder experience, EarthBound conjures up play beyond the global domain... taking the adventure from the Earth's hemispheres to the cerebral hemispheres. In Magicant, the gamer essentially steps into the headspace of a major character. His internal struggles are played out in a bizarre, physical realm of mercurial colors and unexpected constructs of memories and consciousness, of encounters with people and characters from his past and his imagination.

If that isn't wild enough, Moonside presents yet another fascinating space to play within. It is the physical expression of an altered state of mind and may be one of the trippiest gaming locales ever... well, this side of Magicant. Simply put, it is best experienced in actual gameplay; to try to describe it would be doing it a big disservice.

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Local survey shows most popular career among kids in Onett is adventurer

Now back to EarthBound's fictionalized vision of America...

Let's reset. Once again, we start off our gameplay in Onett, a town in Eagleland in 199X.

Ness - Unlikely Protector Of The EarthNess - Unlikely Protector Of The Earth

You play as Ness, who like so many kids of the day (and today still), looks like he lives a normal life. Ness wears the cap of his favorite baseball team. His family lives in a cozy house, enclosed by picket fence (presumably to keep the family safe... but quickly to realize that this physical barrier is powerless, a farce to the bigger dangers in the universe... including their nightmare neighbors, The Minches).

Ness' family consists of his loving and supportive mother; his conspicuously-absent father (who is never actually seen throughout the game, but is always present); his helpful sister, Tracy (who has a job working for Escargo Express, the local delivery service) and the family dog, King (who reveals a surprising, important, strange power that Ness possesses very early in the game: Ness' innate ability to communicate and/or understand King's thoughts psychically or telepathically!).

EarthBound's built-in battery allows for up to three files to be saved. Several options to customize, personalize and cater your gaming experience are available—like choosing your favorite thing, food and pet name. OR simply choose Don't Care and those choices are made for you.
EarthBound's built-in battery allows for up to three files to be saved. Several options to customize, personalize and cater your gaming experience are available—like choosing your favorite thing, food and pet name. OR simply choose Don't Care and those choices are made for you.

Living next door are those "nightmare neighbors" alluded to earlier: the Minches. The father, Aloysius, uses self-pity, projection (of guilt and blame) and exaggeration as crutches for his greed. The mother, Lardna, is equally rude and manipulative. The youngest son, Picky, isn't so bad; but the eldest son, Pokey, well. . .

Pokey tries so badly to feel self-important and independent. He tries too hard to fit in and to impress Ness ("You're my bestest friend. Won't YOU help me find Picky?"), yet you can sense his vulnerability and self-esteem issues when you see the behavior of and his interactions with his parents.

There is a general feeling of pity—at least, at first—for his neediness for acceptance. But, as his mischievous pleas for attention begin to cross further into dangerous stages of distrust and distress, those feelings of compassion evaporate, dissipating into cautionary concern.


                    

As the story unfolds, life in Onett seems normal and ordinary with its citizens blithely passing their time. That is until a mysterious meteor strikes the hillside behind Ness' home late one evening. (Little do they know, that that chance collision with Earth will set a seismic shift in motion that could alter the future of the world and beyond.)

As you start to customize your game's settings, you quickly realize that EarthBound holds a lot of charm that promises to lead to a truly unique experience. Like among the choices for 'Coolest Thing', who doesn't like either Rockin (Rock 'N' Roll music), a Hammer, Love, Gifts, Slime, Gaming or Boxing?!?!!
As you start to customize your game's settings, you quickly realize that EarthBound holds a lot of charm that promises to lead to a truly unique experience. Like among the choices for "Coolest Thing", who doesn't like either Rockin (Rock 'N' Roll music), a Hammer, Love, Gifts, Slime, Gaming or Boxing?!?!!

With that booming explosion, what's a young guy—restless for action, eager for excitement, jarred from sleep in a sleepy, little town—to do? With the blessings of his very lenient mother and the company of his pesky neighbor, Pokey, and his cowardly and lazy dog, King—quickly, not by his side—Ness takes off to investigate what all of the commotion is about in what will become one of the wildest, wackiest and weirdest adventures ever... one waiting to radically reset the rules revolving around what an RPG is... and can be.

Upon navigating roadblock after roadblock set up by the Onett Police department and after speaking to the equivocal, lonesome loner who lives at the edge of town, Lier X. Agerate, (What's in a name?! Hmmm...) Ness and Pokey find Picky, Pokey's younger brother, sleeping behind a bush near the meteorite. But, before Pokey and Picky can rush back home, a flying insect emerges and speaks to Ness:



"...And, in the future, all is devastation... Giygas, the universal cosmic destroyer, sent all to the horror of eternal darkness...
....

However, you must listen! Where I am from, there is a well-known legend that has been handed down from ancient times. "

He proceeds to tell Ness that he is the chosen boy, who—with the aid of two more boys and one girl—will defeat Giygas.

Buzz Buzz then joins the group, as they scurry along to get Pokey and Picky back home unnoticed by their parents. After the botched attempt fails and Aloysius Minch swiftly punishes his boys for sneaking out, Lardna Minch tragically swats Buzz Buzz.

His dying words to Ness are:

"Listen to my final words... To defeat Giygas, your own power must unite with the Earth's... the Earth will then channel your power and multiply it... There are eight points that you must visit. Make these places your own... Each of these locations is "Your Sanctuary."
...

"Before I pass on, I want to give you something... It is the Sound Stone. You can record the melodies from the eight "Your Sanctuary" locations into this stone. It is an awesome item..."

(Of course, you will soon learn that in typical EarthBound manner, Buzz Buzz can comically repeat his dying words ad infinitum, if you choose, to ludicrous effect.)

Buzz Buzz travels from a devastated future and appears at the meteor crash site to prophesy Ness and his friends' momentous destiny to save mankind from Giygas.
Buzz Buzz travels from a devastated future and appears at the meteor crash site to prophesy Ness and his friends' momentous destiny to save mankind from Giygas.

Following these events, Ness returns home to his doting mother, who ushers him up to bed with a belly full of his/your Favorite Food (one of those personal touches that EarthBound included that makes Ness' adventure feel more real, more personal or vested for the gamer).

As the new dawn breaks, Ness steps out of his house, invigorated with his worldly responsibilities on his mind, unbeknownst to a planet full of clueless, bedeviled adults (seemingly the most affected are those with titles of authority or those who are presumably-respected in a community sense).

Unknowingly under the spell of Giygas, these adults will obliviously and condescendingly try to thwart our young hero's fateful task to save them and the future of humanity as a whole.

As Ness sets out to face his destiny and recover all of the melodies, he quickly and unwittingly begins to notice that where there is trouble, that he is usually a few steps right behind Pokey. And that he has to frequently halt his task and help restore order and resolve messes that Pokey seems to be the cause of or in the middle of.... Hmmm...

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Oh... the youth of today shock me... My lands...

Creator and writer extraordinaire, Shigesato Itoi, proved that his imagination was not bound by established expectations (of RPGs, in this case)... just as the trajectory of his professional life, career and success has not been.

A man of many talents and disciplines, his remarkable career and interests have crossed over from copy writing to essays to music lyrics to acting to video games to web editor!

Monotoli and the Mani Mani Statue (part 1 of 3)
Monotoli and the Mani Mani Statue (part 2 of 3)
Monotoli and the Mani Mani Statue (part 3 of 3) - The Mani Mani Statue has some very scary effects on people who fall under its mesmerizing spell.
The Mani Mani Statue has some very scary effects on people who fall under its mesmerizing spell.

To reflect his bounty of talents, his other notable roles or credits in EarthBound alone include: Produced and Directed By, Written By, Concept Of Saturn Font By (More clarity on this later.) and Sampling Voices [Shigesato OK? Itoi].

Itoi's creative opus is an explosion of the mundane meeting with the absurd; of the darker and dangerous motivations of human nature, wrapped in the fragile, oftentimes, self-serving, specious facade of goodness, righteousness and wholesomeness dictated by societal norms, rules, principles and laws.

EarthBound strips the thin veneer of societal roles. It does so by removing the implied power from titles ("masks") and disrobing the unquestioned authority of the uniforms ("costumes") worn by our adult "authority figures".

In this case, those central figures in this social construct include: parents (fathers in particular [More about this later.]), politicians, the police, religious leaders, business people/owners, celebrities, the wealthy and more.

No one is spared—all fall under the spell of the shiny, golden idol, or—in EarthBound's case—the Mani-Mani Statue. All can fall under the evil influence of Giygas and his Mani-Mani Statue, and the crushing strain is greatest on those pillars of society trying to force or hold certain ideals or social boundaries in place—no matter how limiting, short-sighted, misguided or delusional.

The fiendish brilliance of it all is how EarthBound's cartoonish graphics; adolescent, prank writing (at times) and cute, young heroes and heroine belie the sophistication of its level of reporting on troubling trends afflicting the lives of adults and its biting indictment on society's ills. It hints at a broken social contract, one that is frayed, tearing at the seams of wealth and power distribution between the classes.

It presents a kind of candy-coated warning and declaration to the youth and future generations to be leery and suspicious of, and to not just be compliant with and/or blindly accepting of the guidance and rules offered, forced or heaped upon them by prior generations of "respected" leaders and wilted pillars of past society.

Furthermore, it is a stroke of genius to demonstrate how Ness and his party symbolize hope and the future. With all of the chaos and a looming apocalypse, they still try to save a population of adults, who remain resolute and as immovable as possible—spellbound and lost with the singular idea of pursuing their own selfish interests even in the face of impending extinction.

In short, EarthBound and its opposing characters encapsulate the ideals of a modern morality play.

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I suppose you need to have a sense of humor at a time like this.

To reach its lofty goals, Itoi's involvement in the project was large—as all of his credits can attest. However, none were more vital than his lead role of Written By that showcased his most prominent abilities: his passion for and gift of writing, clearly enough.

With pencil or pen in hand, Itoi applied a number of literary techniques to flesh out Ness and the whole, EarthBound world. Written as an extended allegory, the story is rich in witty observation, symbolism and irony.

To connect more with his audience, he used the tool of allusion, borrowing several obvious hints from current events of the day and popular culture in America (for example, the plotline from the movie, The Terminator; or song titles from The Beatles; or paintings from Salvador Dali; or random characters in towns that have a striking resemblance to '80s pop icon and actor, Mr. T; or popular sayings from the cartoon, The Simpsons; or references to the Bible, etc.).

The game's scathing sense of humor and irreverence is legendary. No one seems above reproach and good-natured ribbing.
The game's scathing sense of humor and irreverence is legendary. No one seems above reproach and good-natured ribbing.

To add a bit of sugar to the medicine, so as to take the edge off of the more serious topics and make the weighty messages easier to swallow, humor and satire were served up on an all-you-can-eat platter.

The game has several instances of puns on names:

  • Monotoli (the Monopoly board game),
  • Tessie (the Loch Ness Monster or "Nessie"),
  • Mr. Poochyfud (dog food - a pejorative term for this greedy character),
  • Frankystein Mark II (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein), and
  • the first, four, town names (Onett, Twoson, Threed and Fourside), etc.

It is packed with jokes of varying degrees of hilarity:

  • like the peculiar Iron Pencil statue and the Pencil Eraser invention that removes, or erases, this obstruction (and later, the even wilder Eraser Eraser used to erase an Iron Eraser statue??!?);
  • the rather anachronistic and arbitrary, New Age Retro Hippie, or that ever-terrifying fiend, the Unassuming Local Guy, or the Annoying Old Party Man who can use the attack, "Grumble about today's youth", on Ness and his young friends;
  • or any number of casual interactions like the pretentious guest at L'hotel de Summers and his haughty pronunciations sans H ("In this country, Hotel is pronounced "otel." ...What? So then in your country, is otter pronounced as "Hotter"?").

The engaged gamer will, undoubtedly, succumb to several outbursts of laughter... many times, coming out of the most unexpected interaction or seemingly at the most inappropriate times.

(To learn much more about the many real-life possible and/or plausible inspirations throughout the game, click here to visit our accompanying EarthBound Popular References Galore! page.)

To further raise the level of relatability in this piece of storytelling, additional tried-and-true figures of speech were explored.

Many, everyday objects—such as trees, taxi cabs, street signs, "talking" rocks, vomit??!?—are personified with human attributes, while a number of anthropomorphic animals talk (either telekinetically or psychically... or aloud—it may not always be so apparent as to which means of communication is used). These helpful animals interact with our heroes and heroine, progressing the plot forward by sometimes offering useful tips or providing other assistance. These include King (Ness' pet dog) and other neighborhood dogs, mice, friendly moles and various monkeys.

A paradox presents something on the surface as contradictory, but which upon deeper analysis, makes sense or is actually factual. These powerful tools of irony appear throughout EarthBound in both smaller and larger instances.

On the low end, oxymorons—which are usually pairs of words with opposing meanings coupled together to form new, logical or sound terms that work or make sense; or essentially, pared down paradoxes of sorts—are sprinkled throughout: Titanic Ant, New Age Retro Hippie (yes... him again), Crooked Cop (it is implied or assumed that a police officer enforces laws, not violates them) and the Escargo Express delivery service.

Other paradoxical pairings are the Apple Kid and Orange Kid (these distinct inventors are like comparing apples to oranges); rival, museum curators, Mr. Fork and Mr. Spoon; and the Giant Step and Lilliput Steps areas.

For an example that represents paradox on the grandest scale, nothing is bigger and more unexpected than the idea of children actually having the power, faculties, compassion and pureness of heart to assume the role of protector and be the ones responsible for saving humanity, the future and the corrupted, weakened adults in the tainted world of EarthBound.

At its core, the game is constructed around the absurd and the exaggerated. Hyperbole serves as a tried-and-true vehicle to really drive home themes, messages and lessons that Itoi wants to deliver.

Hyperbole draws attention and emphasis through exaggeration. Here are a few, specific instances:

  • Ness and friends searching through the countless grains of sand in the brutal Dusty Dunes Desert to find a pair of Sesame Seed characters (??!?) and a lost Contact Lens that they can actually return to its rightful owner to receive a pair of Dirty Socks for!?!!
  • a man named Brick Road, obsesses so much over creating dungeons for Ness and friends to explore that he eventually becomes an actual, walking Dungeon Man?!??

The preceding list only begins to test the waters of this enormous pool; this category is too vast to begin to itemize because of how many examples actually are a part of the storyline.

(To learn more about how many of these previous examples of figures of speech are actually based off of real-life possible and/or plausible inspirations throughout the game, click here to visit our accompanying EarthBound Popular References Galore! page.)


                    

Itoi's masterly script shone using more complex techniques for plot advancement, as well. By creating tension for our teens—by writing them into tricky circumstances or cliffhanger conundrums, he was able to employ cunning segues as a way to introduce each of Ness' friends.

Each grand entrance allowed the gamer a fresh, new perspective or pressing, plot point to play through. These divergent subplots built up backstories, thus refining their character profiles, while providing the ultimate payoff by eventually converging back to Ness and the main action. Each subsequent, new friend's arrival brought resolution to whatever problem was causing the earlier stoppage in progress.

This weaving in and out of subplots to introduce the new friends was an evolved approach, not seen in many game scenarios at that time.

These winding branches to the story—in addition to flashbacks—helped to create a slow-burn exposition of Ness and his heroic traits.

You can buy everything but 'love', 'friendship' and 'exp points.' - Shigesato Itoi's writing shines and the English translation team deserves praise for its work, too.
Shigesato Itoi's writing shines in EarthBound to this day, buoyed by a mastery of several literary devices (like puns and irony) and a sneaky playfulness of spirit. The English translation team, also, deserves much praise ensuring that jokes landed and that the intended messages still hit their marks.

After each new fragment of music is added to his Sound Stone (upon a "Your Sanctuary" victory), the gamer is rewarded with the viewing of a deeply-embedded, fond recollection that gives us more of a glimpse into Ness' life story and motivations. Even more exposition is revealed about his memories and inner demons at Magicant. These revelations encourage the player to plow further into the game, and Itoi rewards that effort by painting more nuance and dimension into Ness' character.

In retrospect, Itoi's expert writing in EarthBound stands as one of the earliest and brightest examples of storytelling that elevated the art form of game writing to new heights. Confined within tight, text boxes, the game's many terse conversations could pose strikingly profound messages to make you think one moment, then could flip instantly to deliver bite-sized punchlines and puns that would keep a stand-up comic on his/her toes!

Itoi's unpredictable script, eclectic settings, smart narrative, strong symbolism and sardonic humor hacked a trail through the hackneyed and oversimplified.

He helped gaming companies and publishers to realize that as the industry was growing up into its second, third and beyond generations, that video games and good writing could mature accordingly—all without the feared consequence of alienating the audience.

Video game narratives and settings could safely and successfully be bigger and more enlightening than simply saving hapless, two-dimensional princesses or damsels-in-distress, or piloting ships to mindlessly pew-pew-pew through waves of characterless, intergalactic swarms.

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Do you feel like you're really experiencing this great historical period?

EarthBound was conceived and written in a fertile and volatile time in American culture when an explosion of creativity across the disciplines of mass media (animation, film, television, popular music and video games) was transforming the landscape and pushing the boundaries in wild, irreverent and rebellious new directions.

(The table below () touches on a few of the more significant instances that shaped and/or spearheaded the movement of change in attitudes and popular works.)



What was happening around 199X (in real-life "Eagleland")? - A Timeline In Real Time

late 1970s-early 1980s—

Hip-Hop

Music and Cultural Movement

Rise in popularity of this American subculture and form of music, coming out of an oppressed minority, bursting with youthful energy, creativity, rebellious stances, fresh styles and expression... a subgenre of Hip-Hop—gangsta rap—gained prominence in the early '90s

1981—

MTV

Cable Television Network

Originally known as Music Television, this early channel in cable programming gained fame by airing music videos and music-related broadcasting. Popular with adolescents and younger generations, the network eventually spread into other genres and formats and helped usher in "reality programming"

1985

The Goonies

Movie

American teenagers go on an epic adventure to find a legendary treasure and save their homes

late 1980s-
mid 1990s

Grunge

Music and Fashion

Rise in popularity of this American subgenre of rock music, coming out of the American Pacific Northwest (centered around Seattle, Washington), melding elements of alternative rock, heavy metal and punk with a sense of apathy and angst

1989—

The Simpsons

Animated series (TV - Fox)

Irreverent teen, Bart Simpson, and his family in cartoon, set in fictional everytown, Springfield, in America

1990

StarTropics

Video Game (NES)

American teen, baseball player, Mike Jones, in epic adventure that involves extraterrestrials and several other similarities with EarthBound. Interestingly enough, it was never released in Japan; only United States and Europe.

1991

ToeJam & Earl

Video Game (Sega Genesis/Mega Drive)

Quirky humor with alien rappers crash-landing on planet Earth and an unusual cast of "Earthling" foes and originality

1991-1996

The Ren & Stimpy Show

Animated series (Cable TV - Nickelodeon)

Irreverent cartoon with gross-out jokes and immature gags

1993-1997

Beavis & Butthead

Animated series (Cable TV - MTV)

Irreverent cartoon about two, American teens and their mindless, sophomoric misadventures

1993-2018

The X-Files

Science fiction, drama series (TV - Fox; Movies)

Supernatural/sci-fi/conspiracy theory/mystery plot and settings leaning heavily towards extraterrestrials; "The truth is out there" was a famous tagline

1993-1998,
2020-2023

Animaniacs

Animated series (TV - Fox, The WB; Hulu)

Presented in the format of a variety show of cartoon shorts, the series starred Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, who fronted a large cast of characters, as the program dabbled in slapstick; educational, musical numbers; social commentary; parody; caricatures of popular and historic figures and "adult" humor

1994

Final Fantasy VI (originally released as Final Fantasy III in North America)

Video Game (SNES, PS1, various ports)

The last 2D title of the Final Fantasy franchise with a darker and more mature narrative; an all-time great RPG

1994

Earthworm Jim

Video Game (Sega Genesis, SNES, various ports)

Quirky, irreverent and gross-out humor and wildly-imaginative story and design features

1995

Chrono Trigger

Video Game (SNES, PS1, various ports)

Mostly teenage cast that time travels and explores unique settings; an all-time great RPG

1997—

South Park

Animated series (Cable TV - Comedy Central)

Irreverent, adult comedy, centered around the misadventures of a group of boys in grade school, set in fictional town of South Park, Colorado in America. Its cute, cut-out style of animation belies its biting satire and social commentary on a wide range of taboo topics and current popular culture.


(Ironically, the timing of its release struck just as so many of the very aspects of everyday life that were recognized, celebrated and/or mocked in EarthBound were about to be eclipsed by the advent and life-altering explosion of the internet, the proliferation of personal smartphones and many other technological advancements.

Over the short span of a few decades, our collective culture would transform into a new "normal" of unprecedented ease and almost-instantaneous communication and access to so much information (with the undesired inclusions of misinformation and disinformation, unfortunately). This quantum leap into a digital reality in such a sweeping and rapid manner feels more pronounced and poignant when we take a snapshot glimpse of EarthBound's 199X.)


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I'm glad you're going to help us, but you're pretty young.

At the time of EarthBound's release, the typical American teen would have been busy chatting on the phone (either the landline at home or at a public telephone booth), shopping at the mall, borrowing their parents' car to drive, listening to their favorite musicians on the newfangled compact discs (CDs) and cassettes, watching cable television or sports or renting VHS (video home system) movie tapes for their VCRs (video cassette recorders/players) and playing their favorite video games on bulky CRT (cathode-ray tube) television sets.

But, the teenage years weren't (and certainly, still aren't) all fun and games. They can be a tumultuous time of finding one's identity, transitioning into adulthood and navigating through the perils of school life; changing, raging hormones; peer pressure; trying to fit in and general awkwardness.

Can you imagine the added pressures of saving the world?!


                    

Teenagers have long represented our up-and-coming heroes of choice for hope with youthful expression in the video game medium (as well as serving countless examples throughout popular culture and actual history).

For instance, Link used his courage to rescue Princess Zelda, who—herself—has performed numerous valiant deeds across the various titles of The Legend Of Zelda series. [Click here to learn more about Link and Princess Zelda's origins: Read our "Miyamoto's Magic And Imagination" The Legend Of Zelda (NES) review.] Little Mac—at the ripe age of 17—challenged the fearsome Mike Tyson in the boxing ring in Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series. In more recent times, Ellie of The Last Of Us series has maybe faced scarier things.

And when things get to be insurmountable for one teen, teenagers and teamwork have gone hand-in-hand in solving bigger problems, as well.

The highly-revered Chrono Trigger (Squaresoft - 1995) made a lasting impression on the RPG genre, debuting shortly after EarthBound on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Sharing some similarities with this game, it boasted a predominately teenaged cast of rotating characters, poised to skip across time to save their world from an extraterrestrial threat.

In more recent times, a crop of role-playing games centered around high school life from a Japanese perspective (in varying degrees) have garnered much praise and attention. Some of these include the Persona franchise (Atlus), The World Ends With You (Square Enix - 2007) and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Atlus - 2019).

To a slightly older crowd living before the days of 199X, The Goonies (1985) were a ragtag group of young, misfit heroes on the movie screen and to a lesser extent, in video game format (on the Famicom (the Nintendo Family Computer in Japan) and various other platforms (Konami - 1986) and its sequel, The Goonies II (Konami - 1987) on the NES).

And no one—for a number of decades now—could or can escape the marketing reach of the ubiquitous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles... teenage is actually in the name.

This brings us back to EarthBound.

Ness—teen about town—and his friends seem to have drawn inspiration from several sources, ranging from Charlie Brown and his gang from Charles M. Schulz's beloved Peanuts comic strip to The Little Rascals television program of old (aka Our Gang).
Ness—teen about town—and his friends seem to have drawn inspiration from several sources, ranging from Charlie Brown and his gang from Charles M. Schulz's beloved Peanuts comic strip to The Little Rascals television program of old (aka Our Gang).

We've already introduced Ness, whose destiny is beyond anything a typical, teenaged boy could have ever imagined.

Ness' character arc reflects those of two other prominent, teen counterparts from American literature:

  1. (Huckleberry "Huck" Finn)
    - Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by noted humorist and author, Mark Twain

    • Ness—while leaving behind Huck Finn's raft on the mighty Mississippi River—embarks on his very own long, winding trip that will take him to towns far from home, encountering short-lived, side adventures that involve a number of untrustworthy, unprincipled adult characters, who have their own self-serving agendas and who sometimes, knowingly place him into precarious situations.

  2. (Dorothy Gale)
    - The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (1900) by renowned, children's author, L. Frank Baum
    - The Wizard Of Oz (1939) - memorable, musical film adaptation by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM)

    • Ness' plot points mirror that of the almost-teenaged (possibly 12-year-old), Dorothy, in eerily-similar ways.

      Dorothy is forced to journey far from her idyllic, farm life, picking up a party of friends with unique, strong qualities (intelligence, emotion/empathy, courage) to join her along key stops in her whimsical adventure to get back to Kansas because "there's no place like home!"

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We won because of our brains, guts, and togetherness.

Fate guides Ness to connect with a support group of friends for the ages, who are bound together for their urgent, mutual goal.

Symbolically, their "brains, guts, and togetherness" match up closely with Dorothy's companions: the thoughtful, quick-witted Scarecrow; the courageous Cowardly Lion and the compassionate, caring Tin Man.


Paula - Possessor Of Psychic PowersPaula - Possessor Of Psychic Powers

There is Paula, the girl from the neighboring town of Twoson, whose mysterious powers are known both far and wide. She hails from a strong, loving family, who runs the Polestar Preschool. She helps to watch over the younger children.



Jeff - Mechanical Genius Of The TeamJeff - Mechanical Genius Of The Team

And there is Jeff, the self-confessed "not very strong, really near-sighted, kind of shy" boy from faraway Winters (EarthBound's estimation of England). He attends the Snow Woods Boarding School. Where he may have shortcomings, his mechanical prowess—possibly inherited from his estranged father, the inventor, Dr. Andonuts—shines through.


Poo - Mysterious Prince From The EastPoo - Mysterious Prince From The East

And what of Poo, the Prince of the Far Eastern kingdom of Dalaam? When he's not fighting off the advances of his many female admirers, Poo is endeavoring to master his mystical Mu Training. Upon completion, Poo brings his Psychic expertise to fortify Ness and friends to ultimately face Giygas.


When finally assembled, this predestined powerhouse of a team—Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo—displays the right amount of teen angst to wage war against Giygas and to thwart his evil influence over the adults and sundry other enemies (More about them later.) of this game's vision of an Earth that is spinning rapidly into oblivion.

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You know, players just like you! That's right, you--the one holding the controller.

Now—with our team formally-introduced and assembled—let's see what makes EarthBound an RPG without compare... delivering such utterly abnormal gameplay in such a seemingly-normal setting.

Many role-playing games share a number of the statistical categories and player commands found in EarthBound. However, it is EarthBound's fresh approach of applying these to a more realistic, contemporary world in combination with everyday, normal items, characters, circumstances/situations and conditions that makes it memorable.


                    

At game's open, the player can perform many of the upcoming operations. Through the Command Window, the following are at your fingertips:

  • Talk to (communicate with characters and use on Phones),
  • PSI (to use psychic (PSI) powers, if available [More about this shortly.]),
  • Check (to inspect the surrounding area and containers, and for activating the ATMs),
  • Goods (to search through your collected items and to select them to either Use, Give, Drop or get Help! about what they do),
  • Equip (to select a Good to use with your characters (to wear or to hold)... with the ability to equip any number of items as a Weapon, or to the Body, Arms or Other of any member of your party), and
  • Status (opens the Status Screen that displays several details (health and attributes) about your characters)
A sample of the Status Screen in EarthBound

The right side of the Status Screen above () should look fairly familiar to fans of role-playing titles. Let's make a closer inspection to see how that list of items affects play:

  • Offense displays the offensive potency of the currently-equipped weapon.
  • Defense displays the defensive power of the currently-equipped item.
  • Speed is important in the ability to Run Away to escape situations.
  • Guts affects the frequency of SMAAASH attacks that wipe out enemies.
  • Vitality affects the speed at which your maximum HP (Hit Points) level increases.
  • IQ affects the speed at which your maximum PP (Psychic Points) level increases... except in the case of Jeff, who does not have psychic powers. (More about this later.)
  • Luck affects whether an enemy's attack lands or if you are more likely to dodge it.

This list, in and of itself, isn't much out of the range of what's expected in the genre. It is, however, under the categories of Goods and Condition where the ordinary proves extraordinary.


                    

It is during the battle sequences where many of these common Goods are used to help defeat Giygas' gang of galactic aggressors. Battles occur whenever your party and an enemy collide on the screen. (More about this in the next main section.) When this happens, gameplay switches to a set of turn-based attacks pitting you and your strategic choice of commands against the foe.

Each battle can result in the accumulation of experience and the leveling up of Hit Points (HP) and Psychic Points (PP)—this game's modern twist on the idea of "magic". Or conversely, Ness and the squad can suffer from debilitating Conditions from enemy attacks.

First, let's take a closer look at Goods.

Of particular interest is the collection of weapons used to earn those points. Actual, everyday items—and some not-so-everyday ones—bring a refreshing mix to the typical role player's inventory, making up quite the irregular stock not seen in most RPGs.

Some of the fun in EarthBound is finding, buying or collecting items dropped by defeated enemies... many of which you can find in our very real world.
Some of the fun in EarthBound is finding, buying or collecting items dropped by defeated enemies... many of which you can find in our very real world.

As Ness' offense increases, his baseball bat collection slowly moves up the depth charts. Beginning with a Cracked Bat, then Tee Ball Bat, he progresses through the minors or farm system (Minor League Bat), making it to the major leagues (Big League Bat), until he graduates to Cooperstown status (Hall Of Fame Bat, Legendary Bat), alongside all-time greats like Stan Musial, Tony Gwynn, Ichiro Suzuki and Hank Aaron... and well beyond (Magicant Bat, Ultimate Bat).

Paula has quite the selection of pans, but she isn't relegated to outdated notions of "women in the kitchen" duty. Instead, her Fry Pan, Chef's Fry Pan, Non-stick Fry Pan and extensive set of other skillets are busy busting up stereotypes and Giygas' evil designs.

Jeff takes everyday, discarded junk and tinkers with it overnight. He works on everything from Broken Antennas, Harmonicas, Trumpets, Water Pipes and Irons to that ever-clearest example of specificity—the Broken Gadget. His handiwork with recycled goods yields an impressive array of rays and beams.

Healer in EarthBound (part 1 of 3)

Healer in EarthBound (part 2 of 3)

Healer in EarthBound (part 3 of 3) - Doctors and Nurses don' always have all of the remedies to help Ness and friends;
sometimes, Healers can save the day.
Doctors and Nurses don't always have all of
the remedies to help Ness and friends;
sometimes, Healers can save the day.

Or he can simply rely on firing off Bottle Rockets and Bombs, or taking aim with Slingshots or tricked-out Yo-Yos. (What better collection could a teenage, neighborhood menace want?!)

Poo is the sole party member who holds more of the traditional type of goods found in RPGs. He can only acquire four, specific items made just for him—regal accoutrements befitting a future king: the Sword of Kings, Bracer of Kings, Diadem of Kings and Cloak of Kings.

However, the Sword is the one weapon that he can actually use in battle. Unfortunately, the odds of finding one are 1-128 (that is a likelihood of .0078125 or 0.78% - less than 1%!) and it can only be dropped in battle by the Starman Super. (On a side note: ironically enough, Poo's offense actually drops if he equips a Yo-Yo.)

Fortunately, his mystic might and manipulation of the PSI abilities keeps him and his friends quite safe.

This rounds out many of the quirky, offensive tools found in the game, but don't fret. Sifting through the team's pockets, backpacks and bags, you are bound to find any of the following commonplace, yet uncommon goods: Bubble Gum, Contact Lens, "For Sale" Sign, Backstage Pass, Insignificant Item, Pair Of Dirty Socks, Shyness Book, Teddy Bear, Super Plush Bear, Signed Banana, Toothbrush, Protractor, Receiver Phone (predating our modern cellphones, the manual says that it "Receives important calls from people like the Apple Kid or your dad.") and more... and no, your eyes didn't fool you—there is an actual collectible called an Insignificant Item included!

On to the Conditions, or maladies, now.



                    

In battle, the foes will lash out with any number of attacks to try to stop our friends from reaching Giygas. Condition describes any number of specific afflictions from a group of realistic, earthborn illnesses and issues to a few fantastical ailments that can hamper your party members in everyday life... well, mostly.

Our young heroes and heroine can suffer through a lot. (Check out the long list below ()):

  • Asleep (unable to do anything for a few turns),
  • Can't Concentrate (unable to use PSI powers),
  • Cold (yes... the common cold),
  • Confusion (causes player to randomly attack the party),
  • Crying (bashing and shooting can miss more often, while PSI attacks are unaffected),
  • Diamondization (a condition that causes your head to get as "hard as a diamond"; player is rendered useless until healed, although no HP or PP is lost),
  • Feeling Strange (causes player to randomly attack the party),
  • Homesickness (causes Ness to miss turns of attack [More about this special condition later.]),
  • Mushroomization (a condition that causes a mushroom to sprout on party members' heads; side-effects include inadvertently attacking allies randomly during battle and/or the directions on the gamer's controller being reset and mixed-up, making for tricky movement),
  • Nausea (loses 20 HP of damage per turn),
  • Paralysis (unable to use normal attacks),
  • Poison (20 HP of damage will drain per turn in battle and/or per flash on the overworld map),
  • Possession (ghostly or spectral haunting that causes solidifying and damage),
  • Sunstroke (yes... our young friends can actually get this, if they are in the direct sun and heat for too long... the perfect remedy, however, is the Wet Towel) and last, but certainly not least—
  • Unconscious (if every member becomes Unconscious, the game is over and has to be restarted from the last save point).

RETURN TO DO YOU UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS? - RANGE OF ATTACKS SECTION


When healthy Goods like the Cold Remedy, Vial Of Serum, Cup Of Lifenoodles, Horn Of Life or Refreshing Herbs and Secret Herbs are ineffectual against some maladies, a visit to the hospital will prove effective—but not as always expected. The Healers found loitering or lurking in the lobbies, oftentimes, are more successful in their alternative treatments than the resident doctors and nurses with their collegiate educations in scientific, medical training.


                    

Finally, we spoke briefly about Psychic Points (PP).

When a battle does occur, the action zooms into the Battle Screen. The combatant (or group of combatants) appears as a larger, more detailed instance of itself—superimposed over an animated background of mesmerizing, shifting shapes, colors and/or patterns.


A screenshot of the in-game Battle Screen appears when you encounter an enemy.
A screenshot of the in-game Battle Screen appears when you encounter an enemy. Note that Jeff has 0 PP - he has no psychic abilities. (Clarification coming shortly.)

In the bottom third of the Battle Screen, there are corresponding boxes that show the current HP and PP of each of our friends. (If a Condition is afflicting anybody, then it will be indicated as a symbol within the respective teen's box.)


A closeup shot of the box that shows Paula's current HP and PP. Note the symbol of an eye and teardrop illustrating her current condition of Crying.
A closeup shot of the box that shows Paula's current HP and PP. Note the symbol of an eye and teardrop illustrating her current condition of Crying.

When a team member is selected to fight, a Battle Command Window opens. Each one in your eventual party has a set of distinct commands at his/her disposal.


A screenshot of the Battle Command Window for Ness.
A screenshot of the in-game Battle Command Window for Ness. Every character's Battle Command Window is different because each character has unique options in battle. See the table below (↓) to view each party member's battle commands.

CHARACTER       LIST OF BATTLE COMMANDS
Ness Bash, PSI, Goods, Defend, Auto Fight, Run Away
Paula Bash, PSI, Goods, Defend, Pray
(Auto Fight, Run Away... if Ness becomes unconscious)
Jeff Shoot, Spy, Goods, Defend
Poo Bash, PSI, Goods, Defend, Mirror


Note the unique commands assigned to each member in the table above ().

Paula has the special command to Pray.

Jeff—though nearsighted—has the ability to Shoot enemies (YIKES!) with a number of weapons, instead of bashing them with baseball bats or pans. Perhaps Jeff's glasses help him more with his Spy ability: it displays a foe's key stats, including one PSI weakness... also, it can check to see if an enemy is holding an item and can steal it away.

Poo has the ability to Mirror—that is, he can actually randomly mimic the form of one of the enemies in combat for a temporary time.

List of offensive PSI Psychic powers. The top is Ness', middle is Paula's and bottom is Poo's.
List of offensive PSI Psychic powers. The top is Ness', middle is Paula's and bottom is Poo's.

Finally, PSI stands for Psychic and it is one of the options found in the Battle Command Window for three of our friends. In effect, PSI and Psychic Points (PP) replace the notion of magic found in many RPGs of more fantasy-based settings.

Instead of casting spells or using wands, members of the EarthBound party are endowed with psychic abilities that reach beyond the regular, five senses that most humans possess.

(Jeff is the sole member who is unreceptive to psychic, unseen forces. His special strength comes from his more scientific abilities of being mechanically-inclined: repairing broken items and reclaiming them as powerful weapons.

As you recall, the IQ statistic mainly affected the recovery time of PP for the psychically-sensitive members of your party.

IQ points can be collected and distributed amongst the party. Boosted IQ levels for Jeff enables him to invent and craft even more powerful weapons found from everyday, tossed-out junk. After finding certain items and upon reaching certain IQ levels, if the party spends a night at a hotel, Jeff will stay up through the night to repair and create the most potent and rare weapons he can use.

In effect, IQ enhances the mental capacity of our team's brain power—albeit, in distinctive, yet clever ways... either psychically or intellectually.)

Back to PSI powers to finish.

Jeff's teammates' PSI powers are divided into the following categories: Offense, Recover (deals with healing abilities) and Assist (helping the team by shielding, teleporting and doling out ailing conditions on enemies) and can be summoned and reviewed from the Status Screen.

The PSI powers for Offense are mostly based off of elemental or meteorological forces, or forces of nature (Fire, Freeze, Flash, Thunder). The basic attack levels are alpha (α) with some peaking out at omega (Ω). It costs a certain number of PPs to use each of your powers.

Beware! Some enemies can dish out psychic-powered attacks, as well. Part of the challenge and fun in EarthBound comes from developing a sense of strategy when engaging a foe or group of foes with psychic lines of defense and attack.

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I'm glad I read the book... I can't believe I didn't know this stuff.

The developers of EarthBound put a lot of forethought and forward thinking into valuing and being respectful of the gamer's time spent in Eagleland and abroad.

Picture of the EarthBound Player's Guide that came packaged with the game.
The EarthBound Player's Guide.

Before it became expected as the norm in recent game programming, this development team included a number of quality-of-living features to help personalize your experience, while streamlining time and trimming the fat of repetition and tedium found in the typical RPG of that era. (Some of these annoyances included the unavoidable and frequent enemy encounters that felt forced and the excessive grind for experience to increase levels, money and dropped items and weapons.)

Not all of the special touches to EarthBound's gaming mechanics may be readily apparent upon a simple playthrough, though. Thankfully, Nintendo reveals most of the prominent instances through one of the benchmark items that Nintendo became known for: its high-quality, innovative strategy guides. (More about the strategy guide and packaging later.)

Within its pages, many of the time-saving innovations were highlighted ():

(Bear in mind that some of these may feel crude or unpolished or more obvious now, but back at its time of release—in the mid 1990s—EarthBound made large strides and sparked ideas that would encourage future RPG designers to further refine the gamer's experience.)

  • Text Speed - During the File Set Up Selection, the choice for (Fast, Medium or Slow) can be made in the Text Speed window.

  • Auto Fight - When engaged in battle, the Auto Fight option appears in Ness' Battle Command Window (or Paula's, if Ness is unconscious). In a kind of early instance of artificial intelligence, the computer can decide your offensive moves for you. (Of special note, the Auto Fight option can be disengaged during battle, at which time, the player can resume command.)

  • Battle Swirl Colors - There is the capability to strategically-approach and attack during an enemy encounter. In EarthBound, there are three ways to engage the enemy:
    1. if you and an enemy bump into each other from the front, face-to-face, or from the side, a black swirl will swish over the screen and the fight will start on neutral terms;
    2. if you catch the enemy off-guard with a sneak attack from behind, a green swirl will signify that you will get a quick, early attack in;
    3. if an enemy blindsides you or your party from behind, a red signal warns you that the enemy will get the first hit.

  • Sudden Victory - When your experience levels are so high and you encounter some weaker enemies, you will claim an automatic, sudden victory—(YOU WON!) and even reap the experience points—without having to waste time fighting.

  • "Equippable Items" At Stores - Ruffini the Dog in the Onett shop says, "Do you see the window showing HP and PP at the bottom of the screen? When you go to a store that has equippable items, this window will either flash, look normal or become black. If you are allowed to equip an item, and it is stronger than your current item, the window will flash. If the item's power is equal to, or less than your current equipped item, the window looks normal. If you can't equip an item, the window is black."

  • Teleportation - The teleportation ability offers a creative way to traverse a lot of ground and travel far in a flash! To quickly get to different parts of the map, the game offers two, unique ways to generate enough speed to warp: by either running straight or in a circular route.

  • Exit Mouse - Upon discovering Ma Mouse in the house immediately south outside of Onett once the roadblocks are removed, she will offer one of her sons to assist you. If you have space in your inventory, an Exit Mouse can instantly transport you out of deep, labyrinth-like areas (like the Gold Mine in Dusty Dunes Desert), making for a rapid, convenient way to speed up play.

  • Spy - Jeff's Spy ability—lets you know very quickly—if an enemy or a group of enemies has/have a rare or desired item. If Jeff has an open slot in his inventory and if the enemy/enemies in battle hold(s) an item, the Spy action will automatically steal the item away upon the first usage... thus, speeding up your gameplay by allowing you to collect an item at the beginning without having to expend extra time seeing the battle through to the end. (Note that if the gamer chooses to continue the fight, the newly-acquired item will not be available for use during the current battle.)

  • Escargo Express - Calling the Escargo Express delivery service from any telephone to store or swap out items (up to three at a time) from the limited stash of inventory that your party can hold comes in handy. (Note: It costs $18 per usage.)

  • Saves - The ability to save often is a gift to grant you peace of mind. (Available when you find telephones or when your Dad rings you up occasionally on your Receiver Phone checking in on you.)

  • Calls From Dad - There are gentle reminders from your Dad (happening approximately every two hours of continuous play) asking you if you need to save your game's progress after long stretches of playing.

  • Hint Stand - The Hint Stand, found throughout the towns and elsewhere, is a phenomenal feature that serves as a kind of emergency valve to ensure that the gamer can always know where to go or what to do next, when and if the gamer gets stumped. (The cost incrementally rises throughout the game, but is well-worth the price!)

    (Additionally, the bellhops at the game's various hotels will usually yield important clues or tips from the local headlines in their newspapers, if Ness and his friends chat with them. These conversations can, oftentimes, prove useful in pointing the baffled gamer in the correct direction to keep making progress.)

  • Rolling Hit Points - According to the Player's Guide: "[During a battle with an enemy] If you receive damage that will force you to lose consciousness, try to completely defeat the enemy before your HP meter reaches zero. If you do so, you can stop yourself from going unconscious." (This is a major, original approach to incentivize finishing battles quickly that added innovation for characters' health meters in later RPGs.)

  • Fair Warning - Conversations with characters in newer areas, sometimes, provide fair warning of the difficulty curve cranking up and of the need for leveling up your party.

  • Limited Random Encounters - While still not always avoidable, Ness and his party can see enemy sprites on the screen and can evade some potential ambushes, while some weaker enemies will actually try to avoid you altogether. (Note that in some RPGs of the day, the gamer had no visual clue of when or where a random attack would happen. These invisible encounters could often prove frustrating.)

RETURN TO DO YOU UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS? - QUALITY-OF-LIFE SECTION
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C'mon, buy some of my junk!

At its time of release, the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) for EarthBound was around $70 in U.S. currency! Its steep cost came with a hefty, bundled package, though. Inside every large box, the purchaser received that wonderful strategy guide that we previously mentioned.

The EarthBound's Player Guide was a vividly-detailed, intricately-outlined, instructional book, chocked full of everything you needed to know to advance and complete Ness' adventure.

Presented as a series of mock-up, travel brochures that the tourism departments of every respective town and locale in Eagleland and abroad would be envious of, the guide is dutifully-crafted with love and creativity. It combines an itinerary that points the way through the adventure like a compass with an encyclopedic reference guide of tips and tables that covers the vast and eclectic collection of characters, enemies and items. It is all organized with a fun layout of screen captures, clay models, stock photography and witty, lighthearted writing.

So, with this level of devotion to this high-quality production, where could things go wrong?

The front cover of the box of EarthBound.

The rear cover of the box of EarthBound.
A view of EarthBound's front and rear cover/box art. Its attention-grabbing, large, unique size contained the EarthBound Player's Guide—with "Ident-A-Smell playing cards"—and the game cartridge. Accounting for inflationary adjustments, its original $70 price tag would balloon to well over $140 in today's markets, if it was released now!

Upon first impressions, the packaging design may have left would-be buyers scratching their heads.

The cryptic, mysterious box art shows a strange, spiked figure standing with very little context. (The figure vaguely resembles the mysterious and menacing robot, Gort, from the movie, The Day The Earth Stood Still.) Taking a closer look, the observer is further perplexed: there appears to be a small, smiling, cartoon-like boy (Ness), who is either: a) viewed peering down through windows, piloting the giant, golden Final Starman character from the game, like a mech robot from an anime; or b) seen as a reflection in the robot's eye/visor area.

For those more curious buyers who would take the time to actually flip the box over, a whole world of exposition opened... finally providing some explanation for the intrigue. The rear view rewarded the discriminating shopper with a brief rundown of the plot and a list of features and some screenshots for more clarity.

But, within the final portion of the bulleted list on the back, a very telling message is shared. It reveals, perhaps, the most troubling issue that plagued the marketing scheme of the game. It reads:

"Incredible 128-page Earthbound Player's Guide provides exclusive tips and important alien secrets! But it doesn't explain the wacky jokes!"

It is these inexplicable wacky jokes that may have proved serious for Nintendo and the game's faltering reception out of the blocks.

At its time of release, the social climate was one in which a lot of popular things (toys, programs, television networks, etc.) were being proudly hawked to younger audiences with a badge of grime (or slime) and a touch of irreverence and attitude.

And Nintendo's biggest rival in those earlier rounds of the console wars was Sega, who masterminded and successfully molded its image as rebellious and in-your-face—nothing like the staid, family-friendly brand that Nintendo nurtured. In fact, in one memorable slogan, Sega (and/or to be more specific, its 16-bit Sega Genesis console in North America), unapologetically, "does what Nintendon't"!

Perhaps Nintendo felt the pressure from its competition or wanted to prove it could shed its stamp of parental approval to achieve some cool points and find success in that current, free-for-all environment vying for the youth.

So, Nintendo committed a sizable amount to market its new, off-center, role-playing title to its North American audience. RPGs were still a fairly-new, niche genre that hadn't quite found, convinced and won over the devout following they would come to have there only a few years later, so it was imperative to roll out an impressive, advertisement blitz.

One of the infamous ads from EarthBound:  Ident-A-Smell - The game stinks-the free gift doesn't
This print ad exemplifies Nintendo's misguided marketing plan that, inexplicably, insisted that EarthBound "stinks".

Nintendo decided to set the advertising tone to one of self-deprecating humor. In one particularly-infamous smear, the print ad actually said that "We're Warning You. This Game Stinks." (?!??)

Each game package came with scratch-and-sniff cards. Known as "six Ident-A-Smell playing cards", they were somewhat reminiscent of Topps' line of Garbage Pail Kids sticker trading cards that debuted some years prior.

(The gross-out humor and violent depictions of many of the Garbage Pail Kids—which parodied the popular line of Cabbage Patch Kids, a line of dolls and brand, first produced by Coleco in 1982, that would go on to set toy industry sales records throughout part of the 1980s—made them all the rage, especially, with elementary and younger, secondary school children of the day, while outraging and enraging many parents.)

Paired with the various print ads that vaguely described the positives of the game, the intended audience was bombarded with conflicting, confused and crossed-up messaging.

Without a clear and focused campaign that actually informed the audience of (a) what kind of game EarthBound was; (b) what EarthBound was actually about; and (c) why the game was called EarthBound, the campaign was doomed to fail.

Going in blind (Was this game about robots? Aliens? Kids?? Humor??! Smells??!!?) with just a nose full of offensive, foul odors may not have been the best approach for a game that cost more than many other games at the time.

Despite the expertly-crafted guidebook and other costly pack-ins to give the buyer that realistic sensation of why EarthBound... ummm... stank so badly, the unfocused, scatterbrained messaging made it a tough sale for potential buyers to part with $70 (plus tax)—even with a $10-off coupon available!

(Ultimately, this steep pricing point for a target audience of minors (arguably, a demographic that does not and did not have the largest amount of available disposable income) may have been the biggest reason for disappointing sales... still, a costly oversight for the game's marketing staff to miss.)

(One final point: the value of the 1994 American dollar was worth more than double its current 2024 value. This would mean that at its time of release—if EarthBound were to come out now, its equivalent price point would be more than $140! (This data is according to inflation calculations based off of the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers in the U.S., as per the United States Department of Labor (as of the date of publishing of this passage - September 2024).)

In retrospect, if the marketing team would have just revealed what the game was really about and showed that there was more to the mystery than just playground gags and potty jokes, kids of all ages could have been more receptive and sales could have risen from the merits of the gameplay and story. In short, Nintendo's pandering to the lowest common denominator really sold EarthBound's level of sophistication and writing short... which ultimately, resulted in its reception and sales falling short.


RETURN TO DO YOU UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS? - QUALITY-OF-LIFE SECTION
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I might have a baby face, but I possess the mind of an adult.
(* WARNING: Several plot SPOILERS ahead in this section! Click here to skip ahead to next section.)

The main cast's appearance of youthful vim and bright-eyed naïveté contradicts a very jaded, world-weary pessimism of adult themes.

Our teenage adventurers are forced to face many mature topics in their everyday, EarthBound, real world. And Giygas has no intentions of babysitting; so our quartet must face their very real and oftentimes, cruel or unfair, adult world exposed with no hand-holding... a world made even more foreboding under Giygas' evil influence that seems to draw out the worst in society.

Safely-delivered through disarming, yet incisive, comedic effect and a wildly creative license, the developers stomped headstrong through the sensitive and the taboo—trouncing through heavy territory that would (and did) have many other developers tiptoeing far around.

It would easily be conceivable to write extensive dissertations or thesis papers on any number of these hot-button, sensitive themes or to even cultivate and design college coursework around them... but, for the sake of time (although this "review" has strayed far into long-winded essay form or formal, critique territory already), we will take a condensed view, touching on a few subjects or themes that are explored within the confines of the EarthBound experience:

(Many of the proceeding topics will be further expounded upon in a special addendum (the EarthBound Popular References Galore! section) that will elaborate on details that deal with the possible and the plausible, real-life inspirations found in the game, as well as additional material on censorship and more. There are so many examples below that instead of just clicking on every single instance in the upcoming topics, you can click here to visit EarthBound Popular References Galore! in a new window or tab.)

  • "If I catch you boys doing anything, I'll arrest you--no questions asked!" (Police Corruption)

    EarthBound explores the topics of police brutality and corruption.
    Crooked Cop in EarthBound

    An infamous video recording of members of the Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) beating up an unarmed man after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991 sent shock waves across the United States and abroad. For one of the most prominent times in the late 20th century, the public at-large viewed the disturbing footage of Rodney King... and a public discourse on police abuse, brutality and corruption came to the forefront.

    (Bear in mind how significant this moment truly was... and how fortuitous it was that the event even got recorded and seen! It predated the internet, social media or the omnipotent and omnipresent smartphone that many take for granted today—a portable powerhouse of a device that is installed with powerful cameras that are capable of not only taking high-quality, sharp, focused photographs (without the time, cost and risk of developing film, prior to digital photography), but recording live, clear footage with audio and being able to stream it instantaneously across the world, independent of the gatekeeping, editing and time constraints and scheduling delays of traditional media outlets or news channels!)

    Police corruption finds its way creeping into a number of scenarios across Eagleland.

    In one act in Burglin Park, one of the park's vendors admits how all of the local merchants are more willing to become voluntary victims of extortion at the hands of the local crime boss, Everdred, rather than bribing the police.

    In the town of Fourside, the police act as personal enforcers, serving the mayor's beck and call instead of working for the citizens' well-being. ("Protect Mr. Monotoli first. The safety of the citizens of this city comes second. Heh heh heh.")

    Some of the variations of enemies found in the game include the not-to-be-confused "Crooked Cop" and the "Overzealous Cop" that the manual aptly describes by stating that: "Most cops are good guys, but a few of the men in blue have agendas of their own. Stay in the shadows and out of their way to stay out of trouble."

    But, the most chilling scenario of all is when the Onett Police chief, Captain Strong, and five of his officers trap Ness alone in a room in the back of the jail to gang up on him in a fight!

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  • "Can you come visit me later, alone?" (Kidnapping/"Stranger Danger")

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    The loner who lives just at the edge of Onett—Lier X. Agerate—exudes strong, stranger-danger vibes. His generally-suspicious behavior and creepiness is magnified because of what his name implies. So, when he asks Ness to visit him alone, caution flags wave immediately. Children have to be taught at a young age to avoid being ensnared by strangers they don't know (and even, sadly in some cases, close adults that they do know).

    This point is reinforced when we find out that Paula is snatched away—not once, but twice on different occasions. This provides a scary lesson for anyone to learn—especially younger gamers.

    Additionally, there is one conversation that occurs in Twoson that points out how: "The boss of Burglin Park is Everdred. He's got ties to burglaries and kidnappings in this area."

    Finally, in another later act in the game, a number of random NPCs are abducted and held against their will in one diabolical scheme.

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  • "People in Happy-Happy Village are fanatical about a strange religion. Maybe they've got some sort of bad fever. Be careful." (Religious Cults)

    People in Happy-Happy Village are fanatical about a strange religion.

    Nintendo has had a tenuous, inconsistent history with its handling of censorship of religion in its games... especially for its North American arm. So, it comes with much surprise that such a significant part of EarthBound's plot deals with a religious cult.

    There is usually a standard of careful avoidance of mostly identifiable references to real-world religion; although, Satan is mentioned directly in the game's pack-in material: in the scratch-n-sniff, "Ident-A-Smell playing cards".

    Additionally, there is much innuendo and a lot of other euphemisms used during gameplay:

    • a deal with the devil is mentioned;
    • Ness is reprimanded and told, "Don't go to heaven!" twice;
    • there is a blessed store in Happy-Happy Village, ("(All of our products are blessed. --Blue-Blue Drugstore)")... later to become ("(Not all of our products are blessed. --Nothing Blue Drugstore)");
    • a household in Twoson mockingly showing agitation with religious parties "loitering" at their door ("I've told you a thousand times. *munch, munch* I won't join the Happy Happy Religious Group. *munch,munch, munch*");
    • there is a symbolic Blue Cow in Happy-Happy Village, possibly hinting at being a sacred cow (Hinduism);
    • there are instances of prayers, fasting, meditation and holy writings;
    • Talah Rama (Dalai Lama);
    • Demonic Petunia;
    • Poo's pursuit of the meaning of Mu;
    • Ness' Prophecy;
    • Apple of Enlightenment, possibly hinting at the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Eden;
    • Sea Of Eden;
    • fainted members of the team, appearing as transparent, angelic representations with wings and halos floating behind the party in robes; and
    • "Devil's Machine".

    Returning to and addressing the idea of religious cults, the Happy-Happyists are followers of Mr. Carpainter. With paintbrush in hand, he espouses his dogma, fanning the flames of fanaticism.

    His crazed devotees—dressed in and hidden behind infamously-conspicuous, pointed hoods of blue in this case (Much more about this soon.)—blindly follow his claims that he is bringing happiness to his hypnotized flock by obsessively wanting to ritualistically make the whole world one color (in a literal sense within the game, but poignantly-symbolic, for our real world).

    Their isolated community (Happy-Happy Village, hidden away in the Peaceful Rest Valley(!)) is secluded. A single bridge that once connected it to the rest of society, symbolically, being destroyed on purpose.

    The message is clear: to discourage outsiders from visiting and to keep out of the line of sight of Eagleland's nonbelievers and the judging eyes of society—where accusations of extremism, sickness and crazed behavior are being murmured.

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  • "Blue, blue. Hey you! Anti-blue boy! You're getting on my nerves!" (Race And Racism)

    EarthBound explores the topics of race and racism. Pictured here is the Insane Cultist, who is modeled after the uniform worn by a white supremacist, homeland terrorist hate group in America.

    Issues with race and racism within the world of EarthBound do not seem to be as prevalent as they are in America and our global scene. For all of the problems that Giygas' presence seems to intensify in that population, there aren't many clear-cut examples—if any—where characters seem particularly-prejudiced against other characters due to having different skin tones.

    But, troubling remnants of this surface-deep topic still seem to pervade Eagleland with a very real-world stench from the perspective of our everyday lives.

    Here are a few detailed accounts:

    • In the streets and arcade of Onett, the Sharks gang members appear as "black" figures that are reminiscent of troubling stereotypes from America's past. They—as well as other, human enemies who aren't wearing masks or face coverings—are described away as being "weird-colored" as a sign that they are under Giygas' influence. ("I'll tell you how to distinguish between your friends and enemies. It's easy to tell an enemy just by looking at them. Enemies look like humans with weird-colored faces. Beware of them." — Friendly Mole in Onett);

      A member of the Sharks gang in Onett in EarthBound. It resembles a racist caricature from America's past.

    • There are the strikingly-robed and hooded Happy-Happyists who want the world to be one color—which is blue in the game—that are modeled after the white of a real-life, homeland terrorist and supremacist, hate group in America;

    • The possibly more-than-coincidental naming of the third town in Mother 2, the Japanese version of the game, is Threek (as in 3 k's). In EarthBound, Threek was changed to the less potentially-offensive name, Threed, leaving no doubts or room for confusion.


                        

    On a different and much lighter note, though, EarthBound found a unique way to address and approach another related topic: interracial love and/or romance.

    In one of gaming's craziest side quests concerning a set of gaming's most imaginative and out-there characters, a pair of single pixel-sized, sentient, talking characters are involved. One Black Sesame Seed and one White Sesame Seed(?!??), separated by a desert full of grains of sand, profess their love and apologize for past, unknown transgressions.

    Actually experiencing this side-excursion in the game can prove difficult... the trick being: if, and only if, Ness and the crew can successfully battle through heat stroke and enemy attacks in the vast Dusty Dunes Desert to actually detect and engage the near-invisible characters, and repeatedly relay their messages back and forth across the hostile terrain to one another!

    Here is a breakdown of the prolonged conversation:

    Black Sesame Seed: "I wanna apologize to the white sesame that I hurt before. If I could just see her."
    White Sesame Seed: "I heard that the black sesame I used to love is somewhere in the desert. If you see him, please tell him that I still love him."
    White Sesame Seed: "Really? You've seen him already? Was he okay? ...Hmmm, I see."
    Black Sesame Seed: "What? The white sesame still... loves me?! Weep, weep..."

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  • "Meet me behind the pizza shop for a deal you can't refuse." (Gun Violence)

    Someone might be suspicious of you and take a pot shot at you with a machine gun...

    America's international reputation of gun violence, proliferation of firearms and pervasive gun culture were not-so-subtly put on full display in EarthBound. In several locations, actual "arms dealers"—as they are referred to in the game's guide—peddle their wares to our quartet of teens. Not every item offered is a gun; but Bombs, Bottle Rockets and Beams, among other armaments, are not exactly better or safer alternatives.

    (On a side note: One of the dealers, located in the Dusty Dunes Desert, is referred to as the "Desert Storm Arms Dealer" - making an obvious comparison between firearms and war, as in Operation Desert Storm, the beginnings of the Persian Gulf War that started as a U.S.-led air offensive on Iraqi forces for invading Kuwait on January 17, 1991.)

    These suspect characters—hidden behind dark sunglasses and styled in army fatigues or camouflage—are usually found lurking behind buildings and within secret rooms or shops. They stay out of sight as much as possible probably because their actions, at best (which is expressly NOT to be taken as an endorsement in any respect), are questionable ethically and cross lines overtly violating public safety and legality, and at worst, cannot be justified or explained.

    Ironically, it is Jeff—not Ness or even Paula, both who come from Eagleland (remember: America's approximation in the game)—who is the only one that uses guns in the game (even carrying a Heavy Bazooka later in the game). And it should be restated that his eyesight is not the best.

    In another scary sign of brute force, bodyguards in Monotoli's skyscraper in the metropolitan town of Fourside threaten to take "pot shots" at Ness with a machine gun.

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  • "Is the mayor going to let them just run around, doing whatever they want? I'm here to protest!" (Politicians)

    Do you think I'm important? Look, I'm the big cheese around here,

    A few of EarthBound's towns are run by mayors. Interestingly enough in Onett and Fourside, both mayoral representatives possess flawed, self-serving personalities, drunk on political corruption and ambition.

    Neither are easy to actually reach in the game to get political action moving forward.

    Secretaries, a logjam of appointments, bureaucracy and red tape, and the unethical expectation of bribery for political favors block B. H. Pirkle in Onett. ("In the next election, please give a speech supporting Mayor Pirkle. Hee hee hee.")

    Armed bodyguards, strong-armed police on the take, a surrounding shield of lawyers and shifty, political advisors block access to Geldegarde Monotoli in Fourside.

    Neither mayor seems particularly popular with the townsfolk they represent.

    (However, as Ness progresses, it seems that the tide may be turning and the popular vote may be quickly dwindling for these political heads: The Fourside Post reports that "Over 50% of Fourside citizens now support Anti-Monotoli campaign.")

    Monotoli, who was formerly a real estate agent in the big city, uses his power to either threaten or impose unemployment, bankruptcy and homelessness, and he actually commits overt crimes.

    Onett is overrun by the Sharks gang, while its police force, literally and figuratively, places roadblocks everywhere.

    Just outside of their spheres of influence and just out of the sight of the many billboards and signs that tout empty promises and baseless claims, some of the disgruntled staff and employees exemplify the disillusionment and malaise that plague many city halls.

    One public servant harbors disapproval and dislike for his mayor ("Mayor Pirkle 'bugs me'"), while another gums up the gears of progress by gleefully and openly admitting: "I think I'll just kick back [interesting choice of words here!] for a while. It just may take me a couple of hours to sign this paper. 'snicker' 'snort'".

    Clutching for the Mani Mani Statue amplifies the worst in the politicians governing in EarthBound: a spike in their motivation for self-interests; lack of accountability, reliability or respectability and outright political corruption and vice.

    Finally, in one example that pokes fun at celebrity politicians, the bellhop at the hotel in Fourside accidentally retrieves the wrong morning newspaper. The FoursideStar's ironic headline reads: "Lucky Of The Runaway Five found to have been in state House Of Representatives".

    This tabloid headline takes jabs at the notion that fame and politics do not necessarily always mix well and, conversely, emphasizes that anyone can pursue a career in politics because the field doesn't seem to have a particularly high level of personal standards to reach or that there are no true, prohibitive set of worthy qualifications needed or that the mirage of prestige that politics may or may not have had in the past is gone or never really existed in the first place.

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  • "My daughter doesn't want to talk to media monkeys like you." (The Media)

    So... are you from a TV station, or what? Please leave.

    The media is shown with some derision and disdain.

    Paula's family—her father, especially—is distrustful of the unwanted media attention that Paula's psychic abilities have drawn. His behavior is especially noteworthy, as he seems to be one of the few glowing examples of fatherhood in the game. (More about that soon.)

    Tabloid, print media is mocked, as on a number of occasions the bellhops at some of the towns' hotels accidentally retrieve yellow journalism versions of the actual, local morning newspapers (such as FoursideStar, ThreedStar and TwosonStar, instead of the towns' more authentic and respected editions: Fourside Post, Threed Journal and Twoson Tribune).

    These rags have hilariously far-fetched, sensational headlines, like ThreedStar's "Zombie gives birth to hawk child".

    In another reference to the media, one of the "Tessie-Watching Club" members of Winters wonders if he'll receive his "15 minutes of fame" in the newspaper, if he spots Tessie.

    And for one final example, if Ness knocks at the door of one particular home in Onett, an unfriendly voice from behind the other side of the door greets him with: "If you're trying to sell us the newspaper, go away! We don't read the paper! And we don't want any milk, either!"

    It is left up to interpretation whether this is another snide, sly observation on the willing ignorance of some people or an indictment on the press or both.

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  • "If you stay here too long, you'll end up frying your brain." (Drug Use)

    If you stay here too long, you'll end up frying your brain.

    The idea of drugs, drug usage and substance abuse is a rare phenomenon in the world of video gaming... especially from the era.

    However—from Nintendo itself—there may have been a few allusions to drug or chemical enhancements or imbalances in two of its own biggest hits.

    In Super Mario Bros. (NES - 1985), when Mario and Luigi grabbed the Magic Mushroom, they would grow and transform into Super Mario or Luigi, respectively.

    In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES - 1995), on the "Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy" stage, Yoshi swoons and sways in a vertiginous daze, if he happens to accidentally come into contact with any of the various Fuzzies that float and fill the field of play.

    With these sly references in such prominent titles, it seems ironic that Nintendo's censors tried, but failed to remove instances of the words, "DRUGS" or "DRUGSTORE", from the townships and locales across EarthBound. (As if those innocuous words, in and of themselves, are even bad or objectionable terms: they do not promote drug abuse and drugstores are common establishments that also carry a variety of household goods and convenience items.)

    As another case in point, the censorship board failed famously at addressing the hallucinogenic effects of the mind-expanding Magic Cake baked by the Sailor's Wife in Summers. Thankfully, the event was untouched; it is such a major point in the plot that it would have broken the flow of the story had it been extricated or altered.

    Finally, a not-so-common idea associated with drug usage and rehabilitation may have totally slipped past the censors. (Again, this is not necessarily a bad or harmful idea or term.)

    One of Ness' "My Sanctuary" locations is called Pink Cloud. This clinical term, also referred to as pink clouding, is synonymous with the stages of recovery from addiction. It is explained as a state of euphoria or overconfidence that some may experience early on or, sometimes, later on in recovery. If not careful, it can lead to a false sense of overcoming an addiction.

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  • "Let's get together for a drink, when you have a chance so I can hear your stories. ...I'm talking about drinking mineral water. I'm still under age, you know." (Alcohol)

    Hic! I'm not drinking the... hic! I hate these hiccups...

    As seen in some games, bars (like the Milk Bar from The Legend Of Zelda - Majora's Mask (Nintendo - 2000)) are all-inclusive places that are usually open to patrons of all ages. In doing so, the spirits are raised... as in literally, the alcohol evaporates away, leaving behind more kid-appropriate or acceptable drinks, like milk or—in EarthBound's case, coffee.

    Although coffee is the en vogue drink in EarthBound, several clues point to it being used as a euphemism or substitution for alcohol and alcoholism.

    Our young friends witness the troubling and sad effects of alcoholism a number of times—a rare occasion for any video game—let alone one marketed to underage or younger audiences.

    Inside Jackie's Café in Fourside, a number of adult patrons who keep the drinks flowing, allude to ideas around alcohol:

    • "I was in the middle of a caffeine buzz, and I had to get to the bathroom fast!"
    • "Kids shouldn't be drinking espresso!"
    • "You shouldn't be hanging around here."
    • "Kids shouldn't drink espresso. It'll stunt your growth, stubby!"

    When Ness and friends aren't being warned of the effects, they encounter besotted individuals battling through sad, real-life struggles.

    Coffee is usually black or dark brown, not golden in a large mug. Some people's cheeks become flush and red, when consuming alcohol - not coffee.
    Coffee is usually black or dark brown, not golden in a large mug. Some people's cheeks become flush and red, when consuming alcohol - not coffee.

    A clipped image of the Annoying Reveler enemy found in the EarthBound Player's Guide.

    One, unfortunate instance shows a depressed investor who has a drinking problem. He tries to desperately find a way to cope after falling victim to Mayor Monotoli's schemes and losing everything financially: "Monotoli's toadies stole everything from me, including my house and land. Weep, weep..."

    Another example has a patron pleading with Ness to "don't tell my wife in Onett that I've been spending my time here [at Jackie's Café]."

    Even within EarthBound's official guide, alcohol splashes the pages. References to an enemy character known as the "Annoying Reveler" reads in part: "He may look pretty potted, but this obnoxious drunk sobers up in battle." (This reveals one of many censorship oversights that Nintendo's proofreaders missed, perhaps, in a half-hearted or confused attempt or just overwhelmed by the amount of material to sift through.)

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  • "Shaba di doo bee, bop wah. I got those debt blues, hm mm mm." (Financial Concerns)

    I hope my salary stays the same. You don't understand.

    In EarthBound, Ness and his friends are able to fight against many assailants and collect a small bankroll for their victorious duties. Unfortunately, a large cast of the adults in the game can not build up their savings as easily.

    Their struggles reflect a sizable proportion of the population in our real world. Many families and individuals grapple with limited resources, struggling to stretch enough from paycheck to paycheck in what feels like a losing bout of tug-of-war against an oppressive inflation that has left many in debt, behind on bills, hungry, bankrupt and/or even homeless.

    In the economics of EarthBound, the allure of the evil Mani Mani Statue blinds the masses with its golden glow. There are a number of times that money and get-rich-quick schemes taint the better judgment of the susceptible:

    • Aloysius Minch succumbs to his greed and desire for wanting to be rich. ("Due to my son's success, I now live the life of a rich man.")

    • Some investors are swindled—ripped off, losing everything becoming alcoholics and/or homeless. ("I used to be Monotoli's employer. Then I realized his schemes made my company go bankrupt. My house and land were taken away... Now I'm homeless...")

      Doesn't this house look good? You can buy it for only $7500!

      The inside of the dilapidated shack
    • Speaking of homes and property, corruption creeps into some real estate dealings.

      1. ("Many citizens of Onett suffer due to crooked real estate agents.") Even Geldegarde Monotoli, whose name adorns the largest, most grand skyscraper in all of the bustling metropolis of Fourside, is referred to as a real estate agent ("In the old days, Mr. Monotoli was just a regular, unattractive real estate agent.")... perhaps more than a coincidence, mimicking real-life personalities.

      2. There is the unscrupulous, real estate agent who tries to sell the dilapidated, seaside house to Ness—a child, an underage person who legally could not even purchase the building—at an exorbitant fee with no degree of guilt or remorse, and not in good faith nor conscience. ("Doesn't this house look good? You can buy it for only $7500!")

    • Everdred engages in extortion of the park vendors of Burglin Park... and if that is not heinous enough, one of his attacks during battle is actual stealing from Ness and the party.

    • Shady, theater owners (Mr. Poochyfud of the Chaos Theater and Miss Fake of the Topolla Theater) ensnare the band, the Runaway Five, in bad contracts that reveal the unfortunate and uneasy history of musicians being cheated out of the rightful ownership and royalties of their creative works.

    • The town of Summers is revealed to be a "tourist trap" by some of the local characters who comment on paying the high price for luxury. ("Everyone seems to be nice, but they're just doing it for the money." or "Have a fantastic vacation! At least until you run out of money." - Hotel Du Summers)

    • The guard in the Scaraba Museum in Summers tells Ness and the party that they can't enter a certain room—at least, until he coaxes a priceless Ruby from Prince Poo. ("Perhaps a little, shall we say, 'under the table deal' would be in order...")

    • In the unspoiled wilderness of Deep Darkness, a random businessman or trader, who recently arrives, tries his hand at exploiting the region for quick, capitalistic gains. ("Hi, how are you? I'm not a bad guy. I came from one of the world's largest economic powers to this small rural village. A businessman that is truly tough has to travel this far for the best opportunities.")


    As seen from the previous examples, the scales of wealth inequality swing favorably toward the side of the impressionable ones under the will of Giygas, who are more willing to wheedle or woo wealth away from their victims. For the have-nots, however, financial worries and burdens weigh heavily:

    • Ness is rudely reminded of how his father had to borrow money from the Minches. It may explain why he is never present with Ness and the family; perhaps he is busy working away from home. In a later exchange, another character tells Ness that "I heard that your family is in debt."

      That stupid slob, the Apple Kid, always asks me for something to eat.

      How much would you like to donate? in Happy-Happy Village
    • The Apple Kid is a young inventor who stays in Twoson. He lives in squalor and is hungry. Despite the town's lowly opinions of him, he earns pay and food, creating key inventions that advance the plot. (Conversely, the popular Orange Kid makes money selling useless contraptions, yet is held in high esteem by many of the locals.)

    • As the saying goes, "Money can't buy happiness". Happy-Happy Village may have something to say about that:

      1. The Meager Livin' Farms in Happy-Happy Village, offers lodging—showing within its name the impoverished, financial state of the Happy-Happyists.

      2. One of the Happy-Happy Villagers takes donations from visitors of the town "to help protect the world from contaminants". In return, she gives a picture postcard that is of no benefit for in-game use to Ness. (If Ness fails to donate any cash, there is a risk of Ness being shamelessly followed and pestered: "I'll be your shadow, then.")

      3. In Happy-Happy Village, there is a free food stand where Fresh Eggs can be bought or taken. This self-serve stand reads, "We trust you. Feel free to shop here.", yet the unattended spread is eyed by a character, hiding behind a tree or hedge, to make sure there are no freeloaders: "I'm monitoring those who don't pay at the food stand."

    • A worker in the Monotoli Building worries about losing his job in Fourside. ("I hope my salary stays the same. You don't understand. This is a huge concern of elite businessmen like me.")

    • Gerardo Montague is a starved, construction worker, who searches for buried gold from the Dusty Dunes Headquarters. After asking Ness and friends if they can spare any food, he comments: "The humanitarian thing is to help people out when they're hungry."

    For so many people, slaying fictional monsters is so much easier than facing the fearsome threat of poverty and the effects of imbalance of wealth.

    EarthBound exposes its audience to this hard-life lesson, symbolically, by bringing the harsh reality of money issues and the effects of not having enough (e.g., hunger, poverty, the need to ask for donations, homelessness, potential alcoholism to try to cope) to its leading cast that, ironically in real life, would not actually be old enough to legally work full-time employment to help out their own families.

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  • "I'm in perfect, tip-top health now. I just wish I had more visitors. "cough" "hack, hack" "cough"" (The Medical Industry)

    What would you like written on your tombstone? Onett Hospital Surgery Team

    EarthBound's take on hospitals and the medical industry is as ruthless and revelatory as its approach on any other number of topics that seemed off of the table... topics that are sometimes, "politely" and purposefully not always dredged up, questioned or scrutinized.

    There is not a lot of faith in a medical industry that is marred with insurance issues; exorbitant or prohibitive costs; confusing, questionable billing; red tape; malpractice cases; a constant barrage of advertisements from pharmaceutical giants that may or may not ethically influence some doctors' and medical professionals' prescribed treatments and more. Likewise, there is not a lot of confidence in the medical centers found across Eagleland and beyond.

    There are a few, glaring instances where EarthBound's hospitals cause concern and seem like questionable options for the ill or the infirm:

    • the mortifying idea that the Onett Hospital Surgery Team actually has posted advertisement in the hospital's hallways that says: "'Tombstone Blow-out Sale' We have a special discount for those who have passed on in this hospital. What would you like written on your tombstone?" (!??!!)
    • or another off-putting, hospital message that reads: "(To recover or not depends on luck. Believe in your luck. Believe your doctor also. The Doctor believes in his luck.)" (!??!!)

    In another episode, a doctor is directly involved... or perhaps to phrase it better, is not directly involved.

    In the marshy lands of Deep Darkness, a doctor stays hidden just out-of-sight, beneath a large tree. If you approach him and attempt to speak, he responds dismissively with: "I don't feel it's necessary for us to talk."

    But, if you walk beyond him and speak to a businessman nearby, you'll discover yet another one of the troubling issues with the industry: the hassles and inconveniences of trying to set up a timely appointment with a doctor or clinic and the, oftentimes, impersonal, cold reception the patient is met with when attempting to set up the meeting and/or during the actual examination.

    The businessman—or in this case, the doctor's agent—contributes to the fluster:

    "I am also a representative of the doctor over there. (...) If you attempt to talk with the doctor without first going through me, it violates the law. Please be careful. (...) Do you have business with the doctor? It's a special treatment. You'll be in perfect health with just one treatment. (...) Do you agree with the fee? (...) Doc, please treat the next patient! ...Treat him right, ok!? (The great doctor whispered in each ear, first right then left, "be healthy.")"

    To add insult to injury, the "great doctor"'s treatment seems more in line with duplicitous quackery than medically-trained and widely-trusted technique.

    Finally, EarthBound upends the expectations of Western, medical attitudes by introducing and bringing attention to alternative forms of medicine, albeit in the dramatized sense of Healers working on fantastical ailments, like removing mushrooms from the heads of patients.

    To further drive the point, these Healers have the audacity to practice their forms of medical care within the very lobbies of the hospitals their services are competing against! That is, under the protest of and unauthorized by the hospitals they are practicing in: "'Recently, a strange fellow has been wandering around this hospital saying he can cure you of the afflictions that we can't treat. Please be informed that he has no connection to the hospital.' - Fourside Hospital Management".

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  • "(Relax, take it easy! It's all in your head... A healthy mind is a healthy body.)" (Mental Health)

    Now my self confidence is TOTALLY shot! Back to therapy...

    Until only a few years ago, there was a stigma on speaking about mental health. People who suffered from any number of mental maladies—from depression to anxiety and more—were dismissed, ridiculed, mocked and seen in a negative light. In the years since the global pandemic, the stigma has lost some of its sting, as the general public has become more aware and accepting of the fact that mental health is a very real thing that affects many and that needs to be taken seriously and treated.

    Surprisingly-enough, EarthBound addressed mental health decades ago, introducing the idea anecdotally to a youthful, gaming community:

    • After founder, Mr. Carpainter's defeat, the spell of his control over his followers is snapped and the Happy-Happyism movement/religion is disbanded. One of its former disciples ponders the question: "Don't you think the mental health of everyone in the village is improved?"
    • "This is the famous Happy-Happyism counseling office." One of the blue, hooded and masked followers, or Insane Cultists, informs Ness of the guidance that is offered. In the same office, a married couple from Twoson who recently converted tells Ness that their "child is waiting for us" back home in Twoson all alone.
    • One of the patrons of Jackie's Café says: "Now my self confidence is TOTALLY shot! Back to therapy..."
    • One of the members of the Tenda tribe relays that: "A chubby, obnoxious kid from some foreign country said something heartrending... So, I'm healing my wounds in the hot springs."
    • One of the hospitals' posted signs reads: "(Relax, take it easy! It's all in your head... A healthy mind is a healthy body.)"

    While some of the previous examples were expressly-stated, other instances could be inferred.

    These include:

    • the Crying ailment from mean taunts in some battles (from the Cranky Old Lady and possibly others);
    • the Homesickness ailment that renders Ness futile in battle (to cure it, Ness must call his mother regularly... the sound of her voice and her warm, encouraging words power him forward);
    • and in the bigger picture, the "lost" villagers of the Happy-Happy Village seem to be in pursuit of happiness because they seem to be lacking something of substance or meaning in their personal lives (to push the point even more, the villagers seem to have lost their ways in life, literally and figuratively, trying to find personal happiness in the hidden away (or lost) Happy-Happy Village).

    By no means is this essay attempting to psychoanalyze or pretend to be qualified in the subjects of psychiatry, psychology or mental health and/or medicine, but it is noteworthy to point out that EarthBound was an early gaming example with a very clear awareness of mental health.

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  • "We no longer have any mutual interests to discuss. Is our relationship over?" (Relationship Issues)

    The town is at peace, but my wife and kids won't speak to me.

    Relationships play a central role in much of EarthBound. A broad dynamic of characters' interactions amongst and between one another and our team add much depth and breadth. There is a richness to the story, especially with how the game uses its imperfect, yet believable characters to touch upon sensitive and mature subjects in a way that shows more realistic depictions.

    These bonds are rounded out by the unique characters' motivations, hopes, fears and flaws, resulting in examples that show battle scars, bruises and damaged goods—not just the proverbial happy ending or triumphant walk into the sunset:

    • There are a number of marital issues throughout:
      1. The Magic Cake lady and her sailor husband in Toto ("I'm worried about my wife."), who cites her neglect of her business, her frequent absence from home and the realization that they "no longer have any mutual interests to discuss."
      2. The Runaway Five groupie who longs for her husband to be more romantic,
      3. A semi-major character who is spending time with Mr. Prettyman ("My husband is also gone. Oh yes, this is Mr. Prettyman.")
      4. A cowardly, "family" man in the Threed circus tent who abandons his family: "The town is at peace, but my wife and kids won't speak to me. What's the problem?" (More about him shortly.)

    • On a lighter note, there are a few men that make jokes about their wives:
      1. The old man in the Onett Library that jokingly compares his wife to a monster at the "Giant Step" site: "I wonder if he's stronger than my wife..."
      2. The old man at the Twoson Bus Station: "I was in the last war, so I'm not scared of ghosts. Actually, I'm more scared of my old lady, ha!"
      3. A random man who wanders around Happy-Happy Village, comically reveals that "My wife has run away for a second time. I'm such a lucky man!"

    • Not every close association deals with wedded woes; there are a number of unique, situational connections, as well:
      1. The troubling act of the Twoson parents who abandon their child for Happy-Happy Village (In the Happy-Happyism counseling office, they reveal that their "child is waiting for us" back home in Twoson alone. Later after Mr. Carpainter's defeat, the child says, "Dad and Mom said they won't go to Happy-Happy Village. I'm not sure why, but now I'm happy.")
      2. The unknown origins of love lost and found again between the Black and White Sesame Seeds in the Dusty Dune Desert,
      3. The NPC who gets caught in Threed having two girlfriends at the same time—one in Twoson and the other in Threed:
        Girlfriend from Twoson: "After the buses started running again, I decided to come see my boyfriend... I really shouldn't have, though."
        Boyfriend: "Wo! Dude! Like, my old girlfriend from Twoson hunted me down, man. I'm totally bummed , 'cause I have another girlfriend here in Threed."

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  • "My dad really got after me." (Fatherhood)

    You're Jeff, my son. It's been maybe 10 years since I last saw you.

    Mother is the name of the EarthBound series in Japan. In fact, EarthBound is known as Mother 2 in that region. That, in and of itself, stresses the degree of reverence and respect given to the maternal presence in our lives by Shigesato Itoi.

    Notice that the game is not called Father. That is done for good reason—EarthBound is filled with significant instances of faltering, fatherly figures and their strained relationships with their children and sad examples of failed fatherhood:



    • Dr. Andonuts - Jeff's father is a scientist who is so self-absorbed and monomaniacal about his lab work that he seems to not even be aware of his son. The good news is that by the end of the story, Jeff and his father seem to be destined to bond, with the doctor actually showing some pride and love, warming up to his son's miraculous accomplishments. Here are some of the painful missteps that lead up to their hopeful future:

      • Upon Jeff's first visit, Dr. Andonuts doesn't even recognize his own son:
        ("And not only that... What? Who? My son? Oh... I... can't... I can't believe it... You're Jeff, my son. It's been maybe 10 years since I last saw you."),

      • Upon Jeff and Dr. Andonuts' reunion conversation, the doctor isn't the most tactful:
        ("By the way, why are you here?"),

      • After Jeff boards the Sky Runner, Dr. Andonuts sounds uncaring and callous, flippant even:
        ("Let's get together again in 10 years or so."),

      • Dr. Andonuts claims to like his son (even though, he hasn't seen him in 10 years!), but his lack of social graces leads to an embarrassing situation for Jeff in front of his friends:
        ("Jeff wets his bed sometimes. But other than that, he's a good boy."),

      • Jeff, at the site of the crashed Sky Runner, isn't comfortable calling his father, "Dad", and has doubts if the doctor will be there to help him:
        ("With Dr. Andonuts' help, I can modify the machine to fly to Summers. ...if Dad, I mean Dr. Andonuts, is not available, I'll have to figure it out myself.")

    • Aloysius Minch - Pokey and Picky's father seems to be especially self-serving and motivated by money and riches. Early on, he brings swift punishment to his sons.

      (In an interesting aside, the sound effects that accompany the punishment in Japan's Mother 2 version sounds like a clapping, smacking or spanking effect, while EarthBound's same scene sounds altered and less like physical discipline. To further soften the implied punishment, Ness is later told: "My dad really got after me. He said I get no dessert for the rest of the decade...")

      Afterwards, a still-agitated Aloysius castigates Ness and claims Ness' father owes lots of money to him and his family. As Giygas' influence strengthens, the plight of Aloysius turns for the worse, as he tries to reap the benefits of his son's political and financial growth.

      Overall, he symbolizes a less than ideal father figure, whose avarice and egocentrism, show little redeeming quality: ("Due to my son's success, I now live the life of a rich man.").

    • Threed father who abandoned family - This paternal figure is a despicable, background character, whose sense of self-preservation is exceeded only by his selfishness and cowardice: ("People used to call me evil, but these zombies are much more scary. I left my wife and kids at home to escape to this tent.").

      After the threat is averted in Threed, we get to further witness this NPC becoming one of the more deplorable and most clueless characters in gaming history: ("The town is at peace, but my wife and kids won't speak to me. What's the problem?")

    Parenting may have been tough for the preceding fathers, but EarthBound—through its customary, unconventional nature—also, showcases some exemplary instances.

    • Dad (Ness' father) - This is a special instance because while Ness' father is never seen in person, he seems to be a caring parent.

      Although presumably away from home working, he stays in constant contact with Ness, helps him out with cash, feeds words of encouragement and even rings Ness up every few hours to check in on him, so that he (meaning YOU - the gamer) can take breaks from the adventure and can get some rest from the television and SNES.

      He even remembers his son's birthday and says, "I'm trying very hard to be home for that big day! ... I've been following your adventures closely, but I want to hear about them from you, in person."

      In an ironic twist, Ness' dad is pictured as a black telephone in the end credits.

    • Paula's dad - He is another rare, shining symbol for fatherhood... in a less unconventional way than Ness'. He and his family run the Polestar Preschool. He exhibits his protective nature and paternal love for his daughter by not being shy about turning away unwanted media attention on her psychic gifts.

      He shares a tearful, touching reunion that shows his love for his daughter, as well:

      Paula's Dad: "It's not every day a father lets his daughter embark on a journey to save the world!"
      Paula: "Dad, don't worry about me. ... Now wipe your eyes, blow your nose, and smile before we [Paula and Ness] take off."
      Paula's Dad: "Goodbye Paula. Don't worry, I won't cry anymore..."

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  • "The Runaway Five are so sexy! My husband definitely is... in need of some help in that area!" (Sexual Attraction)

    Try placing a call to the Strip... ooops! sorry, I mean the Stoic Club.

    Our team of young teenagers may still be in their early stages of puberty—when puppy love and funny feelings and butterflies are stirring inside—but many of their adult encounters reveal the ardent emotions and raging hormones of an immodest, unabashedly-bold group of men and women who don't care who knows that they are in the throes of their pursuits for passion.

    Sexual advances, lustful characters and racy innuendo are all readily found throughout EarthBound. The list below () highlights some examples:


    • Mr. Spoon, the Fourside Museum curator, may have an appropriate last name... especially after the escalation of inappropriate actions he commits while at a Miss Venus concert. While she's performing onstage, he yells cringey, squirm-worthy catcalls at her ("Ow!! ...You cute, sexy thing, you!... Baby, sing to me!...") and is eventually escorted away from the stage by security!

    • Miss Venus' mother reveals that her musician daughter may be posing nude for a photography book. ("A book of photographs of her [Miss Venus] is coming out soon. I really hope she kept her clothes on... Times have sure changed...");

    • There is a waitress at the Hamburger Shop in Onett who longs for someone to ask her if she would like "fries with that shake" - slang that refers to wanting someone to flirt with her and to comment on her figure in a manner that reveals their amorous interest in her.

      (The "shake" has distinct meanings... in this case, it is not the assumed milkshake that is a common beverage that goes along with a meal of French fries and hamburgers (a fairly popular meal of fast food in America), but this shake, instead, refers to vibrations, as in the movement of the waitress' shapely form in motion.);

    • An elevator operator tells Ness, who is standing behind her, not to ogle at her while riding in the elevator in the Monotoli Building. ("Quit staring at my hips... why don't you stand somewhere else instead of behind me?");

    • One, male NPC lusts after the mysterious Zombie lady in Threed. ("Take a look at that chick in front of the hotel. Regardless of some of the people I've seen her hanging out with, I'd like to spend some time with her!");

    • One, female groupie adulates the members of the Runaway Five; in comparison, she doesn't hold her husband in the same regard. ("The Runaway Five are so sexy! My husband definitely is... in need of some help in that area!");

    • The Hint Stand man in Summers accidentally slips and almost calls the Stoic Club a strip club. ("Try placing a call to the Strip... ooops! sorry, I mean the Stoic Club.")

      (A strip club is an establishment where patrons pay to watch performers dance and remove their clothing in a sensual manner. By the Hint Man inadvertently blurting "Strip Club" out to Ness and his underage friends, Itoi finds another way to give the EarthBound's censors an impish poke.);

    • There is an NPC in Fourside, who is staring through or over a wall near Magnet Hill. He is unfavorably compared to a leering Peeping Tom. ("The boy stuck to the wall... may be a Peeping Tom.");

    • Most of the girls in the country of Dalaam are enamored with the handsome Poo.

    • Ness' mother cuts a phone call short with Ness to see the racy parts of one of the soap operas she watches. ("Well, my soap opera is getting to a really steamy part, so I'd better let you go.")

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  • "Like I said, I'm waiting for you.
    Yours truly,     
    Tony     

    P.S. Don't show this letter to anyone!" (Sexual Identity)

    Well, I'm not really sure whether Giygas is a male or a female.

    EarthBound addresses such a range of topics; perhaps none more potentially-controversial than this one. Its plotline was one that approached sexual orientation, gender identity and gender fluidity, just as nonchalantly and matter-of-factly, as it handled anything else.

    It was one of the earliest and most prominent examples of a video game acknowledging homosexual feelings:


    • Tony is a roommate and friend of Jeff's from back at the Snow Wood Boarding School. There are several allusions to Tony's deeper feelings for Jeff. ("Don't put my friend Jeff in any dangerous situations, okay? I worry about him. I really do... Well, talk to you later... ...Jeff... I hope I can see you again when you are feeling up to it... From T-O-N-Y... You got that?")

      The state of Tony's feelings is punctuated by his reluctance and fear of not wanting anyone to see his private letter addressed to Jeff late in the game.

    • In a scene of the bizarrest of the bizarres, there is a particularly strange interaction that takes place in Moonside between an invisible man, "whose eyebrows are connected and who has a gold tooth!" (!??!??), running off to have drinks with a fellow, transparent person—in this case, a doorman guarding the Mani Mani Statue. ("You're the man whose eyebrows are connected and who has a gold tooth! How about we dump these kids and go get something to drink!?") (This may or may not vaguely illustrate another instance.);

    • The Star Master is a spiritual guide and mentor for Poo. During Poo's pursuit to complete his Mu Training, the Star Master comments on Poo's "nice eyes". (Perhaps not an intentional instance, there most likely may be some nuance or meaning lost in the game's English translation.)

    • There is a secret hideout—something akin to a clubhouse—in Onett in which a number of boys occupy. One boy, specifically, looks up to Ness, but he quickly feels the need to clarify how much he likes Ness in a purely platonic way, not in a manner of attraction. ("You're so cool! I... I think I really like you. Well, you know what I mean.")

    The concepts of gender identity and even, gender fluidity (to an extent), are touched upon here:

    • One random character admits his confusion about Giygas to Ness. ("Well, I'm not really sure whether Giygas is a male or a female.")

    (For another game that raises questions about traditional, societal ideas of gender roles, one doesn't have to look much further than Nintendo's own legendary, flagship series: Super Mario Bros..

    In the instruction booklet from Super Mario Bros. 2 (Nintendo - 1988), the character, Birdo, is introduced. This frequent mini-boss is described as follows: "He thinks he is a girl and he spits eggs from his mouth. He'd rather be called 'birdetta.'". [To learn more about Birdo and the rest of the cast from a unique sequel to an all-time classic title, check out our Super Mario Bros. 2 "A Curious Tale Of Two Sequels" review here.]

    Bear in mind that these particular politically-charged and potentially-polarizing issues were boldly introduced into a game, targeted to a younger teenage demographic, nearly three decades ago!

    The beauty of bringing these topics to light is that they are handled in a nonjudgmental manner and that they shine attention upon a mostly-ignored representation and demographic. By choosing to give a sympathetic voice to a rarely-heard character and lifestyle, that more democratic ideal of representing a broader, more inclusive Americ——errr, Eagleland (as has been noted repeatedly), was more fully realized.

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It is quite the testament to Itoi that he had the gravitas and brazen audacity to touch on so many divisive and controversial topics... it is almost miraculous that the notoriously-spartan and stringent ways of Nintendo allowed so much to pass through—and this isn't even taking into consideration the possible encroachments on international trademarks, copyrights and musical sample clearances, which had never been approached before - at least, to the extent that they were or could have been in EarthBound.

(There may have been, perhaps, one glaring, gaming exception up to that point—that being Sega's The Revenge Of Shinobi (1989). It infamously "copied" popular, character designs (like John Rambo, Spider-Man, Batman and Godzilla) from other intellectual properties (IPs) unlicensed without the same aptitude for parody, wit and snark that was behind the choices found in EarthBound.)

The copious amount of potentially-objectionable material is so extreme that it almost feels like Itoi was challenging Nintendo, taunting and daring its censors. To Nintendo's credit—had its usual level of scraping all of the "fun" from the (funny)bone been followed like business as usual—EarthBound would have been rendered a soulless, unremarkable, insubstantial, insipid shell of the game it became; one that would have been more deserving of that wholly-misguided, "This game stinks" marketing scheme that missed its mark by several school grades and maturity levels.

Parody, hyperbole, self-awareness, self-deprecation, observation, irony and humor... all were hallmarks of Itoi's pen. The English translation and editing teams (ENGLISH TEXT WRITERS - Marcus Lindblom and Dan Owsen, and TRANSLATORS - Keiko Tamura and Yuka Nakata) deserve the highest praise for hitting on so many nuances and subtleties of American culture (and the Western world, to an extent) as a snapshot in that freeze-frame of history, while not trampling all over the inherent, deliberate satire and wit of Itoi's original words and intent.

The intelligence of the writing was peerless. The critique on the culture was spot-on—exaggerated enough, at points, to pass for parody, but brilliant enough to cut through and reflect back some of the uglier sides of human nature that we often don't want to acknowledge or face or admit to being guilty of. It is telling when a form of art reaches the level of mastery that it can simultaneously entertain, while making us think and evaluate our lives and places in the bigger picture of a community, a culture, a country, our world.

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Do you understand all this? No? You don't? To tell you the truth, neither do I.

That momentous meteor that shook up the Earth of Ness' EarthBound did more than just alter the future of his world and existence; it shifted the tilt of the gaming world's axis, as well. From that point on, a unique spin on the development of future gaming was unleashed.

While other games orbited in a comfortable space from a safe distance, EarthBound ran counter in its own revolution, knocking aside conventions and bringing in change that disrupted the heavy rotation and order of the gaming cosmos. Everything from presentation to character development to enemy design to dialogue to music and more were up for interpretation—unencumbered by strict censorship or adherence to unstated rules of the genre. The unbridled freedom allowed EarthBound to boldly flourish in its own brand of nonconformity.

Let's take a closer look.


                    

From a visual sense, the game ran astray of perfect alignment; uniform, square rooms and right angles.

The towns, caves and other playing environments are layered across plateaus and planes of varying heights. Diagonally-paved roads and sidewalks bisect the towns and feel tailor-made for the control scheme that allows Ness and company to travel in all eight directions: those being the four, cardinal directions, plus the four diagonals.

Across its isometric landscape, EarthBound gave spatial illusion before 3D became the next generation's go-to style (somewhat in the fashion of titles, such as Zaxxon (Sega - 1982), The Last Ninja (System 3 - 1987), Solstice (Software Creations - 1990), Snake, Rattle 'N' Roll (Rare - 1990) or Landstalker (Climax Entertainment - 1992) to name a few).

The lovable and quirky Mr. Saturn and his equally odd speech pattern and handwriting style (design courtesy of Itoi) are reminiscent of the innocence of a child.
The lovable and quirky Mr. Saturn and his equally odd speech pattern and handwriting style (design courtesy of Itoi) are reminiscent of the innocence of a child.

Other distinct display or graphical elements include:

  • the unusual framing and resizing of rooms and areas that are entered or explored... not always filling out the whole rectangular aspects of the television screen or even being positionally-centered,
  • the slanted bird's-eye view of some towns,
  • the comically-miniaturized view from far above the Lost Underground,
  • the inclusion of two, single pixel-sized characters (the Black Sesame Seed and White Sesame Seed) that are hard to find, but are able to be acted upon... existing as, perhaps, gaming's smallest characters ever!
  • the freestyled fonts—with their randomly-colored, bubbly letter sets and playful misalignment—used for town names on billboard signs (far from the typical, formal fonts we are accustomed to seeing in most games),
  • the unique font styles in text windows - especially when the words of Mr. Saturn are displayed,
  • the psychedelic swatches of pattern that animate behind enemies in fight scenes.


                    

About those enemies... EarthBound presents a cavalcade of the crazed and the kooky. At any given time, Ness and the party may find themselves protecting against perceived threats from pernicious permutations, primed to pounce on and crash our teen scene.

Around every new corner, the most unusual of un-welcoming parties may be blocking the path. These unique enemies fall under some peculiar groupings:

  • inanimate objects (such as Enraged Fire Plug (a fire hydrant), Mad Taxi, Handsome Tom and Smilin' Sam (puppets), Abstract Art, Dali's Clock (!?!!) (Yes, as in those clocks in the famous painting, The Persistence Of Memory by Surrealist artist, Salvador Dali, from 1931!));

  • the supernatural and cryptozoological (Zombie Possessor, Smelly Ghost, Fierce Shattered Man (a mummy), Bionic Kraken, Manly Fish (similar to the aquatic menace (the Creature or Gill-man) from the early monster movie, Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954)), Cave Boy (a caveman-like character), Evil Eye, Wetnosaur and Chomposaur (fictitious dinosaurs), etc.);

  • wild animals (Armored Frog, Bad Buffalo, No Good Fly, Violent Roach, Criminal Caterpillar, Desert Wolf or any one of the five, large Digger Guardian mole enemies found in the desert maze that all claim to be not the strongest, but the third strongest of the group (?!??));

  • plant life (Mobile Sprout, Territorial Oak, Demonic Petunia);

  • the average person on the street (Yes Man Junior, Tough Guy, New Age Retro Hippie (?!!??), Annoying Old Party Man, Unassuming Local Guy, Extra Cranky Lady, etc.)
    (On a side note: Many adults in the game are seen as enemies that are "tamed" after losing confrontations. It is important to reiterate that adults—and animals, or any other foes in the game—aren't inherently bad, but are under the spell of Giygas' evil influence. Usually a few, well-placed bashes from baseball bats or frying pans, or the blasts from bottle rockets will knock the sense back into the bedeviled enemies.);

  • the outright bizarre (Noose Man (a noose), Mr. Molecule, Musica (a bass guitar), Ego Orb, Worthless Protoplasm, Cute Li'l UFO (with nice, red bow tied around it), Big Pile Of Puke, Care Free Bomb, Guardian Hieroglyph).

All of these enemies' range of attacks negatively-affect our teen team in any number of ways - as was noted earlier. (Click here to see the list of Conditions that can affect Ness and friends.) Physical pain and illnesses sting as much as the emotional and mental attacks, proving that words do matter and can do very real harm to our cast... just like in real life.


                    

"The average person on the street" category from above () brings something else to mind. It is interesting to note that not only is the variety of enemy hordes vast, but the human interactions (both good and bad) show variation. For a game inspired by so many aspects of America, EarthBound approached its cast of in-game characters in a broad-sweeping, egalitarian nature where diversity is celebrated, social stratification is not necessarily stacked for those infected by Giygas and most characterizations are equally-indifferent, mean or nasty to Ness and the party.

The game showcased diversity and fairly broad representation - especially for its time. Foes of all ilk reveled in America's... um, Eagleland's sense of equality—as in, all being equally detrimental or indifferent to Ness and friends' humanitarian efforts.
The game showcased diversity and fairly broad representation - especially for its time. Foes of all ilk reveled in America's... um, Eagleland's sense of equality—as in, all being equally detrimental or indifferent to Ness and friends' humanitarian efforts.

This world is inclusive.

There is the vendor in cornrows, who is selling his wares with a Jamaican Patois ("Hey mon!"). And free-spirited hippies, whose normally nonviolent vibes are exacerbated by Giygas.

There is the vapid, beach bum, who tries his best to impress Ness by bragging of his special talents: "Only a tanning pro like me is able to get an actual suntan on the palms of his hands!"

Suspicious seductresses slink about after-hours in Threed, while hoity-toity tourists overspend to their hearts' desire in Summers: "How annoying! Why are you wandering around? Summers is a posh resort, made for adults."

Punk is represented, as the man behind the counter in the aptly-named, "Punk-Sure" Cycle Shop, is dressed in red mohawk, dark shades and black leather.

"Sophisticated", philosophical snobs heap deep thoughts upon a stone(?!!??) in the Stoic Club.

The inhabitants of Scaraba wear distinct, traditional headdress and loose-fitting tunics and robes in the open-air market of the desert destination.

And for the most exotic representation, there are the fractured tribe of the Tenda in the Lost Underworld region and the helpful allies, Mr. Saturn.


                    

The game takes a sledgehammer to the fourth wall, knocking it to pieces a number of times.

EarthBound revels in its on-screen characters regularly reaching through the TV screen to pull the gamer into its video game world.
EarthBound revels in its on-screen characters regularly reaching through the TV screen to pull the gamer into its video game world.

The characters' preternatural instincts and self-awareness of themselves—as well as the gamer holding the controller on the other side—serve a few purposes.

Some NPCs give you special insight into how to play the game or what certain commands do or how they work—in quite humorous manners, as is the expected way of EarthBound.

One example includes the friendly Mole who can be found along some footpaths. In the Peaceful Rest Valley, he instructs what the statistic, Guts, does and explains how the "rolling action of our HP meter" works.

While you are shopping in the Onett Drug Store, Ruffini the Dog, who is "being possessed by the spirit of the game designer... (RUFF!)" interjects to inform you of tips for using "equippable items". He concludes with: "*Ruff* I thought you'd like to know. Now it's time to become a regular dog again...".

Inside the Onett Arcade, one member of the Sharks gang tells Ness: "When you buy an item that should be equipped, do you bother to actually equip it? Heh eh, I gave a hint to my own enemy... I'm such a rockin' dude!"

With a nod, a wink and a big smile, a number of characters speak about EarthBound in a meta sense, elaborating on the gamer's progress or speaking about the Ape development team behind the scenes and wondering aloud if the sequel is being worked on.

One building in Fourside refuses entry: "(Planning Meeting for EarthBound 2. Only those who are related to this project are allowed to enter. APE Software Development Team)".

The Onett Police Chief, Captain Strong, is famously working his way through a playthrough of EarthBound. ("I've been playing "EarthBound" lately... I'm having a tough time.")

He even tells Ness that he should be at home playing video games! ("At times like this, kids like you should be home playing Nintendo games.")

And another member of the Sharks, who guards a door in the Onett Arcade, asks Ness to return after he beats EarthBound: "Hey kid! Do you wanna be a member? ... Come back after you finish EarthBound!"

In another remarkable example, the fourth wall's invisible barrier does little to protect the directional pad on the game controller when Ness or a member of the team is Mushroomized during battle. The afflicted character will become incapacitated, disoriented in an unstable state that will cause the controller to not function properly or as expected until that Mushroom is expertly-removed.

The game is even aware of the most indecisive of us, unexpectedly breaking the action a few times to let us have a "do-over" of sorts—allowing us to rename our cast of characters, if we'd like! This can be done in the port town of Toto and again, in the Tenda Village.

Finally, without spoiling anything, the gamer's assistance is requested beyond the controller at game's end, remarkably-enough, helping to hoist EarthBound's glory even higher in what has to be one of the most epic bosses and memorable boss fights in gaming history.

And concluding Ness' victory, he can even retrace his steps and visit past areas to get fresh, new reactions and surprising responses from the various characters he encountered along his long journey!


                    

Some modern-day features weren't available or thought of yet (due in part to the limits of the space available for cartridges and the older architecture and weaker processing power of 16-bit consoles), but the developers of EarthBound still slipped in some quality-of-life features. (Click here to revisit the "I'm glad I read the book..." section from before to view a recap.)

And in a related aside, the gameplay is not artificially-inflated with too many time-consuming side-attractions or collect-a-thons. While these side-quests are confined to a few (like the task of learning Teleportation in the caves of the monkeys in the Dusty Dunes Desert near the Talah Rama), they don't obtrude too much into the dire mission at hand.

And though there is still some of the inherent grinding and farming for Experience Levels, money and rarer items that many early RPGs are notorious for, EarthBound more than adequately prepared the gamer for any struggles to come by sharing one of the best gifts that Nintendo bestowed upon the video gaming community: its peerless strategy guides. (Click here to revisit the "C'mon, buy some of my junk!" section from before to view a recap.)


                    

Say, "fuzzy pickles."
Say, "fuzzy pickles."

For a game grounded in a current-time, farcical facsimile of the world, there is a lot to be said for globetrotting and thrill-seeking through the vastness of some of the wildest locales and imaginative settings ever seen in game form.

And just to prove that the gamer wasn't going through some hallucinogenic, fever-induced reverie, the friendly (and equally enigmatic and inexplicable) photographer spins down from the heavens—like some deus ex machina at major junctures in the game's plot—to direct Ness and friends to smile, pose and say, "Fuzzy pickles!", as he snaps key scenes from the game to preserve on film and prove through all posterity that this tricked-out mind trip did actually happen. What a trip!

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This music is one of my greatest accomplishments. ...Brick Road

Ness' Sound Stone records the eight melodies of 'Your Sanctuary' - creating the personal soundtrack of his life.
Ness' Sound Stone records the eight melodies of "Your Sanctuary" - creating the personal soundtrack of his life.

Music plays a major role in the success of EarthBound. Within the game, you have to travel to eight, key locations, defeating a guardian at each to recapture a fractured piece of an epic melody. Each new, melodic fragment becomes part of "Your Sanctuary"—and consequently, is recorded within your Sound Stone.

By game's completion, each recovered segment of the octet slides into place to eventually fill out the mystical "music of the spheres", if you will, that will place Ness in tune with the earth and himself, thus empowering him enough to finally brave Giygas.

Besides playing out like an episodic serial that steers the story forward, the overarching theme of music becomes entwined in gameplay in other ways, too.

Musical mishaps and mischief add to the adventure, as Ness and his mates partake in side-excursions, travelling on tour with the contractually-doomed band, The Runaway Five, and handling lovesick fans of Miss Venus, the sultry singer who headlines the Toppola Theater in Fourside.

(To further illustrate the significance of music, how many other games can boast of treating the gamer to multiple, in-game concerts and dropping surprise, musical interludes to serve as intermissions from the action—in the forms of a Tea Break and Coffee Break during play?)


                    

With such weighty importance placed on the role of music, it was imperative to find a maestro to convey the emotions and whimsy of such a unique adventure and experience. So important, in fact, that two primary composers were tasked to craft the oeuvre.

Here is a concert to showcase the in-game musicians (Miss Venus and The Runaway Five) performing the songs conjured up by the actual game's musicians and composers.
Here is a concert to showcase the in-game musicians (Miss Venus and The Runaway Five) performing the songs conjured up by the actual game's musicians and composers.

Keiichi Suzuki is an influential musician, whose career has spanned decades, beginning in the early 1970s. Suzuki is a pioneer of rock music in the Japanese language and has formed a number of bands (Hachimitsu Pie and the Moonriders included). Over the years, he has composed several songs and jingles across various mediums—even in video games and film scores.

Hirokazu Tanaka (known also as "Hip" Tanaka and "Chip" Tanaka at different stages in his career) has enjoyed a storied history with Nintendo and beyond. His electrical engineering know-how and love and talents in music drove him to become a legendary figure.

He is an industry innovator, not only renowned for his audio, music and chiptune work (Donkey Kong, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Tetris to name a few), but his involvement in the development of products, such as the Game Boy, the Game Boy Camera and the Game Boy Printer! Beyond Nintendo, he moved on to join Creatures Inc.—most recognizable for its co-ownership of the Pokémon franchise.

(Rounding out the audio duties—as deservedly-showcased in the game's end credits—are Hiroshi Kanazu and Toshiyuki Ueno listed under the banner of ADDITIONAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY. The SOUND STAFF included Toshiyuki Ueno (once again) and Kozue Ishikawa and was helmed by SOUND DIRECTOR and SOUND PROGRAMMER, Hirokazu Tanaka (staying extra busy indeed).)


                    

With the same poetic license that guided Shigesato Itoi's writing style in free hand, the composers were granted equal freedom and latitude to scribble outside of the margins of typical sheet music—stretching rigid bars and staffs into elastic places of shifting time signatures; colorful chords; dissected, audio samples; playful production; and inspired visions of world music.

Our audio auteurs mapped out the score, synchronizing each surreal scene or bizarre event or quirky character with an equally wild soundtrack, free-forming with a set of musical tools from the SNES' sound chip that greatly expanded upon the limits of the 8-bit, chiptune capabilities of the prior generation's NES.

(This meant that our musicmakers were no longer trapped within the constricted limitations of the NES sound card—or the RP2A03 or just 2A03. This older card, typically, allowed for four, unique sound waves to be stacked and played simultaneously (although, there was actually a fifth channel, as well—the DPCM channel—that could play back low-quality samples, but which was seldomly used throughout the NES library). These sound waves formed distinct shapes (square and triangle, for example) and were mapped, or assigned, to each of the four, available channels. There would usually be a channel dedicated as a lead, melody line; another as a bass line; one open to harmonize with or play counterpoint to either the main, melodic track or the bass track; and the fourth, which generated "noise" for percussion sounds.)

But, the burgeoning technology of SNES audio superseded the possibility of sounds, bound and tied down to four tracks. With the tantalizing prospects of the Super Nintendo's S-SMP audio chip on hand, the collaborators could now unleash the power of a veritable, virtual, 16-bit orchestra.

The music of EarthBound carried the maverick spirit of the game's unconventional tone and design with bold, new approaches that inspired and dared future composers.
The music of EarthBound carried the maverick spirit of the game's unconventional tone and design with bold, new approaches that inspired and dared future composers.

With batons swinging and fingertips flexing their creative might upon keys, knobs and sliders, eight, distinct channels or tracks—all culled from a robust soundbank of realistic and recorded instruments—could be stacked simultaneously and sequenced, then embellished with the flair of a conductor. Sonic effects, like reverb, echoes, pans and dynamics (or directed changes in the loudness, tempo and/or timbre of instrument sounds in the music), added that sense of a human touch, while actual, compressed audio samples added actual, human vocals! (More about this shortly.)

With this bounty of tools available and Itoi's blessings of raw, endless, creative freedom, it was like Suzuki, Tanaka and the team were handed the keys to and had free reign over the entire ear candy shop! Their equivalent to a sugar rush, though, was sonic overload and an explosion in free expression and experimentation.


                    

With a disdain for the status quo (as was apparent in the spirit of EarthBound, as a whole), the musicians disregarded the simple, seamless loops and predictable time signatures and rhythms found in most game music. Drawing from their vivid imaginations, inspirational sources and personal tastes, the dynamic duo were poised to gift the gaming community something never experienced musically before.

Being that the game was presumably set in an alternate America, some of that inspiration was mined straight from genres borne from American roots: blues, jazz, Motown soul, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop.

Other streams came from a global pool with world music bringing balance, as it represented non-Western settings in the game. Lending fresh variety, world music provided a pastiche of interesting sources of instrumentation from the sitar to exotic percussion, as well as importing intercontinental flavor into the domestic experience.

Still, eerie, otherworldly imaginings of discordant sounds—like random blips, beeps, whirs and tappings—introduced extraterrestrial dread and wonderment.


                    

Ranging from the cacophonous to the mellifluous, the eclectic, collective soundtrack was as unpredictable, yet brilliant, as the equally-outlandish story and oddball characters that were lying within the shadowy reaches of Giygas' mind control.

Suzuki, Tanaka and the team employed experimental expression through a multitude of musical methods and ingenuity through programming tricks to really bring something special to the project. Here are some of the audio avenues they took:

  • exploration of additional music genres (not previously stated) - salsa ("Enjoy Your Stay" with castanet-like embellishments), reggae ("Hospital" and "Friendly Neighbors"), metal ("Pokey Means Business!") and an early, possible influence on the trip-hop genre with its slowed-down, echoey atmospherics; swirling, wobbled samples; and abrupt, stutter-step, drum fills (like "Moonside Swing", "Boris' Cocktail" or possibly "Kraken Of The Sea"). Also, traditional or perhaps dynastic music stylings from China ("In Dalaam, There Is A Warrior" and "The Floating Kingdom Of Dalaam");

  • polyrhythms or cross-rhythm - competing, distinct, rhythm lines playing on top of one another adding complexity ("Someone's Knocking At The Door" with its multilayered rhythms of percussive knocks tapping above synth lines or "Sailing To Scaraba"/"The Voyage Continues" or "Bazaar");

  • time signatures beyond the common time (4/4) that makes up the overwhelming majority of most popular music in the West ("Snowman (Snow Wood Boarding House)" 6/8 or "Threed, Free At Last" 4/4 with occasional bars of 6/4 mixed throughout or "Moonside Swing" ???);

  • usage of dynamics to draw attention ("The Evil Giygas Attacks!" or "Tessie Has Been Sighted!" or "A Flash Of Memory" with crescendos);

  • panning effects to add spatial depth, motion and direction (to show off the still-fairly new technology found in those television sets that actually had stereo speakers) ("The Evil Giygas Attacks!" or "Tessie Has Been Sighted!" or "Caverns Of Winters" or "Bad Morning To You" or "The Monkey's Maze" or "Bazaar" or some of the reverb heard in "Boy Meets Girl" or "Moonside Swing");

  • abrupt and dramatic changes in song structure, unique passages in the music and unexpected transitions to keep the listener engaged and to make their ears perk up and take notice ("Otherworldly Foe" or "Pokey's House" or "Paula's Theme" or "Opening Credits" or "Happy-Happy Is Blue" or "Pokey Means Business!" with its 8-bit, chiptune urgency early on, erupting into a driving, metal thrash or "Heartless Hotel", whose tempo fluctuates wildly, while the notes stretch from pitch-bending effects);

  • musical dissonance bringing discordant notes, distorted samples and actual pitch-bending to convey a sense of unease and uncertainty and to emotionally trigger a sense of tension ("Boris' Cocktail" or "Pyramid" or "Heartless Hotel" and "Bad Morning To You" with their twisted takes on the "Enjoy Your Stay" and "Bed And Breakfast" tunes, respectively, that play when Ness and friends visit and awake from a hotel);

  • polyphonic music texture stacking or overlayering of distinct sounds or music lines to form interesting and unexpected mixes ("Someone's Knocking At The Door" or "Your Name, Please" or "Boris' Cocktail" with a disguised melody of guitar plucks and distorted "Star-Spangled Banner" wafting over an erratically-looped soundbed);

  • sampling taking loops of low-fi, low resolution recordings, compressed and crunched down into an early instance of video game music à la Hip-Hop;

  • subtle selections of appropriately-chosen sound effects buried within the tracks of some of the game's songs to accent locales in the game, like waterfall splashes ("Tessie!" or "Peaceful Rest Valley") or the sea spray, crashing of waves and sea gull calls looping beneath ("Summers, Eternal Tourist Trap") or gurgling, bubbling water sounds ("The Submarine") or sleigh bells that recall the snowy chill of Winters ("Snowman (Snow Wood Boarding House)");

  • insertion of incidental music and/or background noises to help immerse the gamer within the settings and plot with ambient sounds and other aural effects associated with specific places ("Rude Awakening" or "Onett's Arcade");

  • actual recordings of some of the audio team making their ways into the mix... everything from the fully-credited voice of Miss Venus, ETSUKO VENUS KAWANO, to live, belching sounds as attributed to HIROKAZU BELCH KOYANO.

As you can see, our musicians and sound designers were able to marry the SNES technology to musical technique for some brilliant effects. But, breaking down the technicals is one thing; getting to the heart and soul of the music, the way it expresses and delivers emotion and tells a story is a whole other thing.

Not easily quantifiable and beyond the limited words of the critic, music occupies an ethereal space and speaks to the listener in a deep and personal manner that few other sensations can match.

EarthBound's music attained these lofty heights in a way that few other video game soundtracks were able to do at the time of its release. Its experimentation, originality and variety were unparalleled.

Songs as discrete as the quirky and wonky, yet confident strut of "Onett Theme" that plays early on as Ness' adventure unfolds are in the same collection of tracks, as the song that mimics the driving feel of good ol' fashioned, early American rock 'n' roll when Ness fights "Franky".

There is the swelling of triumph, as Ness recuperates and recounts all that he has accomplished in "You've Come Far, Ness"—a rock-arena anthem that simmers under organs, bass and a delightful set of drums. There is the mellow, seaside stroll and breezy, carefree jazz of "Summers, Eternal Tourist Trap". And there are so many more.

It cannot be overstated enough: the music was an integral part of the whole, EarthBound experience. Its music breathed life into the set pieces and stirred up soul in the characters on screen. It exquisitely-reinforced and accentuated events in the story—sometimes through subtlety, sometimes not so much so.


                    

And yet without the context of the events in the game, music and sound—on a purely, game design level—were epic, groundbreaking and unprecedented. The creative impulses felt full-on unbounded... aided by wonders in the technology and sound design departments.

EarthBound's musical influences run deep. Several real-world references creep into the game's dialogue.
EarthBound's musical influences run deep. Several real-world references creep into the game's dialogue.

Today, it is nearly unfathomable to comprehend how the sound team was able to smash and compress so many pre-recorded, instrumental clippings; actual hidden, musical samples; and vocal snippets within this cartridge... all without the miracles of modern game design—no voluminous amount of digital storage to save to; no compact disc to laser-etch several minutes of Red Book standard, quality music into. (It is almost as if the team borrowed some of that future, alien technology and knowledge that Buzz Buzz spoke about from Giygas himself and applied it to the audio!)

(To be fair, Konami's usage of warbled voices on a number of its NES cartridges (The Adventures Of Bayou Billy, Double Dribble, TMNT III: The Manhattan Project and Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse to name a few) predated EarthBound's arrival on better hardware, but in some cases, felt shoe-horned in without being such an intricate piece of each respective game's story.)

With all of these rich banks of stored sounds, the game succeeded in presenting so many multifarious styles of music being mashed-up and hidden in plain earshot: rock and roll riffs from the father of Rock 'N' Roll; snatches of songs from one of the biggest bands in the history of music; jazzy intonations and the lonesome, lounge-like swing set of Miss Venus; reggae riddims with dub syncopations; smoky, horn-injected blues; hip-hop accentuated drum patterns that breakdown into turntable scratches; etc.

The front cover of the Mother 2 music album.
Mother 2's (or EarthBound's) album cover.

True, revolutionary rotations to parallel the game's revolutionary spirit!

And to show appreciation for such a lauded, landmark soundtrack, exceptional steps were taken to get the music to the fans officially and directly. Various pressings and releases of compilations, medleys, MIDI piano renditions and covers have continued to trickle out for public consumption throughout the years. (Lest us not forget, all of the fan tributes and musical reinterpretations that audiophiles of the EarthBound sound have produced, performed and released across the internet and/or played live over that same span.)

Here is a listing of official Mother 2/EarthBound releases (Note that some of the following albums include song listings from the first game in this noted series—Mother (also referred to as Mother 1 or outside of Japan as EarthBound Beginnings).):

  • Mother 2 original soundtrack, CD album released in Japan by Sony Records in 1994;

  • a compilation album, Mother 1 + 2, released by Toshiba-EMI in 2003. Fresh orchestrations of selections from each game were featured—not the original music found in-game in the cartridges;

  • a 2004 reissue of the 1994 Mother 2 album by Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc. This re-release contained an inclusion of special, (PSI MIX) remixes;

  • an album of MIDI piano versions of songs off of the Mother 1 + 2 soundtrack in 2006, published by SkyPort Publishing;

  • a remastered record of MOTHER 2 in 2016 from Ship to Shore PhonoCo./Phonograph Co. Marking the first time ever that an official release came out outside of Japan, this vinyl pressing offered a variety of character-themed, color options for collectors;

  • a Mother Music Revisited album released in Japan by Columbia Records and Better Days that featured tracks recorded, produced and self-covered by Keiichi Suzuki in 2021.
    (Note that there are only a few songs from EarthBound in this release.)

For a video game to have this many official, album releases—let alone, a video game that does not contain an orchestral or operatic score or was not performed and recorded by a live symphony and/or chorus (like many big-budget RPGs now)—it goes to show the enduring adoration for the originality and talents of its musical masterminds.

And to end this section on a grace note, to truly appreciate how amazing it was to push this earlier progression in the technological evolution of gaming audio, one must understand the limited capacity of memory or space that was available at the time.

The actual size of memory for the entire EarthBound game comes in at a little over 3 MB (megabytes). The amount dedicated to the extensive soundtrack is nearly 1/3 of that, accounting for well over a whopping 100, distinct songs!

When you take into consideration that there were no compact discs, flash drives or cloud services to store this sizable soundtrack on, the marvel and magnitude of the feat begins to sink in. When you realize that these songs each had to be painstakingly-programmed for those signals to be processed and generated through, using that older technology with a limited CPU (central processing unit) capacity that strained from pushing only minute amounts of RAM dedicated to the task, the technical accomplishment is impressive.

To grasp the idea of how incredible this was, just consider the fact that many popular songs on the radio or streaming services time out at close to three minutes. A typical, three-minute song in .mp3 audio format, compressed at a fairly high quality level, would be larger than the contents of the entire EarthBound game—soundtrack and all game coding included!

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I have to try and sort it all out... thinking is tough for me.

Carrying this piece to a climactic coda, this single review or essay—wordy, though it may be!—does not even begin to scratch the surface of all of what makes this game especial.

Listen. Free your mind and KNOW what you must do.The creative team behind EarthBound freed its mind of all limitations on what an RPG or gaming, in general, could be. The result? A timeless classic filled with imagination, inspiration and intelligence.

Envisioned from a worldview of American popular culture and news cycles from the 1990s—through a rather nuanced, if stereotypical, cynical and/or sensationalized scope—EarthBound plays out as an allegorical analysis, or an indictment on modern culture, a skewered slice of Americana - apple pie, tart with worm in its warm filling.

Under the director's eye—or in this case, writer, Shigesato Itoi's, sharpened pencil—the lens casts the EarthBound world or experience from the vantage point of a funseeker gazing upon a funhouse mirror: a warped, contorted image that is, at once, exaggerated and jarring, but still familiar enough to be recognized.

Some semblances, however, are too similar to be explained away by that popular, legal disclaimer that is indiscriminately attached to many film and television projects: "The characters, events, etc. portrayed/depicted are fictitious. Any similarities to blah, blah, blah are purely coincidental. Et cetera. ..."

In this case, similarities to America are served with a distorted projection (Eagleland, the Franklin Badge, Tomas Jefferson, "Boris' Cocktail" with its deformed version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" - America's national anthem, phasing in and out-of-sync and tune).

The influx of the sensational being constantly beamed from America funneled through Itoi's filter providing a seriocomic or tragicomic telling of the state of things in the early to mid '90s.

There is so much to unpack in this game.

Ness decided to return after summoning all the courage and energy he had.
Ness, go forth into the light to continue.

It is quite a testament to the insightful and sharp writing in this title that many of its critiques still sting and strike sensitive chords with the collective psyche and current zeitgeist of our society some three decades later!

The preposterousness and exaggerations of some of the situations, events, places and characters aren't so far-fetched... especially if we start to self-analyze our own society and the societal roles we play in it with a critical, honest eye. The results may be eye-opening and life-altering. And all of this from a title that, on its surface, looked like a childish, cartoonish game, crammed into a curiously-large box with a baffling name and vague artwork, stuffed with immature props, gags and pranks and poor marketing that almost made it a lost relic to time.

The game's script is intelligent, humorous—at times, poignant and deep—peppered with pop-culture references ("A Beatles song, XXXterday. Can you fill in the blanks? Yes      No") and snarky retorts that induce, at times, out loud guffaws and chuckles.

It is high-brow art or morality play meets low-brow, comic relief with a non-stop spectacle of eyebrow-raising antics, incidents, rendezvous and happenstance interactions and characters. Accessible enough to touch every audience on some level of humor and sentiment.

The writing is point-on, delivering the perfect punchlines, befitting the campy, B-movie setting and plot that the game opens with and ultimately, climaxing and resolving to the warmth and bittersweetness of the closing of a magical, coming-of-age adventure encompassing fleeting seasons of innocence and youthful friendship. And what a fun ride it is - for the kid in all of us.

There are so many endearing details that can take you back to being a kid again: our quartet can run around, exploring the neighborhood; catch butterflies (even if they are magical ones); ring a bicycle bell as they pedal through Twoson (an actual command that was mapped out to the R shoulder button on the original SNES controller!); actually have adults encourage or expect you to be "playing Nintendo"; and choose slime as your favorite thing in the world. Paula has a collection of ribbons she can wear in her hair. You can hang out at the arcade; pay a visit to the local library; sneak into a secret hangout/clubhouse... oh, and you even have a pet dog. (No—you may not be able to pet him, but you can actually hold a conversation with him... so there's that!)

EarthBound (SNES) - Even if Ness' name wasn't up in lights, he and his epic adventure would and will live on and linger in gamers' memories for a long time.
Even if Ness' name wasn't up in lights, he and his epic adventure would and will live on and linger in gamers' memories for a long time.

As those youthful memories of adventure wash over you, nostalgia brings tender moments that touch the gamer emotionally, as well.

These include Paula's tearful reunion with her father; the need for Ness to call his Mom often, so that her loving encouragement can cure his debilitating bouts of homesickness; Ness' Dad taking the time to phone his son (you) to remind you to take a break after playing for a long stretch; on a number of occasions, some of the friendly, unaffected animals (dogs, monkeys and mice) showing appreciation to Ness' kindness to them ("You're awfully kind taking time out to talk to a mouse. This mouse loves you!"); and of course, the ability to take a cuddly, comforting Teddy Bear along during your adventures. This game has heart ♥.

I recommend that everyone experience this title... there are so many nuanced details to discover and each individual is likely to take away something different and personal from it.

It is a beautiful time capsule that whisks you away to an era that wasn't necessarily more innocent or happier, but one that was untouched—perhaps unspoiled—by the new realities of living in a digital age. It is very interesting to compare some of the sweeping changes between now and then... seeing aspects of everyday life depicted in a semi-realistic representation from the mid 1990s.

Its groundbreaking features and ideas helped to transform a genre in the RPG and make it more accessible to a broader audience. It hit high notes (customization of character traits and gameplay; strategic point of attack for enemy encounters; Rolling Hit Points; Hint Stand) more often than not (cumbersome, inventory menu; limited number of storage slots of items for each character).

Its impact was so strong that the game feels as relevant today as it did, fresh out of the box, back in 1994 and 1995. Its innovations are still felt today in modern RPG titles and its maverick iconoclasm and devil-may-care, free spirit can be felt in a number of critically-acclaimed releases from independent studios and game creators now.

If you weren't alive and gaming in the mid 1990s or if you missed it the first time around, transport yourself back—just like Buzz Buzz did—and return to 199X with EarthBound for an unforgettable, out-of-this-world, gaming experience!

b. jones © 2021—April 8, 2024, September 19, 2024

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+'s vs. -'s

PROS:
  • personal customization of character names, your pet's/dog's name, favorite homemade foods and favorite things from a list
  • text speed of messages can be selected, speeding up the pace of the typical RPG (a welcomed option, especially during this era)
  • ability to choose stereo or mono sound setting (when stereo speakers and sophisticated, surround sound systems were new and uncommon)
  • choice of display colors for style of windows (for text and dialogue boxes)
  • a Hint Stand can be found in several locales... for a fair price, the Hint Guy will give you a clear clue as to what step you should follow next to keep progress moving fluidly without frustration of what to do or where to go next (an excellent addition to any RPG!)
  • AUTO FIGHT option speeds up the drudgery of building experience (and can be turned on and off easily)
  • teleportation abilities help to traverse the world more quickly
  • freedom to move in all eight directions on the directional pad is welcomed
  • amazingly-diverse and original soundtrack; fresh and unique, boldly-experimental, genre-hopping, utilizing actual lo-fi/low res audio and vocal samples in a game cartridge, before games were on compact discs
  • excellent writing (shocking, at times; heartwarming, other times; turning focus on taboo topics in society, let alone, video games - child abuse and neglect, police brutality, predatory strangers, kidnapping, alcoholism, drug abuse, religion, racism, politics, sexuality, homosexuality, etc.)... hilarious dialogue, symbolism, metaphorical indictment on society and culture, with an American slant
CONS:
  • poor and misleading advertising campaign may have repelled its target audience, resulting in poorer sales and popularity at time of release
  • ambiguous design of box art may have left potential buyers confused as to what type of game it was and what the game was actually about
  • difficulty ramps up as you progress, but the game gives fair warning
  • limited storage slots for collected items for each character
  • cumbersome, inventory menu and interface
  • (Nitpick: Some graphics could have been more detailed or better-rendered (especially enemy encounters). [purely subjective])

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If you like EarthBound, perhaps you would like these titles:

  • Mother/EarthBound Beginnings [Famicom, Game Boy Advance, Wii U Virtual Console] and Mother 3 [Game Boy Advance]
    (direct progenitor(s) and descendant that carry continuation of overall story and family tree)

  • Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest series [NES, various]
    (an influential franchise that impacts/impacted so many games in the RPG genre—including EarthBound)

  • Chrono Trigger [SNES]
    (another stellar JRPG that came out around the same time and that features a diverse cast of teenaged characters (and others) whose adventures deal with time-travel and different eras)

  • Final Fantasy series [NES, SNES, PS1, various]
    (an influential franchise that impacts/impacted so many games in the RPG genre—including EarthBound)

  • StarTropics and Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II [NES]
    (unique, North American exclusive titles with similar plots surrounding an American kid who likes baseball, Mike Jones, who wears a cap and has a baseball bat (at times) and yo-yo; ultimately, he fights an extraterrestrial threat)

  • Maniac Mansion [NES]
    (campy, B-movie feel with a cast of local teens setting out to rescue a fellow friend from an evil doctor; it has a contemporary setting and common, everyday items and actions are used)

  • The Goonies II [NES]
    (a cast of teenaged characters in an action/adventure title against adults and other foes with the use of yo-yos, slingshots, bombs and other similar, everyday items)

  • Destroy All Humans! [various]
    (an open-world action title that has a campy, B-movie feel with aliens and irreverent humor, set in an era of the Red Scare and Cold War in American sites)

  • Undertale [various]
    (an acclaimed indie title that has influences from EarthBound)

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Secrets & Tips for EarthBound

ENEMY ENCOUNTER STRATEGIES

In many RPGs of the era, random enemy encounters provided frequent frustration for gamers. EarthBound introduced a system to help alleviate some of the aggravation.

On the map, the gamer can change the rules of engagement with the enemy at the point of contact.


This Friendly Mole shares hints with Ness about what happens when he encounters enemies from certain directions.

  • If Ness and his party bumps the enemy sprite from the side or behind, a green swirl will spin upon the screen, signifying a successful, sneak attack and early chance to strike the foe first.
  • If Ness and his party and the enemy touches facing each other, a black swirl will indicate a fight beginning on neutral ground.
  • If the enemy collides with Ness and his party from the back or side, a red swirl will appear and the enemy will strike first.


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ROLLING HP TRICK

EarthBound innovated another aid to improve the chances for survivability in RPG gameplay: the Rolling HP (Hit Points, or health).

Essentially, in other role playing titles of the time, whenever an enemy would land an attack on any member(s) of your party, the damage would be deducted from their health immediately. If a powerful enough blow would hit, the effects would prove fatal and could instantly end the game.

However in EarthBound, landed attacks cause damage to roll, or count down, over a small frame of time. If a critical hit strikes, your character's/(s') HP will tick down to zero. But, instead of an instant death—like what was the norm in other games—if you are able to take your turn in battle and provide a boost of health or even defeat the enemy before your life reaches 0 HP, you will survive the encounter and can avoid the need of reviving your unconscious party member(s)!



In EarthBound, the innovative feature - Rolling HP - gives Ness and friends a chance to survive fatal damage, if they are able to defeat an enemy before their Hit Points (health meter) roll down to 0.


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INFINITE ROCK CANDY TRICK

This special trick is an exploit that can boost any one of the following statistical attributes permanently, by one point: Speed, Guts, Vitality, IQ or Luck. Note that the specific attribute is randomly chosen per attempt.

In order to perform this glitch, your party will need Rock Candy and a number of condiments - preferably Sugar Packets because of their compatibility and low price. Stock up on your chosen condiment, but be sure to leave one, remaining slot at the end of your items. Fill that last spot (the bottom-right position) with your Rock Candy.


In EarthBound, a special glitch will boost random attributes quickly, as long as Rock Candy is in the final slot of your list of items and you have, at least, one, extra condiment - preferable the Sugar Packet.

Next, enter a battle and use your Rock Candy on a member of your team. The EarthBound's Player Guide does a good job in explaining the rest:

"When he or she [any member of your party] uses the Rock Candy, the condiment [one of your supply] will be spent instead of the candy. Pretty sweet. In using the Rock Candy, you will experience a lift in any one of your attributes such as IQ."

Note that you can use this strategy repeatedly in battle—just make sure that you always have, at least, one remaining condiment in your stash when you use your Rock Candy and make sure that your Rock Candy is positioned in the last slot of your list of items. (The final slot will shift, as you use up condiments... just be sure that there are no items occupying the last, available spot in your list or any items positioned after your Rock Candy, or the trick will end.)

This tactic can help your party attain high levels remarkably fast.


In EarthBound, a special glitch will boost random attributes quickly, as long as Rock Candy is in the final slot of your list of items and you have, at least, one, extra condiment - preferable the Sugar Packet.


RETURN TO REVIEW - 1UP RATINGS SCALE FOR EARTHBOUND - PROGRAMMING/DEBUGGING SECTION
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INFINITE MAGIC BUTTERFLIES

If Ness and the party touches a Magic Butterfly, the PP, or Psychic Points, will be restored. However, if you need more PSI Power to max out your levels, simply exit the room or area where the Magic Butterfly is fluttering in and re-enter to find another one in its place. Repeat as needed.



The Magic Butterfly in EarthBound.

In EarthBound, the Magic Butterfly will regenerate to fill up Ness and friends' PP levels, if they leave the screen or room and return.


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ONE PERSON'S TRASH (CAN) IS ANOTHER'S TREASURE

There are several Trash Cans found throughout the towns and environs of EarthBound. Even though it isn't always advisable to do so in our real world, if Ness examines the contents of these receptacles, he may find that another person's trash is, indeed, treasure.

In EarthBound, looking through refuse in Trash Cans may reward Ness with useful items.

Food, like the Hamburger above, and other useful items, like broken gadgetry for Jeff, may be under that next Trash Can lid.

Food, like the Hamburger above (), and other useful items, like broken gadgetry for Jeff, may be under that next Trash Can lid.



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JEFF'S SPY TECHNIQUE SHORTCUT

As was previously discussed, we learned that each of our team members possess unique abilities. It seems that Jeff's being "really near-sighted" is a blessing, not a curse.

During a battle, if Jeff uses his exclusive Spy ability, he will be able to reveal the weakness of a foe or see if an enemy—alone or in a group—is holding an item that will drop after defeat. In the case of the latter, the item will be taken automatically.

(NOTE: Any item obtained by the Spy command will not be able to be used until after the completion of the battle.)


Jeff's Spy command is extremely useful:  it can reveal enemy weaknesses and whether the enemy is holding an item or not.


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POO'S MIRROR TRICK

Similar to Jeff's unique power, Poo possesses the ability to Mirror, or copy the attacks of an enemy during battle. (A random enemy may be chosen, if there are more than one foe in a fight.)

Mirroring an enemy could produce a myriad of outcomes depending upon which character is copied and which of its inherent attacks is mimicked, so the gamer should take heed and plan accordingly. Also, the gamer cannot control Poo's attacks. Finally, Poo cannot mirror a boss.


In EarthBound, Poo has the special ability to Mirror enemies, which can produce a wide variety of possibilities.


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SKIPPING EVERDRED BATTLE

Once Ness reaches Twoson, it is entirely possible to avoid battling Everdred as long as Ness doesn't get too close to Everdred's house within the far reaches of Burglin Park.



Everdred, the local crime boss of Burglin Park in Twoson.


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FREE MONEY IN TWOSON HOTEL

Early on in your adventure, Ness can gain a quick boost of cash by breaking rules of etiquette in the Twoson Hotel. If you find the guest pictured below () and keep pestering him by repeatedly trying to talk to him, he will eventually pay you to go away.



In the Twoson Hotel, if Ness keeps talking to this guest, the man will eventually give Ness $50 to go away.

In the Twoson Hotel, if Ness keeps talking to this guest, the man will eventually give Ness $50 to go away.

In the Twoson Hotel, if Ness keeps talking to this guest, the man will eventually give Ness $50 to go away.



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GRAPEFRUIT FALLS PASSWORD

Once you visit the Saturn Valley Village, one of the Mr. Saturn characters will reveal the secret to accessing a secret base found behind the Grapefruit Falls.

Mr. Saturn says, "Base... Secret. Base behind Grapefruit Falls. Password? I tell. Belch man say 'Say password.' Then stand still, wait for 3 minutes."

According to Mr. Saturn, once you reach Grapefruit Falls, you will be prompted to "Say the password!"

In EarthBound, to enter the secret base behind Grapefruit Falls, the game uses a clever trick of 'breaking the fourth wall': simply do nothing with the controller for 3 minutes!

Once you see this message, you literally just need to stand still and not move Ness for three minutes. Your patience will pay off after the three minute break... you will be permitted to enter the secret base then.

In EarthBound, to enter the secret base behind Grapefruit Falls, the game uses a clever trick of 'breaking the fourth wall': simply do nothing with the controller for 3 minutes!



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1UP Ratings Scale for
EarthBound

Presentation: 10    Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Presentation score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10

Unconventionally-packaged within a large box, the game, instantly, stood out amongst the SNES' other games, which typically came delivered in a smaller, standard size.

The design of the box art presented a bold image of Super Starman (kind of representing an unofficial mascot of the game) standing in front of a field of swirling, bold colors. While not quickly evident, descriptions and photographs on the back of the box cleared up what the game was about.

Nintendo's inclusion of its "Incredible 128-page Earthbound Player's Guide" was a brilliant addition. Throughout its informative pages and fun layout—including "six Ident-A-Smell playing cards" for added interaction, the gamer was drawn into and guided through the world of EarthBound.

There are some minor spelling/grammatical discrepancies, but for the ambitious scope, not enough to detract from its high-quality. Overall, the marketing plan and direction may have undermined and sabotaged some of the sales and original reception, but not at the fault of the artwork and design in the game's presentation.

Originality: 10    Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Originality score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10

The originality of EarthBound is light-years beyond most other games. Decades later, it is still hard to emulate its wide-sweeping and profound effect on not only RPGs, but gaming, in general. It has influenced writing, humor, parody, in-game customization features, music and key aspects of quality-of-living features in RPGs and other genres, as well as helping to shape a number of releases, especially from independent studios and creators. The scope of its plot, storyline and how it borrowed from elements of everyday life and combined them with glimpses from the news cycle, literary, film, music and other aspects of popular culture is still impressive. It managed to make the mundane magnificent.

Creativity: 10    EarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.comEarthBound (SNES) - Creativity Score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10 on www.Retro-Grades.com

Shigesato Itoi's imagination and the range of sources and story elements he pulled inspiration from were astounding and made for the wildest of storytelling... everything from elements from everyday real-life to current news events to famous literature to b-movies and much more! Add to that the wildly creative impulses of the music team in composition, arrangement, sampling, genre choices, etc. Then, allowing the gamer the ability to customize a number of features in gameplay and to the starring cast gave the gamer active involvement in showing his/her/their creative flair as well!

Programming/Debugging: 9    Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Programming or Debugging score of 9 Final Starmen out of 10

Excellent script with far-reaching scope and few, if any, glaring inconsistencies or errors within the game's massive set of characters and interactions. There was a strong showing in testing. Proofreading of the extensive dialogue showed minimal grammatical and spelling mistakes. Its stellar, cross-cultural translations deserve the highest of praise.

There were a few issues with internal programming (like the rock candy glitch (Click here to learn more about exploiting this trick.), but it was disclosed as a secret strategy within the EarthBound Player's Guide, as an actual benefit to the gamer—not a detriment!).

There may have been one issue in design (but this could be nitpicking for it did not break the game) - the item management/user interface of awkwardly scrolling through inventory could have been less cumbersome, but is counterbalanced by a preponderance of several, thoughtful, trend-setting features for customization and quality-of-life gameplay that would go on to inspire future titles, both inside and outside of the genre.

The inclusion of a set of deviously-clever deterrents for would-be thieves of the game (regional lock, copy protection and anti-piracy measures) was the ultimate coup-de-grâce included by the programming staff. (Click here to learn some of the cunning obstructions used.)

Challenge/Fairness: 8    Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Challenge/Fairness score of 8 Final Starmen out of 10

RPGs from the era were still trying to find their comfort zone. For many, there was no reliance on the gamer's reflexes and memorization of patterns as was seen in other faster, action genres (like fighting, sports, shmups, platformers, etc.), so the challenge and fairness had to use a different set of metrics—like through the amount of and difficulty of random encounters, how they happened, to what extent did the experience points and leveling up help in progress, the ability and ease of being able to save the game's progress, wayfinding methods to help the gamer know what to do next, if he/she/they are stuck, etc.

EarthBound curtailed a lot of the frustrations inherent in other popular RPG series of the time, thus making the gaming more enjoyable and feeling more fair. Innovative steps to think outside of the typical norms offset major issues found in the genre... like simply making the enemy parties visible on the overworld map to make them easier to avoid or face; the use of the color-coded (red, black, green swirls) strategy of which direction you encounter an enemy party; the Rolling Hit Points feature; Jeff's Spy ability to know if an enemy party is carrying a useful item or not quickly; the more available chances to save your game often; and the Hint Stand.

Although all nuisances weren't eliminated—there were still difficulty spikes in a few areas with tough battles early on and later that struck hard (like in Onett near Arcade, for example)—these features made for a more streamlined, flowing state of play and progression that moved the plot along with fewer frustrations that were out of the gamer's control.

Replayability: 7    Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Replayability score of 7 Final Starmen out of 10   

Inherently after the grind and time invested in playing through many RPGs, one may want to refrain from a replay. However, EarthBound proffers the pure joy of discovering or resparking several things that may have been missed the first playthrough, like obscure or humorous references that may have slipped by, wry jokes that may have been missed, special characters that may have not been found, unique items and their uses, rare items or weapons that may have not been dropped or created for the completionist.

Controls: 10    Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Controls score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10

Button assignment in post 8-Bit games could make or break certain games. The complexity of controls and the addition of more buttons to map those SNES controls to, cater well to EarthBound. Traditionally, since a lot of fast-paced or well-timed button mashing isn't necessary in most RPGs of the era, the focus on the control system falls more into navigating Ness. The directional pad syncs well with all eight of the cardinal directions and diagonals.

This game did another rare, but more accessible option with its control scheme: its mapping of the buttons allowed for the gamer's choice to either play with both hands or the ability to play one-handed since the SELECT and B buttons were interchangeable and the L shoulder button's functionality allowed "you [the player] to control the game with your left hand only", according to the manual.

The Auto Fight feature still allows the gamer to play through the crazy story, but affords them some breathing space to be able to enjoy the fighting, if they have been struggling or just want a break.

Beyond the movements and actions in game, EarthBound presented more freedoms in game play. Beyond the physical attributes of playing, the user can control in the file setup options: Text Speed, Sound Setting (Mono or Stereo settings - when those were a real option) and other customizable features, such as type of Window/interface designs, character attributes (names, dog name, favorite foods and favorite things) and certain other quality of life features like text speed and automated options during battles. A lot of thought and freedom of choice options garner high marks in control.

Finally, as an additional nod to childhood fun and memories, the creators even assigned a special control that allows Ness to use the bell when he rides on his rental bicycle (by pressing the R shoulder button on the SNES controller). Pretty slick!

Graphics: 6    Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Graphics score of 6 Final Starmen out of 10

At its time of release, the 16-bit versatility and upgrade allowed other games' graphic artists and art departments to flex more colors, animated frames, special effects (Mode 7 effects on the SNES) and detail.

EarthBound seemed to go for more of a simplistic or cartoonish style, which played well off of the madcap, bonkers script, plot, events and characters. Although some may think that the rendering of graphics could have been improved—had it been done—it may have actually detracted from some of the lightheartedness, fun, campiness and silliness that candy-coated the heavy undertones and lessons of society and culture that the game furtively delivered.

Furthermore, if graphics would have been made more realistic, some enemies would have been more horrific and unsettling, while others would have been more grotesque and disgusting. Still, other characters could have become more suggestive.

And this doesn't even take into account some of the violent attacks, as Ness bashes people and animals with his bats, Paula with her pans and Jeff uses any number of explosives and guns. All in all, the game's kid-friendly rating would probably have disappeared for sure... especially since it is surprising that this game—through its, at times irreverent and controversial, at other times, more adult and/or serious themes—made it through the ESRB (ratings board) relatively-unscathed in the first place.

Music/Sound FX: 10    Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Music/Sound FX score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10

The soundtrack and musical direction is revolutionary. The expansion of available, multilayered audio tracks; boosted MIDI-quality sounds; ability to capture and compress snippets of recorded audio teemed with the unbridled creativity of the audio composers... plus the variety of music genres, sources of audio samples and playfulness with musical direction with altered tempos, dynamics, pans, echoes and more across the newer availability of stereo speakers in television ... all made for a master class in video game music production.

Ending: 10    Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10Final Starman from EarthBound - Ending score of 10 Final Starmen out of 10

After defeating one of gaming's most unsettling, wildest and indescribable bosses, the great ending offers some cathartic release and wistful joy... and unusual in that after the final boss is defeated, the entirety of the game can be explored, the post-game extended with characters and places revisited and new responses and more being revealed upon each renewed encounter.

FINAL SCORE:

90 Final Starman from EarthBound's out of a possible 100

Overall, EarthBound is a masterpiece in storytelling/narrative. Where others stayed fairly lock-in-step, right in line with conventions in the role-playing game genre, EarthBound defiantly turned left and blazed new trails with its bold and fresh takes on writing, setting, marketing, presentation, quality of life and customizable features in gameplay, audio design and so much more.

Its cult status has only grown as more have discovered its iconoclastic approach to game design. If you are a fan of RPGs and/or fun (and funny) storytelling and would like to experience a true classic and early innovator in the field, EarthBound is an essential play and must-have in your collection!


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EarthBound (SNES)

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Ness Peace Sign from EarthBound