EarthBound / Mother 2!

[Amissapanda]

It's good to see someone else has uncovered this gem. Have you played Mother 1 and 3?
Also, I haven't read any previous posts before this. If this has an obvious answer, have mercy on me and accept me in the fan club of Mother.

Yessss. I was worried that the games might be too old/too niche for the community here, but I'm glad there's a few fans around!

I haven't played Mother 1, but I've played and Let's Played Mother 3! Fantastic game. I can't even begin to express how much I enjoyed it (even if it broke my heart).

But man, if there was a Mother series club, I'd be all over that.

 

[Geoni]

They're all good games and can all be played on an emulator. I highly recommend starting with mother2/earthbound though, because 3 is, well I won't spoil anything.

 

[Amissapanda]

They're all good games and can all be played on an emulator. I highly recommend starting with mother2/earthbound though, because 3 is, well I won't spoil anything.

Yeah, that's a good point to make. If you haven't played Mother 2/Earthbound and you have played Mother 3... well, there's a couple a links in there that won't make much sense to you. That said, though, I wouldn't say it's required to play EarthBound first. It just fits the timeline a bit better and makes Mother 3's plot a bit more meaningful.

 

[PaperLuigi3]

We gotta get a group going. Anyone on starmen.net?

 

[Geoni]

Actually playing mother 3 works as first if you want to get the sad one out of the way.

 

[Amissapanda]

We gotta get a group going. Anyone on starmen.net?

I'm on there, but I haven't used it in a long while. And I had to make a second account some months ago because I completely forgot the login for my old one from back in 2004.

Actually playing mother 3 works as first if you want to get the sad one out of the way.

Well, it's less about the sadness and more that Mother 3 kind of spoils a few things for EarthBound/Mother 2. I can't really explain without getting into spoilers themselves, but I imagine you understand what I mean.

 

[Ponyu]

You guys, now I'm listening to the Mother 3 soundtrack again. It's amazing, the depth and love in these sounds... aww :')

And you make me all giddy for playing Earthbound whenever I finally get a Wii U!

 

[Amissapanda]

You guys, now I'm listening to the Mother 3 soundtrack again. It's amazing, the depth and love in these sounds... aww :')

And you make me all giddy for playing Earthbound whenever I finally get a Wii U!

It really is some amazing stuff. I love listening to piano and orchestrated versions that people have done of the songs, as well. There's some gorgeous renditions out there!

Hehe, glad to hear it! If you enjoyed Mother 3, you're almost bound to enjoy Mother 2/EarthBound, in my opinion.

 

[RhinoK]

Alright! Started Earthbound again and I'm in Twoson.

Maybe I'm pulling strings here but this piece of music from Mother 3 (putting in Spoilers bc it contains spoilers for the MOTHER 3 ending)

Spoiler

is pretty powerful and eerie, especially some of the sounds used in the video (if you've played MOTHER 3 you'll recognise some and piece it all together)

But the sound that villagers make when they're 'thinking' in New Leaf sounds similar to the beginning of the song. Maybe it's just me desperately trying to make a link but I can hear it.

 

[Amissapanda]

Alright! Started Earthbound again and I'm in Twoson.

Maybe I'm pulling strings here but this piece of music from Mother 3 (putting in Spoilers bc it contains spoilers for the MOTHER 3 ending)

Spoiler

is pretty powerful and eerie, especially some of the sounds used in the video (if you've played MOTHER 3 you'll recognise some and piece it all together)

But the sound that villagers make when they're 'thinking' in New Leaf sounds similar to the beginning of the song. Maybe it's just me desperately trying to make a link but I can hear it.

Nice! I'll be replaying it myself, pretty soon. Probably starting in October at some point.

Hmm, while I can't hear exactly what you mean with the music and the villagers thinking sound, I think it's pretty normal for our minds to connect things that way. I found a lot of things "similar" between my favorite anime and Mother 3's plot, for example. I'm sure a lot of them are a huge stretch, but it's fun to make those kinds of connections and sometimes your brain just automatically intertwines them.

That said, this isn't related, but after my father mentioned once that K.K Slider sounds like he's singing about "meatballs" in ACNL, I can't unhear it. Ever. Every song is meatball, meatballs.

 

[Amissapanda]

Whether you're an EarthBound/Mother 2 fan or not, this is an INCREDIBLE ANIMATION. They just finished it after 4 years of work on it.

Basically, this is EarthBound in five minutes. There are game spoilers in it.

Oh my god, I've watched it like ten times and I can't stop. It takes me on SUCH a nostalgia trip and revives my love for the game and the experience even more through their charming animation.

 

[Nerd House]

Spoiler

Whether you're an EarthBound/Mother 2 fan or not, this is an INCREDIBLE ANIMATION. They just finished it after 4 years of work on it.

Basically, this is EarthBound in five minutes. There are game spoilers in it.

Oh my god, I've watched it like ten times and I can't stop. It takes me on SUCH a nostalgia trip and revives my love for the game and the experience even more through their charming animation.

Thank you so much for posting this! I was following the production of this for a looong time, but it just dropped off my radar at some point earlier this year. It turned out to be AMAZING.

There are a few inconsistencies with the video, like the Sky Runner crashing into the Threed tent and not the Graveyard, but that's easily ignored due to the amazing quality of the video overall.

Brb replaying Earthbound for the 23rd time in my life. This game was a giant chunk of my childhood, alongside Chrono Trigger and Mega Man X/X2/X3. I wish it got the recognition it deserved back then and it blew up way more than it has.

 

[Amissapanda]

Thank you so much for posting this! I was following the production of this for a looong time, but it just dropped off my radar at some point earlier this year. It turned out to be AMAZING.

There are a few inconsistencies with the video, like the Sky Runner crashing into the Threed tent and not the Graveyard, but that's easily ignored due to the amazing quality of the video overall.

Brb replaying Earthbound for the 23rd time in my life. This game was a giant chunk of my childhood, alongside Chrono Trigger and Mega Man X/X2/X3. I wish it got the recognition it deserved back then and it blew up way more than it has.

No problem! I was over the moon to see that it was actually finished. I've been following along with the production for awhile, too. I sadly at some point just assumed that it would become another one of those 'unfinished project' type of things, but never have I been more happily proven wrong.

There's definitely inconsistencies in the actual plot (like you mentioned with the Sky Runner, the fact that it wasn't snowing when Tessie shows up in Winters nor was Tony there to wave goodbye, Kraken was fought out in the ocean, not along the beach, and Wetnosaur/Chomposaur were not associated with Lumine Hall's location---basically things that only people who have played the game multiple times would be able to point out anyway. lol), but I'm sure that was more than likely just for dramatic effect and trying to fit sooooo much into such a short time. They did a really impressive feat and it flows really nicely with the music.

Haha, I'll definitely be doing a replay of it myself sometime soon. It's one of those games that I can pick up a hundred times and it'll never lose it's charm or the ties to my childhood and full-on nostalgia feelings. It is a shame that it never took off from the time it was released, but I guess it more than makes up for it now with the huge amount of fans that have been singing its praises over the years. Quite something for a game that released in the early to mid 90's.

 

[Isabella]

Actually can't say much since I've never actually played a Mother game before (Because it's wasn't a thing in Europe till the Wii U release) but Earthbound seems like a game I'd really like to get into!

you have ness icon/sig but haven't played?! D: go play now!!
earthbound and mother 3 are my favorite games. i played mother 3 before 2 and it kind of made my expectations too high..like 3 was really improved once you compare. my secret is that i haven't fully finished earthbound zero, i got kind of bored halfway through..

also im crying omg that video posted above

 

[Nerd House]

Earthbound is such a timeless classic. I really cant think of a game nowadays that I love more than Earthbound.

 

[Hyoshido]

you have ness icon/sig but haven't played?! D: go play now!!
earthbound and mother 3 are my favorite games. i played mother 3 before 2 and it kind of made my expectations too high..like 3 was really improved once you compare. my secret is that i haven't fully finished earthbound zero, i got kind of bored halfway through..

The only experience I've had with Ness is because of Smash Brothers, I love everything about his moveset even though most of it isn't actually canon to the games, but I'd ought to give the game a try sometime, I still have no idea why I haven't.

Also the Ness in my sig is drawn by Amissa herself, aint she a great artist?

 

[RhinoK]

Whether you're an EarthBound/Mother 2 fan or not, this is an INCREDIBLE ANIMATION. They just finished it after 4 years of work on it.

Basically, this is EarthBound in five minutes. There are game spoilers in it.

Oh my god, I've watched it like ten times and I can't stop. It takes me on SUCH a nostalgia trip and revives my love for the game and the experience even more through their charming animation.

Holy crap!

I've only seen gotten up to 1:30 (I'm still in Threed woops~) but this video makes me want to finish Earthbound so I can watch it all. This is simply amazing and shows how great the fanbase is.

 

[lazuli]

ive been wanting to play it for a long while (i saw a tumblr masterpost but forgot to like it and i lost it......)
i just downloaded a bunch of roms and stuff jesus christ save me

 

[Amissapanda]

you have ness icon/sig but haven't played?! D: go play now!!
earthbound and mother 3 are my favorite games. i played mother 3 before 2 and it kind of made my expectations too high..like 3 was really improved once you compare. my secret is that i haven't fully finished earthbound zero, i got kind of bored halfway through..

also im crying omg that video posted above

They're my favorites, too! I agree that Mother 3 had an overall better plot and story, but since I played EarthBound/Mother 2 first, back when I was kid, it really holds a special place in my heart. All of the 90's references were a big thing for me, since that was my era of growing up. And as far as Mother 1/Mother Zero goes... I haven't played it yet, either. lol. I'm a bad fan. From what I heard, though, it's not nearly as memorable as 2 or 3.

(It made me cry, too. So many memories of those adventures. ;-; )

Earthbound is such a timeless classic. I really cant think of a game nowadays that I love more than Earthbound.

Same for me. It's funny how a lot of people assume that gamers latch onto anything new and shiny and forget the rest of what they played before or grew up with, but it's the ones I grew up with that really stick with me the most. I could play it now and feel just as engaged in it as I did when I was a kid.

Holy crap!

I've only seen gotten up to 1:30 (I'm still in Threed woops~) but this video makes me want to finish Earthbound so I can watch it all. This is simply amazing and shows how great the fanbase is.

Definitely finish, when you get the chance! And the whole video experience really rounds off well when you can watch the whole thing. The fanbase for the Mother series in general is pretty awesome. I remember first discovering Starmen.net back in the early 2000's and it had already existed for some time and is still running strong today. It's pretty amazing how far the fans have come and how dedicated they truly are. It really goes to show just how powerful of an effect the series and individual games had on many people.

ive been wanting to play it for a long while (i saw a tumblr masterpost but forgot to like it and i lost it......)
i just downloaded a bunch of roms and stuff jesus christ save me

If you ever do get the chance, I believe it's definitely worth a play! Though it's a bit bizarre at turns, an acquired taste for some, and has tons of 90's pop culture references and the like, it's a very charming game overall and appreciates humor. One of my favorite things about it is that Ness isn't some born hero training all his life to save the world, but just a normal kid with a family who this whole wacky adventure just kind of falls onto.

 

[lazuli]

Though it's a bit bizarre at turns, an acquired taste for some, and has tons of 90's pop culture references and the like, it's a very charming game overall and appreciates humor.

dude i read homestuck
earthbound will be very comprehensive compared to that