Welcome everyone to a brand new challenge for the blog – Mae’s 30 Day Video Game Challenge for 2024! Well, it’s more of a monthly celebration of all things gaming, where I gush about 30 of my top games overall instead of answering daily prompts. They can be some of my forever favorites, games that have recently piqued my interest, or even games incoming that I’m currently hyped about. I may even group some games up in categories here and there, maybe as games from the same series, or various versions of the same game, to hype them up as why I enjoy them so much. We’ll see where the night takes us haha.
Day Twenty-Six: Earthbound
Did you know…this game stinks? No, really – this game smells. Because when this successful game was brought over to the United States, they decided to market the game that way. With scratch-and-sniff advertisements to appeal to what they felt would sell to American kids at the time, this game severely bombed on its initial release. It also didn’t help that the game was so expensive because it came with the full game guide in its box alongside the game…because the game was considered hard and they wanted people to be able to have something to help them play it. It was tracking to be one of the most unsuccessful releases for the console at the time….
Except this game…is absolutely amazing and deserved so much better here! Heck, the entire Mother franchise (as it is known in Japan) deserved better here in the states. A role-playing game with locations inspired by modern day towns and cities in western culture, Earthbound follows Ness as he learns of a threat to their world, and must band together with a few new friends to try and save it. It’s quite a quirky little tale with a lot of secrets hidden within its pixels. Also, the dialogue is hilarious at times, and can even break the fourth wall regularly with its players. Seriously, this game makes you want to talk to those around you and see what they’ll say. I’ve busted out laughing quite a few times and there’s even dialogues I’m still coming across to this day that I don’t think I’ve ever come across before. It’s a lot of fun!
What seemed to separate this game from other games of its time is the rolling counter for HP when you’re fighting your random encounters. The rolling counter scrolls down the HP of your fighters in real time instead of instantly, so if you have received mortal damage, you can actually time it out to heal yourself before the counter hits zero, therefore saving your characters from falling in battle. It’s an awesome feature that I wish we saw more in RPGs like Earthbound.
Also, the music and art of this game is a lot of fun – with lots of colorful maps and bops to bring joy to every player. Of course…when the darker moments come up, those darker moments are also felt on screen and through the music – bringing the player along for whatever the protagonist faces, making you feel the weight of what’s happening on screen.
The gameplay can get a bit repetitive in the fights; however, the system does work in your favor the more you fight. You can instantly KO fights when you overpower the enemies in the area, winning without actually having to go to the battle screen. You do have to fight quite a bit though for money for items, which can get to be a pain in and of itself. Plus, money gets transferred to your “bank” after every fight and you have to call your father in order to take money out of your bank account. It’s a lot of steps but all in all, it’s nothing that I think will truly drive people away from the game.
What’s really eye-opening about this game though is that Ness has been a huge character for Nintendo for years – he’s also been seen in every single Smash Bros we’ve had. But until recent years when internet became more prominent, most in the states just weren’t aware this franchise was a thing. Luckily it’s become more popular thinks to pushing from some key Nintendo execs and the fans, we’ve actually seen rereleases of Earthbound on virtual console along with Earthbound Beginnings which took forever to come stateside. Now if only we can get Mother 3 (or Earthbound Hurry Up Nintendo and Make Us Weep Pls as I’d like to name it). Who knows – maybe we’ll even see epic remakes like we’ve seen with Super Mario RPG!
So no terrible marketing from the 90s, this game doesn’t stink at all. In fact, IT’S PHENOMENAL! It’s an experience that should be appreciated – and I’m hoping more and more fans get the chance to try this game out overall!
Here’s videos going into this game as well as the franchise as a whole, talking about its history, its legacy, and more. From Cinemassacre, Press Start to Continue, Nafan, Sketch aV, Thane Gaming, PGReviews, Xygor Gaming, and Leadhead.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post! It’s been a lot of fun revisiting these games with you guys and I look forward to finishing out this series strong. Lots of love and stay safe out there!
*~Mae's Corner~* 