Collection essentials #184: EarthBound (SNES)

Ooh boy, here’s one with a lot to write about. Gonna be hard to keep this brief.

EarthBound is a turn-based JRPG, the second game in a series which is known as “Mother” in Japan (the creator says he was inspired by the John Lennon song of that name), and the first one to see a release outside Japan. Most RPGs, especially from this time period, take place in some kind of a high fantasy setting. Although the locations are fictional, the settings of these games are much more contemporary, resembling a more normal and modern world. They’re also quite humorous, being somewhat of a parody of the genre, but the games are not merely one huge joke, as they do tell stories with a coherent narrative as well.

The main character of EarthBound is a silent protagonist, a boy who you may name whatever you want (though his official name is “Ness”). At the start of the game, he lives in a regular home with his parents and sister. The game begins with a meteorite crashing outside, and you as a curious boy must go investigate. Upon finding it, some kind of talking insect from the future named Buzz Buzz informs him that an evil being known as Giygas is corrupting the whole world, that there is a prophecy about a chosen boy who must defeat him, who Buzz Buzz believes to be Ness, and he sends Ness on a journey to defeat Giygas. Armed with baseball bats and psychic battle powers, Ness must make new friends and encounter many strange characters and foes on his quest to thwart this great evil.

A huge draw of EarthBound is the quirkiness and humor. There are so many odd, funny and/or memorable moments that help set this game apart from all others. You’ll fight strange enemies like the “Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom” and “New Age Retro Hippie”. You go to places that wouldn’t be out of place in “Alice in Wonderland”. There are many amusing references, sometimes subtle, to real world pop culture. And it culminates in an extremely memorable final boss battle, which I won’t spoil 

Gameplay isn’t really the main focus of EarthBound. It is serviceable, but not especially original. The only real innovation is that, if an enemy deals lethal damage, your health total will slowly decrease in real time, giving you a chance to heal yourself to prevent a K.O. if you can act quick enough. Otherwise, it’s pretty standard Dragon Quest-style fare. I do appreciate that you touch enemies wandering around the map to initial battle rather than battles happening randomly and spontaneously as in most RPGs of this era. There are definitely some instances where the gameplay leaves something to be desired, such as the rather limiting inventory system, in which your characters each individual must hold items, and a fairly small amount of them, which can be quite inconvenient. 

EarthBound is a game that had an absolutely huge impression on some people, and the game’s fanbase is extremely passionate. The people who love this game LOVE this game. However, it was a flop in North American in terms of sales. This isn’t too surprising, since the time and place of its release was not ideal. This was late in the Super Nintendo lifespan, and with the next generation of consoles getting underway and gamers hungry for great graphics in their games, EarthBound’s unexciting look (despite having a certain style) wasn’t turning any heads. And RPGs were still just a niche genre outside Japan at this point as well. EarthBound would get a significant boost in attention a few years later when Nintendo included Ness as an unlockable fighter in their very popular game “Super Smash Bros.”, fighting against the likes of the company’s biggest icons like Mario and Pikachu.

Which brings me to my own history with EarthBound. I had never heard of it back when it was first released. I was one of the many who learned of the game through Super Smash Bros., and being a huge Smash Bros. fan, I absolutely wanted to play the game that this Ness character was from. I never saw it in local stores, though, so it would take years before I actually got it for myself. In my mid teen years, I eventually bought a copy of the game complete in its original packaging on eBay. And EarthBound didn’t just come in any old regular box; it shipped with a free, full-fledged strategy box, and a large-sized hard-cardboard box to fit it all in. However, when I actually tried to play the game…I felt unimpressed. The early portion of EarthBound can feel rather unexciting. I couldn’t muster the desire to keep playing, and I wound up selling the game to some eBay buyer at that point to spend my money on different games. A year later though, I met a friend who had started playing through the game herself, and that convinced me to give it another try. I bought the game online again, this time a loose cartridge (the very one shown in the photo), and sure enough, as I pressed through the early slog, I grew to like the game a lot. I’m not one of the many who consider it one of their absolute top RPGs of all time, but it was very memorable and well worth my time. So in hindsight, I really kick myself for selling the complete copy that I had previously owned. Now, copies of EarthBound complete with the original box and strategy guide go for obscene amounts of money, at prices that I would never want to pay for a single game. I consider selling my boxed EarthBound to be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my video game collecting life.

I’m trying to keep these posts brief, so I inevitably can’t really do justice in describing what makes EarthBound special (and of course I don’t want to include spoilers anyway). Just know that if you like JRPGs and have a little patience, this is a game that you really have to at least try at some point in your life. You can play it on the Nintendo Switch at no cost if you have an online subscription, so that’s a great and accessible way that you can do it. It’s one of the iconic games on my favorite console, entirely unique with its own special charm, and thus a definite essential.