Game Specs for EarthBound

NOTE: When possible, the game's official manual or official documentation from the game maker's company or Nintendo is used — with spelling or terminology presented as is, despite some translation errors.

SPOILER ALERT: Some of the categories below may have a question mark to conceal important or secret revelations in the game. If you would like to see the unknown revealed, a rollover option or external link will be attached to the question mark.

Title

EarthBound

Company

(Presented By)

Nintendo

(In Association With)

Ape Inc.

(And)

HAL Laboratory, Inc.

Developer(s)/Designer(s):

(Producer) Shigesato Itoi
(Director) Shigesato Itoi
(Writer/Written By) Shigesato Itoi
(Game Designer) Akihiko Miura
(Art Director) Kouichi Ooyama
(Program Director) Satoru Iwata
(U.S. Conversion Director) Kouji Malta
(Translation Directors) Marcus Lindblom, Masayuki Miura
(Programmers) Satoru Iwata, Satoshi Mitsuhara, Yoshimi Takahashi, Seiji Otoguro, Bou Nakajima, Seika Abe, Yoshiki Suzuki, Jun Yamazaki, Toshiyuki Ueno, Takashi Sasaki, Takashi Sakuma, Kazuo Sato, Kouji Malta
(System Engineering) Makoto Kanai, Takashi Sakuma
(Graphics Artists) Kouichi Ooyama, Hiroyuki Sakiyama, Kouichi Yamada, Makio Kataoka, Tetsuya Notoya, Yasunori Yanagisawa
(Special Effects Artist) Tsunekaz Ishihara
(Font Designers) Akihiko Miura, Kouichi Ooyama
(Concept Of Saturn Font By) Shigesato Itoi
(Graphics Data Manager) Yasunori Yanagisawa
(Message Data Managers) Masayuki Miura, Hitoshi Matsui
(Assistant Programmers) Ikuho Hagiya, Katsuyoshi Irie
(Assistant Game Designers) Kouichi Ooyama, Takehiko Masuda, Chiaki Yoshizawa, Masayuki Miura, Akihito Toda, Hitoshi Matsui, Katsuyoshi Irie
(Assistant Scenario Writers) Masayuki Miura, Akihito Toda, Hiroyuki Jinnai
(English Text Writers) Marcus Lindblom, Dan Owsen
(Translators) Keiko Tamura, Yuka Nakata
(Chief Debuggers) Takumi Akabane, Hitoshi Matsui
(NOA Debug Coordinators) Sean O'Connor, Michael Kelbaugh
(Ape Debugging Team) Takahiro Nagai, Junichi Akama, Akira Matsumoto
(Nintendo Debug Coordinators) Tohru Hashimoto, Tatsuya Hashida
(Nintendo Debugging Team) Kazuhide Ohgoe, Atsushi Miyake, Hajime Nakamura, Mao Hamamoto, Mayumi Tada, Makoto Kedouin, Kimiko Tsuchida, Sayaka Komura
(Map Checkers) Mapper Kojima, Katsuyoshi Irie
(Hardware Support) Hironobu Kakui, Shigeki Yamashiro
(Production Managers) Takashi Kawaguchi, Keizo Kato, Ikuo Hyakuta, Yukari Saito
(Coordinators) Takashi Watanabe, Ryo Kagawa, Hiroyuki Jinnai, Etsuko Kawano, Kazuyuki Yamamoto, Atsuko Kawahara
(Special Thanks To) Kenji Ando, Miyuki Kure, Takayuki Onodera, Fukashi Omorita, Yukio Takahashi, Kazuhiko Amemiya, Yasuhiro Kumagai, Yoshio Hongo, Naoko Kanazawa, Benimaru Itoh, Motohiro Ishii, Hirokazu Koyano, Masao Tottori, Nobuyasu Makino, Hiromi Tamagawa, Nancy Yoshitake, And Many Others
(The Producers Wish To Thank) Ishel Artvision, Moonriders Office, Sedic Inc., Seta Co., LTD., Lucky Nice, Okubo Design Studio, On Associates, Sai Koubou, Ashura Office, Shogakukan, Shincho Sha
(Chief Coordinator) Marcus Lindblom
(Line Producer) Tsunekaz Ishihara
(Coproducer) Satoru Iwata
(NOA Producer) Mike Fukuda
(Supervisor) Shigeru Miyamoto

Composer(s)/Musician(s):

(Music By) Keiichi Suzuki, Hirokazu Tanaka
(Sound Director) Hirokazu Tanaka
(Sound Programmer) Hirokazu Tanaka
(Additional Music Composed By) Hiroshi Kanazu, Toshiyuki Ueno
(Sound Staff) Toshiyuki Ueno, Kozue Ishikawa
(Sampling Voices) Shigesato OK? Itoi, Yukari Whistle Saito, Hirokazu Belch Koyano, Etsuko Venus Kawano, Takashi Mu Watanabe
(Opening Rock Guitar) M. D. Seeger
(Sound Producers) Akio Ohmori, Ritsuo Kamimura

Year:

1994, 1995

Release Date:

June 5, 1995
Japan as Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu - August 27, 1994

System:

Super Nintendo (SNES)

Genre:

RPG, JRPG

Ratings/Suitable For Age Group?:

T for Teen (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes, Crude Humor)

(Adult issues and allusions to and examples of serious subject matter, such as kidnapping, cults, police brutality, drug/alcohol hallucination/intoxication, etc.; final confrontation may be scary or disturbing for younger audiences - hard to describe)

Arcade Version?:

No.

Port To Other Game Systems:

Mother 2 (Super Famicom)

(the first and original release in Japan of EarthBound known abroad)

(Wii U) Virtual Console as a digital download from the Nintendo eShop

Picture of Wii U Virtual Console version of EarthBound.

Nintendo 3DS XL

Picture of Nintendo eShop version of EarthBound for Nintendo 3DS XL

SNES Classic Edition

Picture of SNES Classic Edition, which contains EarthBound.

Nintendo Switch Online - Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Part of Franchise:

Second title in Mother / EarthBound series

Rarity/Availability:

Cartridge is rare and expensive; complete set in original box with strategy guide even more so (at least, in the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area);

Downloads from Nintendo's Game Store for older consoles and handhelds are currently unavailable;

Game is included in collection found on Super NES Classic Edition and currently in the Nintendo Switch Online - Super Nintendo Entertainment System subscription service!!!

Add'l Game System Peripheral Needed To Play?:

N/A

1 or 2 Player:

1 Player

Number of Reserve Players:

N/A

1-Up's

N/A

Life Meter

HP stands for Hit Points in this box seen during Battle Screen in EarthBound

Yes. Hit Points (HP) serve as the Life Meter

Password

Battery

Yes

Continue?

Yes.

Perspective/Orientation Gameplay

Open World with 2.5D perspective - Overhead/Bird's Eye View

Number of Levels

8 "Your Sanctuary" sites spread across several towns and areas

Checkpoints?

N/A

Save points?

Yes. Automatic saves when you use Phone to call Dad to save your progress.

Uninterrupted Play?

No. Upon death, play stops and resumes from last physical location of Phone where the game was saved.

Internal Map(s)?

Yes... once you borrow the Map from the Onett Library.

Score?

Difficulty Settings

Time Limit?

Heroes and Heroine

Ness

Paula

Jeff

Poo

Sidekick(s)/Cast

Yes - Numerous NPCs (non-playable characters) that you engage and interact with

Weapons

The EarthBound's Player Guide provided a complete list of each of the main character's available WEAPONS. Click the link below (↓) to see high-resolution image scans:
Click here for the complete list of each character's Weapons (pg. 122)

Items/Equipment

The EarthBound's Player Guide provided a complete list of the game's extensive items and equipment, which included PROTECTION and GOODS. Click the links below (↓) to see high-resolution image scans of all:
Click here for the complete list of Protection items (pg. 123)
Click here for first page of complete list of Goods (pg. 124)
Click here for second page of complete list of Goods (pg. 125)

Power-Ups

Yes... see ITEMS/EQUIPMENT section above

Power-Downs

(There are instances where the heroes and heroine may be affected detrimentally by certain items, etc.—like Poo's offense dropping if he is equipped with a Yo-Yo.)

Main Enemy

Giygas

Person/Place Being Saved

Save the World

Objective/Goal

Defeat Giygas

Ending?

Yes

Secret Code(s)?

???

Stage Select

N/A

Invincibility

N/A

Extra Players

N/A

Continues

N/A

Sound Test

N/A

Additional Secret Codes

Trivia/Little Known Facts

The cover art for EarthBound depicts a mock-up battle screen, showing a Final Starman facing off against Ness (as is seen in the reflection in the enemy's visor area). However, it is worth noting—without revealing any spoilers—that this particular image could not actually exist in the game.
Although EarthBound is actually spelled with one word, on the opening UFO attack animation screen, EARTH and BOUND were displayed as two, separate words.
The first four towns in EarthBound contain the first four numbers' names sequentially: ONETT, TWOSON, THREED and FOURSIDE.
Being a game whose plot evolves around outer space, it should come as no big surprise that a number of astronomical terms are used in the naming of characters, items and places in EarthBound: Venus, Mr. Saturn, Saturn Valley, Starman (variety of enemies), Star Master, Moonside, Polestar (another name for the North Star, which is presently Polaris - but can change over time) and meteorite.
- Miss Venus
- Mr. Saturn
- Starman
- Star Master
- Polestar Preschool
- Meteorite
The game is a veritable cornucopia of popular references that add a lot of charm. Click here to visit our EarthBound Popular References Galore! section for a working list of the numerous allusions to popular culture and other external sources found within.
By pressing the R shoulder button on the SNES controller, you can actually use a Bell while riding on the rental bicycle in Twoson.
Ness’ name is a reference to the NES.

Or possibly as an anagram of SNES.
The family of Octobot characters in EarthBound (Military, Marauder, Mechanical and Ultimate, respectively) are named as having eight limbs, but are all actually illustrated with only four.
EarthBound has a very unusual cast, but two of the most peculiar characters in any game can be found within the Dusty Dunes Desert. A Black Sesame Seed and a White Sesame Seed can be found within the sands of the vast desert. These strange characters may have the distinction of being gaming's smallest characters—appearing as a single black pixel and a single white pixel, respectively!
As we are aware by now, EarthBound's Eagleland is modeled after America. In one of the clearest examples of that, the state and name of Ohio is distinctly memorialized by the Crazed Sign enemy. This may be one of gaming's most unusual inspirations and might be the only such instance of one of the United States being depicted in a game in such an odd, imaginative way.
Although Ness' Dad plays a fairly-prominent role in the game and is present for his son, he is never actually seen during the entirety of the game. His phone calls keep you connected. Ironically enough, he is symbolized by a phone—even during the ending, he is depicted as a black telephone.
According to the EarthBound Strategy Guide (page 4), under the "Controller Functions" heading, the game can be controlled "with your left hand only" by using the L shoulder button on the SNES controller. Here is the actual text:

L Button

The L Button can be used to "check" your surroundings or "talk to" someone. It also allows you to control the game with your left hand only. By pressing Select, the HP and PP window appears. If you then press the L Button, the Command Window appears. Pressing Select again clears the screen.

Below is a cropped shot of the text above:
Some—if not all—of the sprites (pixelated images) seen in the game are actually flipped horizontally, when they change directions, moving from right to left or vice versa. This results in odd instances of mirrored graphics. This can best be seen when the helicopter (HELI), city buses (GRAY HAND BUS) or the Runaway Five's tour bus (RUNAWAY) move to the left—the words written on them are actually reversed and illegible.
EarthBound contains some of the same sound effects within its music that can also be found in Kirby's Dream Course. Both were developed by HAL Laboratory around the same timeframe. (For instance, "Fall!" from Kirby's Dream Course sounds like it could have been incorporated, mixed in and pitched-up or down in any number of songs or audio clips found in EarthBound.)
EarthBound and the Kirby series cross-pollinate once again... this time it involves Kirby's Copy abilities that he is so well-known for.

In Kirby: Planet Robobot (2016, Nintendo 3DS) and Kirby Star Allies (2018, Nintendo Switch), ESP (ExtraSensory Perception) can be copied "just like a certain boy with PSI" (as referenced in Kirby: Planet Robobot). Both series were developed by HAL Laboratory.

Kirby: Planet Robobot

Kirby Star Allies

To further illustrate the influence, Kirby wears a blue baseball cap with red bill to the side—just the opposite of the red baseball cap with blue bill that Ness wears.

Besides the PSI abilities, Kirby—throughout the Kirby series—can also copy the Yo-Yo weapon from EarthBound. See the examples below (↓):

Kirby Super Star (1996, SNES)

Kirby Super Star Ultra (2008, Nintendo DS)

Kirby Star Allies (2018, Nintendo Switch)

Kirby Fighters 2 (2020, Nintendo Switch)

Aside from the games pictured above, the Yo-Yo is referred to in a number of other games in the franchise, only not as a power or weapon.
There is an item called a Bag of Dragonite that Ness and the gang can acquire and use in battle. Fans of the Pokémon franchise would also know that a Dragonite is one of the many pocket monsters to be found in their games.

It may be more than a coincidence, but several, former employees from Ape Inc., who helped with the development of EarthBound, would go on to found Creatures Inc. This Japanese, video game company would later join Game Freak Inc. and Nintendo as co-owners of Pokémon.
EarthBound has a set of built-in, copy protection measures with nasty side-effects that are ready and primed to pounce on any pirated copies of the game.

These tests begin with checks to ensure that your copy of the game matches the proper, intended region of the SNES console you are using. Memory size tests are run as well. If there are any violations detected, messages will display warning against illegal copying of games that can and will freeze the game.

The next line of defense for any would-be, hacked games that may have slipped by is an elevated number of random, enemy encounters. Aside from the sheer frustration the gamer may have, the higher occurrence and abnormal areas where they are generated and the unusual types of spawns could trigger the game to crash.

Finally, if the perpetrator is somehow able to make it to the end of the game, during the final battle, the game will lock up and upon restarting the cartridge, all save files will be erased!

RETURN TO REVIEW - 1UP RATINGS SCALE FOR EARTHBOUND - PROGRAMMING/DEBUGGING SECTION
EarthBound's large box held more than just the game cartridge; it was packaged with the EarthBound Player's Guide, which contained a set of scratch and sniff cards: "six Ident-A-Smell playing cards".

These cards depict a random array of characters from the game (Carbon Dog, Shrooom!, Mondo Mole!, a monkey with banana, Ness and an inexplicable, green cloud); each that presumably corresponds to compatible scents.
The area known as Deep Darkness in the game is aptly-named; you are unable to see very far without a special item. That item is the Hawk Eye... however, it is interesting to note that although hawks have some of the keenest eyesight of any creature in the animal kingdom, that these birds of prey actually have poorer vision in the dark—even with the ability to detect ultraviolet colors.
In Mother 2, the Japanese version of the game, at a certain point, Ness appears in the nude. This was changed to having Ness appear in his pajamas for the North American release. However, on close inspection of the strategy guide (page 111/page 113 (official .pdf file from Nintendo online)), there is an image of Ness in the nude on the bottom left of the page. This was an obvious oversight on the part of Nintendo of America.
Ness appears as a playable character in every game of the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. (1999, SNES), Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, GameCube), Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Wii), Super Smash Bros. 4 (2014, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018, Switch).

Additionally, a number of characters from the EarthBound / Mother 2 gaming universes can be found as special, unlockable Assist Trophies, Stickers and Spirits throughout the franchise.

Ness has his own Amiibo figure from Nintendo. It can perform a range of special tasks with specific games across the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Switch.

Included in that list of compatible games are:

	Miitopia (2016, 3DS) Creates a costume with the same outfit as Ness
	Super Mario Maker (2015, Wii U) Creates an 8-bit version of Ness to be played
	Yoshi's Crafted World (2019, Switch) Creates a yarn Yoshi dressed in Ness' clothing and colors

The beam of light that carries Buzz-Buzz early on in the game can be controlled with limited movements by the second controller.
Amphibia was a Disney Channel and Disney XD, animated series by Matt Braly that centered around a 13-year-old girl, Anne Boonchuy, who is magically transported to a world of frogs, toads and more.

During the season 1 episode, "Reunion", in an opening scene that shows the Saint James School, four of the middle schoolers in the shot are clearly modeled after Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo. The episode aired in 2019—some twenty-plus years later after EarthBound's release—and pays clear homage to the game.
At the end of the last song, "Ending 3 - Smiles and Tears" (5:05), during the credits, the words, "I Miss You", are heard.
Nintendo of America and its censors have had a long record of inconsistency when trying to lay down the law with what they deem acceptable. Shigesato Itoi pushed them to their farthest limits with the brashness and effrontery of his iconoclastic EarthBound.

How was this game handled? Because it questioned or attacked so many perceived ideals and norms of society (especially in American and Western culture), it stood in direct line of opposition to the guidelines set in place. Which side of the line did the game fall on when it came to fair use versus parody versus infringement?

The issues grow even more complex when we ponder the different standards in international laws when dealing with trademarks and copyrights.

Let's take a brief look starting with religious imagery and references:

• Tombstones in the shape of a cross
• Crosses on caskets
• Even the Red Cross that is displayed in some areas
• Several euphemisms and religious phraseology and actions

Speaking of that red cross... the Red Cross is an actual, internationally-protected and recognized trademark. The organization usually fiercely guards its symbol, but it sneaked through in EarthBound. So did several other trademarks and copyrights (or likenesses and similarities thereof):

• The red, delivery trucks seen in some of the towns (especially the versions seen in Mother 2)
• Hand-Aid
• Topolla Theater
• Brick Road and Toto
• The Sky Runner
• The Gray Hand Bus city buses
• The "Night-time stuffiness!" attack
• Frankystein Mark II
• "XXXterday", "Money, that's what I want" and various other songs and music-related allusions

The sight of blood in games on Nintendo's earlier line of consoles has always been a point of contention. The objectionable red has been palette-swapped for white, green and purple in other games.

However, the Mondo Mole and Guardian Digger foes in EarthBound have what could be seen as blood near their sharp claws and mouths, although it is not clear. (In this case, for the censors, the orange or lighter brown coloring may be able to be explained away as mud or dirt.):

Finally, there are drugs and alcohol:

• Inconsistent usage and unnecessary removal of the words, drugs and drugstore
• Magic Cake
• Jackie's establishment is a bar in Mother 2; in EarthBound, it is a cafe
• The Annoying Reveler enemy is described as an "obnoxious drunk"

We won't delve into Mother 2 too extensively, but realize that Japan has a different set of laws that pertains to using copyrighted and trademarked materials—furthermore, the values and cultures of Japan and America are unique, so censorship of specific topics and/or items that one may consider more or less sacred, moral, ethical, legal, cherished or protected, may not be viewed the same in the other, so there may be room for discrepancies to creep in (and not out of malice or disrespect necessarily).

(For even more information on this subject, click here to visit the EarthBound Popular References Galore! section.)

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Game Specs for EarthBound