Review 1: Earthbound (MOTHER 2)

Earthbound was a game for the SNES released in 1994 in Japan as MOTHER 2, a sequel to the Japanese-only game known as MOTHER. Since its release in the NTSC region, it has become a fan favorite everywhere! Since 2000, gamers have created their own hacks of this game, and have also released tools to the public to create their own hacks with. Let's see how this game stacks up against other SNES games.



Music: 10/10

The music in this game is..... FANTASTIC! There are a lot of great battle themes in this game. The Kraken music will really get you moving, and the Weird Enemy music really fits. Some of the music is techno-style, others are a bit creepy, and others happy. There is one other thing I would like to say about this game's music: none of it is out of place. The music when fighting the (very) creepy final boss has a white ghost tone sound while in his second form, Eight Melodies (A.K.A Smiles and Tears) has a touching theme that plays while Ness, the main character, remembers his past, and when all is said and done, a relaxing theme (Because I Love You) can be heard throughout the cities.





Graphics: 8.7/10



A lot of people say that the graphics are the worst part of the game. I respectfully disagree. How? Well, the game may not have Final Fantasy graphics, but as with the music, it's all in place. The bustling cities (Onett, Fourside) have sharp graphics while the peaceful cities (Twoson, Happy-Happy Village) have calm ones.Some people might try to compare the graphics to today's, but no one really should. In its time, it actually might have had average graphics. Ten years have passed. Give the graphics a break!



Story: 10/10



In a year when all RPGs were set in the mythical time of knights, faeries, and dragons, one game broke all of the laws of RPGs... Yep, you guessed it, that game is EarthBound! The story begins in the suburbs of Onett. Ness, an average kid with an average home and an average life is sleeping soundly in his bed when he is woken up by the CRASH! of a meteorite. Knowing that she can't stop him, Ness' mom lets him investigate the meteorite, but Ness comes home without a glimpse. Later on at night, everything changes when Ness' neighbour, Pokey, knocks on the door and says that his brother, Picky, is missing. After finding Picky, the three start to head home, but stop when a blinding flash of light appears from the meteorite. Out of the meteorite comes a bee-like creature called Buzz Buzz who comes from the future. Buzz Buzz explains that the reason that he came was to warn the three (Ness in particular) that the future has been destroyed by Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, but that there is still hope. He says that the Apple of Enlightenment has predicted that four kids will team up to defeat Giygas, and that Ness is one of them! You might be able to guess what happens next...



Difficulty: 9.5/10



This game isn't too difficult... Well, maybe it wouldn't be, if there were no battles! That is the real difficulty factor in this game, trying to get past all of the pesky enemies. You can see all of them on the overworld screen, meaning that you can avoid them, but that can be really hard when they are SERIOUSLY tiny or if you're stuck in a tight spot (literally). Since the general way to level up is to defeat enemies, you just might be in a tight spot somewhere in the game.



Gameplay: 10/10



The gameplay is kinda different from regular RPGs because instead of just talking to a specific person when you have an item, you have to use the item itself. Also, in battle, there is a rolling HP meter, which means that if you are hit by an attack that might get you a game over, you still have a chance to heal yourself before the meter drops to 0. Other than that, though, the battles are pretty standard.



Overall: 9.5/10



This game is a really great game, and I recommend it for everyone on earth (pun not intended). It's fun, also has a sad side to it, and will want you asking for more. However, some people give this game a bad review, and one even rated it a 1/10. I think these people really need to slap their heads and say, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!" Anyways, all in all, Earthbound is more than fantastic. It's Earthbound.