Earthbound | Déjà-Review

By: Ryan Seiler

Posted: July 2, 2012

Every hobby has its grails. Game collecting is no different. Grails can be rarities (Nintendo World Championships, Little Red Hood, or Super Noah’s Ark 3D, just to name a few), are incredibly rare and fetch insane prices. Such games aren’t usually what you would call quality, though; their rare status stemming from low demand and lackluster development. Other grails are more a matter of personal taste typically being referred to intimately by owners as classics. Games like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, meanwhile, embody classic, defining a generation, selling well in their time, and beloved by players then and now. These titles are high on collectors’ wish lists as well as short lists of games never to part with. Earthbound is one such game, topping the charts for both most wanted and most beloved, and demanding triple digit prices for even poor condition cartridges.  

I spent years wondering what was so amazing about this near mythical game. Nintendo seemed disinterested in it, barely acknowledging its existence. Little did I know that Earthbound was the second game in the Mother series, the first and third only having a Japanese release. In Japan, characters from Mother 1, 2, and 3 are among Nintendo’s most famous,  fitting right in with Smash Bros.’ most famous characters, even though in other countries the Mother misfits might seem out of place.

I recently acquired this legendary cartridge, thinking it would at least be a good addition to my collection. I expected a traditional 90’s RPG. You know the kind: a band of four sprites set out on a journey to save the world, leveling up as they go, blah blah blah. But after five hours had drained away, it was 5am, I hadn’t blinked in ages, and I began to realize Nintendo had committed one of the most heinous gaming crimes of the ‘90s.

Story

Earthbound was a product of the ‘80s, as a series anyway. Certain ‘80s tropes are infused into the story, chief among them the clichéd, Spielbergian story of extraterrestrial events forcing a ragtag band of kids to set off on an adventure to save the world. Seriously, play Earthbound and tell me if you don’t walk away wanting to watch E.T.. It begins with a youngster named Ness (or whatever you choose to call him) waking up after a meteorite rocks his home town of Onett. From there, Earthbound circumvents the normal “children know best” plot in which adults slowly figure out that the kids were right all along (once it’s too late, of course). Instead, the adults trust their children from the start. The kids trek off into mortal danger on a regular basis anyways. Who cares? I mean there are only aliens intent on destroying humanity. What’s the harm? 

Ness eventually treks his way up a nearby mountain to its crater. He is accompanied by Pokey, a pig nosed little puke, who sharply escalates from local friend to one of the stories main antagonists. The meterorite turns out to be the first in a series of events destined to bring forth the evil Giygas, an embodiment of evil hellbent on destroying Earth and Her inhabitants. An alien bee from the future tells Ness that he is fated to destroy Giygas, after undertaking a grand quest. You have to get used to quirk like this. Alien bees, Loch Ness monsters, killer trees, Earthbound has it all.

On his journey, Ness is accompanied by three other children: Paula, proficient in Psychic abilities, Jeff, adept in weapons and inventions, and Poo, a stereotypically enlightened martial artist. They form a bond that even breaks the fourth wall, as they are often told that there is a fifth character witnessing, or perhaps controlling, the events of the story. See! Earthbound didn’t forget you! The theme of predestination admittedly seems forced, but I felt like it added another layer to the game; one that truly allows the player to forge a connection with the story and invest in everything that occurs.

Story progression proceeds much the way you would expect in a 16-bit RPG; reach a new town, find out what’s preventing you from going any further, crawl through some dungeons, defeat a boss, save a town, move on to the next town. Rinse, lather and repeat. The key differences come by way of dialogue. Nintendo is known for good localization, but Earthbound is a triumph of its time. I cannot remember ever talking to every NPC in a town just to read what they say in any other game. NPCs all have something relevant to offer the player, are often genuinely funny, and, like the game itself, interact with the player himself.  At one point, an NPC asked me if I had seen a giant ant, or if I had gotten that far in the game yet. Sure enough, the next boss was a giant ant. Saving toys with the player as well. Ness’s father keeps a record of his travels and, upon saving, asks Ness if he wants to continue on. When Ness, being you, answers that he wishes to quit, his father tells him that he should probably just turn the console off.

Story  9/10

Gameplay

Enjoy mashing on one button for the entirety of a game? Excellent. Go play Earthbound. Nintendo loves streamlining gameplay. The Paper Mario series is a great example. The first game was an already a simplified, user friendly take on the current crop of RPGs. By its last release, Paper Mario had been whittled down to a simple sidescroller with character-level progression. The mission to transform the complicated, often convoluted and tedious RPGs of the era into something far more accessible was well under way during Earthbound’s development.

Ness and his companions control incredibly well. The directional D-pad is smooth and responsive and comes in handy in certain areas. With a simple tap of the L button, Ness can talk to NPCs and interact with his environment; a great improvement from its predecessor which forced players to select each option in the menu. Combat in Earthbound is just as lovably odd as the rest of the game. Luckily, it has enemies in the environment who initiate a battle sequence upon contact. It is welcomed to see exactly what attacked Ness before a battle ensues. Final Fantasy and Pokémon always suffered from this one particular flaw; your character is minding their own business then BAM you’re in a battle. (I did find a rather advantageous exploit. If an enemy is approaching a weakened, near-death Ness, walking away until the enemy disappears off the screen allows for a reprieve from battle. When returning, there is a chance that said enemy is no longer there and Ness can be on his way. Just don’t assume that a cleared area will stay that way forever. It won’t.) When a battle scene begins, you’re given the choice of attacking, using a PSI, using an item, defending or running away. A fifth option – auto-fighting – is present but might just be the most useless thing ever.. Most of the time, it involves mindlessly slamming on the A button until an opponent is defeated a la Pokémon. Just note: certain enemies are harmed by particular PSI moves, which make them invaluable during boss battles. Save PSI as often as possible. 

Combat unfolds in first person, as Ness and the gang face their foes head on. Again, Pokémon, albeit without your Pokémon sitting in the foreground. I would have preferred traditional Final Fantasy-style combat, with characters visually attacking the enemies on screen. Instead, the attackers merely blink when hit. PSI attacks, however, appear as psychedelic displays, distinguishing themselves from one another and actually appearing to inflict damage on your foes. If every attack were displayed in this fashion, combat might not feel so tedious.

In case you hadn’t already gathered, Earthbound is weird. Really weird. And there’s no better representation of this weirdness than Ness’s enemies. Early in the game you face run-of-the-mill animals; runaway dogs, spiteful crows and coiled snakes. Later, enemies range from Ramblin’ Evil Mushrooms to Mad Ducks and Enraged Fire Plugs. Yes, you fight fire hydrants. I found myself playing into the wee hours of the morning just to see what I’d find around the next corner. And I was never disappointed, even though the novelty wears off once you’ve faced your hundredth Starman.

Along the way, death has little consequence and is, in some ways, actually beneficial. You will die -- a lot, especially early in the game when most enemies have almost the same HP Ness does – but when you die, or faint I suppose, the game doesn’t restart from the most recent save. Instead, Ness resumes play from the last place saved and retains any experience gained and goods collected. Game mechanics like this aren’t just incredibly helpful, they prevent you from losing everything you gain between a save and a hard-fought battle. Bosses can be an insurmountable, but after losing once or twice, Ness and friends accrue enough experience on the return trek that what once was impossible is suddenly nothing more than a quick tussle; effectively eliminating most grinding.

Gameplay 8/10

Presentation

Looking like the 16-bit version of an elementary schooler’s doodles, Earthbound may not impress on first inspection. But while the level and character designs are almost over-simplified, I found myself – no pun intended – drawn to the unique art style, finding it rather endearing. The clean layout adds to the quaint atmosphere too. Every town is spread out in such a way that it can easily be navigated without feeling empty at all. Each environment is alive with wandering townspeople, buzzing cars, fluttering butterflies and vicious wild animals running around trying to slaughter the only children in town. It’s cute really.

As for sprite animations Earthbound is fairly cut and dry, spare walking animations. Come to think of it, I only ever thought about animations while writing this review. Each character already has so much personality packed into a few dozen pixels that there was no need for further characterization. Now don’t get me wrong, a few more animations would have been a great addition and could have potentially opened up plenty of new plot devices. But having none at all never seemed to impact the story. Would have been nice to see Ness punch Pokey right in his smug face though.

The music of Earthbound is iconic and some of the best on the Super Nintendo.  Songs range from upbeat melodies for towns such as Onett and Twoson –yes the first four towns are named after one, two, three and four—to eerie atmospheric noises and tunes while in dungeons or caves. Keiichi Suzuki, one of the game’s composers, praised the Super Nintendo for the freedom it offered them as artists. This freedom shines when looking back at the sheer number and variety of tracks (133 to be precise). A highlight of the score to me was in how some tracks stood out from the level or scene they were placed in. After a few hours of gameplay the disjointed feeling of the tracks eventually faded and I could appreciate exactly what the developers were trying to accomplish. Each song did indeed fit into every scene. They add a strange, otherworldly at times, tone to the story and only feel off when compared to the typical or cliché.

Presentation 8/10

Overall

If you really want to experience the best the SNES has to offer I cannot recommend Earthbound enough. Sure its gameplay could have used a bit of variety but you don’t really play Earthbound for the controls or battles. You play it for the adventure, the story, the dialogue, and the characters. That’s where Earthbound shines.  Boasting one of the most endearing cast of characters and some of the best writing in the 16 bit generation it deserves to be played by any Nintendo fan; hell any video gamer at all. And seriously Nintendo, no one cares about Wii Sports or Nintendoland, give us more Earthbound!

Earthbound  8.3/10

Game Info

Platform: Super Nintendo Entertainment System
ESRB: K-A

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Ape, Hal Laboratory

Release Date: June 5, 1995