Mother (video Game Series)
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(known as ''EarthBound'' outside Japan) is a video game series that consists of three
role-playing video games A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
: ''
Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
'' (1989), known as ''EarthBound Beginnings'' outside Japan, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Family Computer; ''Mother 2'' (1994), known as ''
EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...
'' outside Japan, for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
; and ''
Mother 3 is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the third entry in the Mother (video game series), ''Mother'' series. The game follows Lucas, a young boy ...
'' (2006) for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
. Written by
Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website and company '' Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'' ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo' ...
, published by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
, and featuring
game mechanics In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
modeled on the ''
Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publi ...
'' series, ''Mother'' is known for its sense of humor, originality, and parody. The player uses weapons and psychic powers to fight hostile enemies, which include animated everyday objects, aliens and brainwashed people. Signature elements of the series include a lighthearted approach to plot, battle sequences with psychedelic backgrounds, and the "rolling HP meter": player health ticks down like an
odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...
rather than instantly being subtracted, allowing the player to take preventative action, such as healing or finishing the battle, before the damage is fully dealt. While the franchise is popular in Japan, in the
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it is best associated with the
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
behind ''EarthBound''. While visiting Nintendo for other business, Itoi approached
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...
about making ''Mother''. When approved for a sequel, Itoi increased his involvement in the design process over the five-year development of ''EarthBound''. When the project began to flounder, producer and later Nintendo president
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth President (corporate title), president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contr ...
rescued the game. ''EarthBound'' English localizers were given great liberties when translating the Japanese game's cultural allusions. The American version sold poorly despite a multimillion-dollar marketing budget. ''Mother 3'' was originally slated for release on the Nintendo 64 and its
64DD The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The ...
disk drive Disk storage (also sometimes called drive storage) is a general category of storage mechanisms where data is recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical changes to a surface layer of one or more rotating disks. A disk drive is ...
accessory, but was cancelled in 2000. Three years later, the project was reannounced for the Game Boy Advance alongside a rerelease of ''Mother'' and ''Mother 2'' in the combined cartridge ''Mother 1 + 2''. ''Mother 3'' abandoned the 3D graphics progress for a 2D style, and became a bestseller upon its release. ''EarthBound'' was rereleased for the Wii U
Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
in 2013, and ''Mother'' received its English-language debut for the same platform in 2015, retitled ''EarthBound Beginnings''. In 2022, Nintendo released ''Mother 1'' and ''2'' to their Nintendo Switch Online service. ''EarthBound'' is widely regarded as a video game classic, and is included in multiple top-ten lists. In absence of continued official support for the series, members of the ''EarthBound'' fan community organized online to advocate for further series releases through petitions and fan art. Their projects include a full fan translation of ''Mother 3'', a full-length documentary, and a
fangame A fangame is a video game that is created by fans. They are usually based on one, or in some cases several, video game entries or franchises. Many fangames attempt to clone or remake the original game's design, gameplay, and characters, but ...
sequel-turned- spiritual successor called ''
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''. Ness, the protagonist of ''EarthBound'', received exposure from his inclusion in all five entries of the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series. Other ''Mother'' series locations and characters have made appearances in the fighting games.


History


''Mother''

While visiting Nintendo for other work, celebrity copywriter
Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website and company '' Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'' ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo' ...
pitched to the company's lead designer,
Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in the history of video games, he is ...
, his idea for a role-playing game set in modern times. The contemporary setting worked against role-playing genre norms, and while Miyamoto liked the idea, he was hesitant until Itoi could show full commitment to the project. Itoi reduced his workload, formed a team, and began development in
Ichikawa, Chiba 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 491,716 in 251,142 households and a population density of 8559 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city has a conc ...
. Nintendo tried to accommodate Itoi's ideal work environment to feel more like an extracurricular club of volunteers. Itoi wrote the game's script. The game, titled ''Mother'', was developed by
Ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
, published by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
, and released in Japan on July 27, 1989, for the
Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
(known as the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
outside Japan). The game was slated for an English-language
localization Localization or localisation may refer to: Biology * Localization of function, locating psychological functions in the brain or nervous system; see Linguistic intelligence * Localization of sensation, ability to tell what part of the body is a ...
as ''Earth Bound'', but was abandoned when the team chose to localize ''Mother 2'' instead. Years later, the complete localization was recovered by the public and distributed on the Internet, where it became known as ''EarthBound Zero''. ''Mother'' received its English language debut in June 2015 as ''
EarthBound Beginnings officially known outside of Japan as ''EarthBound Beginnings'', is a 1989 role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape and Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Famicom. It is the first entry in the Mother (video ga ...
'' for the
Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...
Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
. ''Mother'' is a
single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...
role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
set in a "slightly offbeat", late 20th-century United States (as interpreted by Itoi). Unlike its Japanese role-playing game contemporaries, ''Mother'' is not set in a
fantasy genre Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and dra ...
. The player fights in warehouses and laboratories instead of in dungeons and similar fantasy settings, and battles are fought with baseball bats and
psychic abilities This is a list of alleged psychic abilities that have been attributed to real-world people. Many of these abilities pertain to variations of extrasensory perception or the ''sixth sense''. Superhuman abilities from fiction are not included. Psyc ...
instead of swords and magic. ''Mother'' follows the young Ninten as he uses psychic powers to fight hostile, formerly inanimate objects and other enemies. The game uses
random encounter A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby combat encounters with non-player character (NPC) enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random, usually without the enemy being physically detected b ...
s to enter a menu-based, first-person perspective battle system.


''EarthBound''

''Mother 2'' was made with a development team different from that of the original game, and most of its members were unmarried and willing to work through nights on the project. Itoi again wrote the game's script and served as a designer. The game's five-year development exceeded time estimates and came under repeated threat of cancellation. It was in dire straits until producer
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth President (corporate title), president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contr ...
joined the team. ''Mother 2'' was developed by Ape and HAL, published by Nintendo, and released in Japan's
Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
on August 27, 1994. The game was translated into English for North American audiences whereupon it became the only ''Mother'' series game to be released in North America until the later localization of ''Mother'' as ''
EarthBound Beginnings officially known outside of Japan as ''EarthBound Beginnings'', is a 1989 role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape and Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Famicom. It is the first entry in the Mother (video ga ...
''. The localizers were given liberties to translate the Japanese script's cultural allusions to Western audiences as they pleased, and symbolism was also modified between the versions to adapt to Western sensitivities. To avoid confusion about the series' numbering, its English title was changed to ''EarthBound'', and was released on June 5, 1995, for the North American
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
. Though Nintendo spent about $2 million on marketing, the American release was ultimately viewed as unsuccessful within Nintendo. ''EarthBound'' was released when role-playing games were not popular in the United States, and visual taste in role-playing games was closer to ''
Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game developed and published by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first game in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers th ...
'' and ''
Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' from its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ...
''. ''EarthBound''s atypical "this game stinks" marketing campaign was derived from the game's unusual humor and included foul-smelling
scratch and sniff Scratch and sniff technology generally refers to stickers or paperboard items that have been treated with a fragrant coating. When scratched, the coating releases an odor that is normally related to the image displayed under the coating. The tec ...
advertisements. ''1UP.com'' called the campaign "infamously ill-conceived". Between the poor sales and the dwindling support for the Super NES, the game did not receive a European release. The ''Mother'' series titles are built on what Itoi considered "reckless wildness", where he would offer ideas that encouraged his staff to contribute new ways of portraying scenes in the video game medium. He saw the titles foremost as games and not "big scenario scripts". Itoi has said that he wanted the player feel emotions such as "distraught" when playing the game. The game's writing was intentionally "quirky and goofy" in character, and written in the Japanese
kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
script so as to give dialogue a conversational feel. Itoi thought of the default player-character names when he did not like his team's suggestions. Many of the characters were based on real-life personalities. Itoi sought to make the game appeal to populations that played games less, such as girls. ''Earthbound'''s story is a continuation of ''Mother'''s, featuring many of the same antagonists and monsters. By default, the player starts as a young boy named Ness, who finds that the alien force Giygas ( ) has enveloped the world in hatred and consequently turned animals, humans, and objects into malicious creatures. Buzz Buzz, a bee from the future, instructs Ness to collect melodies in a Sound Stone to preemptively stop the force. While visiting the eight Sanctuaries where the melodies are held, Ness meets three other kids named Paula, Jeff, and Poo—"a psychic girl, an eccentric inventor, and a ponytailed martial artist", respectively—who join his
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
. Along the way, Ness encounters the cultists of Happy Happy Village, the zombie-infested Threed, the Winters boarding school, and the kingdom of Dalaam. When the Sound Stone is filled, Ness visits Magicant alone, a surreal location in his mind where he fights his dark side. Upon returning to Eagleland, he prepares to travel back in time to fight a young Giygas, a battle known for its "feeling of isolation, ... incomprehensible attacks, ... buzzing static" and reliance on prayer. ''EarthBound'' plays as a
Japanese role-playing game While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia come Video games in Japan, from Japan, many have also been Video games in South Korea, developed in South Korea and Video games in China, in China. ...
modeled on ''
Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a franchise of Japanese role-playing video games created by Armor Project (Yuji Horii), Bird Studio (Akira Toriyama) and Sugiyama Kobo (Koichi Sugiyama) to its publi ...
''. The game is characterized by its contemporary, satirical
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
setting and its unconventional characters, enemies, and humor. Examples of the game's humor include untraditional enemies such as "New Age Retro Hippie" and "Unassuming Local Guy", snide dialogue, frequent puns, and
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
-breaking. The game also plays self-aware pranks on the player, such as the existence of the useless ruler and protractor items that players and enemies can unsuccessfully try to use nonetheless.


''Mother 3''

In 1996, ''Mother 3'' (''EarthBound 64'' in North America), was announced. It was slated for release on the
64DD The is a magnetic floppy disk drive peripheral for the Nintendo 64 game console developed by Nintendo. It was announced in 1995, prior to the Nintendo 64's 1996 launch, and after numerous delays was released in Japan on December 13, 1999. The ...
, a disk drive expansion peripheral for the Nintendo 64. Itoi's expansive ideas during development led the development team to question whether fans would still consider the game part of the series. The game entered
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
and struggled to find a firm release date and in 2000, despite its level of completion, was later cancelled altogether with the commercial failure of the 64DD. The project was reannounced three years later as ''Mother 3'' for the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
alongside a combined ''Mother 1 + 2'' cartridge for the same handheld console. Itoi had been working on
porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
''Mother'' and ''Mother 2'' to the Game Boy Advance, and based on encouragement what he predicted to be further pressure, decided to release ''Mother 3''. The new ''Mother 3'' abandoned the Nintendo 64 version's 3D graphics, but kept its plot. The game was developed by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory, published by Nintendo, and released in Japan on April 20, 2006, whereupon it became a bestseller. It did not receive a North American release on the basis that it would not sell. ' was released in Japan on June 20, 2003. The combined cartridge contains both ''Mother'' and ''EarthBound''. ''Mother'' uses the extended ending of the unreleased English language prototype, but is still only presented in Japanese. Unlike earlier games in the series, ''Mother 3'' is presented in chapters. When the Pig Mask Army starts a forest fire and imposes
police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exe ...
-like conditions on a "pastoral forest village", a father, Flint, ventures out to protect his family (twin sons Lucas and Claus and wife Hinawa), but the rest of the world is eventually implicated in the plot. Lucas, the game's hero, does not become prominent until the fourth chapter. Along with his dog, a neophyte thief, and a princess, Lucas fulfills a prophecy of a "chosen one" pulling Needles from the Earth to wake a sleeping dragon and determine the fate of the world. The game features a lighthearted plot, with characters such as "partying ghosts" and "talking rope snakes". ''Mother 3'', much like its predecessors, is a single-player role-playing video game played with two buttons: one for starting conversations and checking adjacent objects, and another for running. The game updates the turn-based ''Dragon Quest''-style battle system with a "rhythm-action mechanic", which lets the player take additional turns to attack the enemy by chaining together up to sixteen taps in time with the background music. Apart from this, the battle system and "rolling HP meter" (where health ticks down like an odometer such that players can outrun the meter to heal before dying) are similar to ''EarthBound''.


Future of the series

Around ''Mother 3'' 2006 release, Itoi stated that he had no plans to make ''Mother 4'', which he has reaffirmed repeatedly. Itoi has said that, of the three, he had the strongest drive to create the first ''Mother'' video game, and that it was made for the players. He made the second game as an exploration of his personal interests, and wanted to run wild with the third. While reflecting on ''Mother 3'' 2000 cancellation, Itoi recounted the great efforts the team made to tell small parts of the story, and felt this was a core theme in the series' development. In the absence of continued support for the series, an ''EarthBound'' fan community coalesced at Starmen.net with the intent to have Nintendo of America acknowledge their interest in ''Mother'' series. They drafted petitions for English language releases and created a full-color, 270-page anthology of
fan art Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...
, Upon "little" response from Nintendo, they localized ''Mother 3'' by themselves and printed a "professional quality strategy guide" through Fangamer, a video game merchandising site that spun off from Starmen.net. ''
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'' cited the effort as proof of the fan base's dedication. Other fan efforts include ''EarthBound, USA'', a full-length documentary on Starmen.net and the fan community, and '' Mother 4'', a fan-produced sequel to the ''Mother'' series that went into production when Itoi definitively "declared" that he was done with the series.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
described the series as neglected by Nintendo in North America, as ''Mother 1'', ''Mother 1+2'', and ''Mother 3'' were not released outside Japan. Despite this, Ness's recurrence in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series signaled favorable odds for the future of the ''Mother'' series. IGN and ''
Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...
'' readers anticipated a rerelease of ''EarthBound'' on the Wii's
Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...
upon its launch in 2006, but it did not materialize. A Japanese rerelease was announced in 2013 for the Wii U Virtual Console as part of a celebration of the anniversaries of the NES and ''Mother 2''. North American and European releases for the same platform followed, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata crediting fan interest on the company's
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social platform. The game was a "top-seller" on the Wii U Virtual Console, and ''
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'' users and first-time ''EarthBound'' players had an "overwhelmingly positive" response to the game. Simon Parkin wrote that the game's rerelease was a "momentous occasion" as the return of "one of Nintendo's few remaining lost classics" after 20 years. In an interview in late November 2015, Shigesato Itoi has once again denied plans to create a ''Mother 4'', despite fan feedback.


Recurring elements

The series is known for its combination of humorous and emotionally evocative tones. Itoi wanted to tell ''Mother 3'' through a technique that swapped the active player-character, which he first attempted in ''EarthBound''. The two games also share similar visual styles, both with psychedelic battle backgrounds and cartoonish art. While ''Mother 3'' music is both similar in tone to its predecessors and completely new, it features similar sound effects. ''EarthBound'' characters such as Mr. Saturn recur, and ''RPGamer'' wrote that ''Mother 3'' final chapter is "full of blatant links" between the games of the series. ''Mother'' also shares similarities with its sequel, such as the
game save A saved game (also called a game save, savegame, savefile, save point, or simply save) is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. From the earliest games in the 1970s onward, game platform hardw ...
option through phoning Ninten's father, an option to store items with Ninten's sister at home, and an
automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...
for banking money. Additionally, the members of the party follow behind the protagonist on the
overworld An overworld (sometimes referred to as a hub world) is, in a broad sense, commonly an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other vide ...
screen in the first two games. Ninten's party members in ''Mother'' are analogous to those of ''EarthBound'' in style and function. While ''Mother'' battles were triggered through random encounters, ''EarthBound'' and early ''Mother 3'' shared battle scene triggers, where physical contact with an enemy in the overworld began a turn-based battle scene shown in the first-person. Apart from ''Mother 3'' rhythm and
combo Combo may refer to: Technology *Combo television unit, a television with either a VCR or a DVD player built into a single unit * Combo drive, a type of optical drive that can read CDs and DVDs *A guitar amplifier incorporating one or more loudsp ...
battle mechanic, the two game's battle systems are similar. ''Mother 3'' also retains the "rolling HP meter" of ''EarthBound'' (where health ticks down like an odometer such that players can outrun the meter to heal before dying/fainting) but removes the feature where experience is automatically awarded before battles against much weaker foes. Recurring through the series is its signature "SMAAAASH" text and sound, which show when the player registers a
critical hit In many role-playing games and video games, a critical hit (or crit) is a chance that a successful attack will deal more damage than a normal blow. Origin Critical hits originate from the Reiswitzian ''Kriegsspiel'', which they were added into sh ...
. Some characters are present in multiple entries of the series, such as Giygas, Mr. Saturn, and Pokey/Porky. Giygas is the primary antagonist in both ''Mother'' and ''EarthBound''. The alien creature's emotional complexity deviates from genre norms. Giygas shows internal conflict in ''Mother'' and has no appearance but as an "indescribable" force in ''EarthBound'' final
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
battle. In both final battles, Giygas is defeated through love and prayer instead of through a tour de force of weaponry, unlike the endings of other period games. Nadia Oxford wrote for IGN that nearly two decades later, ''EarthBound'' final fight against Giygas continues to be "one of the most epic video game standoffs of all time" with noted emotional impact. This battle's dialogue was based on Itoi's recollections of a traumatic scene from the
Shintoho was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company fol ...
film '' The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty'' that he had accidentally seen in his childhood. Oxford wrote for '' 1UP.com'' that Itoi intended to show the alien's yearning for love in "a manner ... beyond human understanding". Despite ''EarthBound'' and ''Mother 3'' dissimilar settings, the Mr. Saturn fictional species appear in similar Saturn Valleys in both games. The Mr. Saturn look like an old man's head with feet, a large nose, and bald except for a single hair with a bow. Though they are a technologically advanced and peaceful species with a pureness of heart, they are under constant attacks from encroaching enemies. Nadia and David Oxford of ''1UP.com'' considered the Mr. Saturn to be aliens despite their human-like and fleshy appearance, as described a piece arguing the central theme of aliens in the ''Mother'' series. They compared the Mr. Saturn to
Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
's
Tralfamadorian Tralfamadore is the name of several fictional planets in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut. Details of the corresponding indigenous alien race, the Tralfamadorians, vary from novel to novel: * In the 1959 novel ''The Sirens of Titan'', Tralfamadore is ...
alien species. Finally, Pokey begins as Ness's child neighbor who "cowers" and "refuses to fight" in ''EarthBound'', but grows into a "vicious control freak with no regard for human life", Porky, by the end of the series' ''Mother 3''.


Music

The soundtracks for ''Mother'' and ''EarthBound'' were composed by
Keiichi Suzuki is a Japanese musician, singer, and record producer who co-founded the Moonriders, a group that became one of Japan's most innovative rock bands. He is known to audiences outside Japan for his musical contributions to the video games ''Mother'' ...
and
Hirokazu Tanaka , also known as Chip Tanaka, is a Japanese musician, composer, sound designer, and executive who pioneered chiptune music. He is best known as one of Nintendo's in-house composers during the 8- and 16-bit era of video games. Tanaka also had a role ...
. The ''Mother'' soundtrack was likened by ''RPGFan'' reviewer Patrick Gann to compositions by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
and for
children's television shows Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...
. He found the lyrics "cheesy and trite" but appreciated the "simple statements" in "Eight Melodies" and the "quirky and wonderful" "Magicant". The ''Mother'' soundtrack contains several tracks later used in subsequent series games. When Suzuki and Tanaka were unavailable to commit to ''Mother 3'' soundtrack, Itoi chose Shogo Sakai for his experience with and understanding of the series. Sakai worked to make the music feel similar to previous entries in the series. Kyle Miller of ''RPGFan'' wrote that the game retained the quirkiness of the previous soundtracks in the series despite the change in composers. He felt that the second half of the album, which included reinterpreted "classics" from the series, to be its strongest. RPGamer's Jordan Jackson too found that the music was "just as catchy as previous games" despite being "almost completely new". Luke Plunkett of ''Kotaku'' credited Suzuki's background outside of games composition as a rock star and film scorer for making the music of ''Mother'' and ''EarthBound'' "so distinct and memorable" as "a synthesized tribute to 20th-century
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
".


Reception

In '' 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die'', Christian Donlan wrote that the ''Mother'' series is a "massive RPG franchise" in Japan comparable to that of ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' and ''Dragon Quest'', though it does not enjoy the same popularity in the West. IGN described the series as neglected by Nintendo in North America, which only received one of the three ''Mother'' releases. Donlan added that the series' oddities did not lend towards Western popularity. RPGamer's Jordan Jackson noted that the series is "known for its wacky sense of humor, originality, and its very young protagonists", and ''Kotaku'' Luke Plunkett said that the games were distinct from all other video games in that they stirred "genuine emotion in players beyond ... 'excited' and 'afraid with a "charming", "touching", and "tragic" story, which he credited to its creators' pedigrees from outside the
video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstream. , ...
. ''Mother'' was the sixth best-selling game of 1989 in Japan, where it sold about 400,000 copies. It received a "Silver Hall of Fame" score of 31/40 from Japanese magazine ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
''. Critics noted the game's similarities with the ''Dragon Quest'' series and its simultaneous "parody" of the genre's tropes. They thought the game's sequel, ''EarthBound'', to be very similar and a better implementation of ''Mother'' gameplay ideas, overall. Reviewers also noted the game's high
difficulty level Game balance is a branch of game design that is described as a mathematical-algorithmic model of a game’s numbers, game mechanics, and relations between the two. Game balance consists of adjusting values to create a certain user experience. Play ...
and
balance Balance or balancing may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance as in equality or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...
issues. ''USgamer'' Jeremy Parish said that ''Mother'' script was "as sharp as ''EarthBound''", but felt that the original's game mechanics were subpar, lacking the "rolling HP counter" and non-random encounters for which later entries in the series were known. Parish wrote earlier for ''1UP.com'' that in comparison to ''EarthBound'', ''Mother'' is "worse in just about every way", and important less for its actual game and more for the interest it generated in
video game emulation A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device to emulate a video game console's hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass ...
and the preservation of unreleased games. ''EarthBound'' sold about 440,000 copies worldwide, with approximately 300,000 sold in Japan and about 140,000 in the United States. It originally received little critical praise from the American press, and sold poorly in the United States: around 140,000 copies, as compared to twice as many in Japan. ''Kotaku'' described ''EarthBound'' 1995 American release as "a dud" and blamed the low sales on "a bizarre marketing campaign" and graphics "cartoonish" beyond the average taste of players. Multiple reviewers described the game as "original" or "unique" and praised its script's range of emotions, humor, cheery and charming ambiance, and " real world" setting, which was seen as an uncommon choice. Since its release, the game's English localization has found praise, and later reviewers reported that the game had aged well. Prior to its release, ''Mother 3'' was in the "top five most wanted games" of ''Famitsu'' and at the top of the Japanese preordered game charts. It sold around 200,000 units in its first week of sales in Japan, and was one of Japan's top 20 bestselling games for the first half of 2006. In comparison, the 2003 ''Mother 1 + 2'' rerelease sold around 278,000 copies in Japan in its first year, and a reissue "value selection" of the cartridge sold 106,000 copies in Japan in 2006. ''Mother 3'' received a "Platinum Hall of Fame" score of 35/40 from ''Famitsu''. Reviewers praised its story (even though the game was only available in Japanese) and graphics, and lamented its 1990s role-playing game mechanics. Critics also complimented its music. Jackson said that the game was somewhat easier than the rest of the series and somewhat shorter in length.


Legacy

The series has a legacy as both "one of Japan's most beloved" and the video game cognoscenti's "sacred cow", and is known for its long-lasting, resilient fan community. At one point leading up to ''Mother 3'' release, the series' "Love Theme" played as
music on hold Music on hold (MOH) is the business practice of playing recorded music to fill the silence that would be heard by telephone callers who have been placed on hold. It is especially common in situations involving customer service. Music on hold i ...
for the
Japan Post was a Japanese statutory corporation that existed from 2003 to 2007, offering postal and package delivery services, banking services, and life insurance. It's the nation's largest employer, with over 400,000 employees, and runs 24,700 po ...
. Similarly, the Eight Melodies theme used throughout the series has been incorporated into Japanese elementary school music classrooms. Donlan of ''1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die'' wrote that ''EarthBound'' is "name-checked by the video gaming cognoscenti more often than it's actually been played". Critics consider ''EarthBound'' a "classic" or "must-play" among video games. The game was included in multiple top 50 games of all time lists, including that of ''Famitsu'' readers in 2006 and IGN readers in 2005 and 2006. IGN ranks the game 13th in its top 100 SNES games and 26th among all games for its in-game world, which was "distinct and unforgettable" for its take on Americanism, unconventional settings, and 1960s music. And Gamasutra named it one of its 20 "essential" Japanese role-playing games. The rerelease was Justin Haywald of ''GameSpot'' game of the year, and ''Nintendo Life'' Virtual Console game of the year. ''GameZone'' said it "would be a great disservice" to merely call ''EarthBound'' "a gem". In the United Kingdom, where ''EarthBound'' had been previously unreleased, '' GamesTM'' noted how it had been "anecdotally heralded as a retro classic". IGN's Scott Thompson said the game was "the true definition of a classic". ''Kotaku'' wrote that the game was content to make the player "feel lonely", and, overall, was special not for any individual aspect but for its method of using the video game medium to explore ideas impossible to explore in other media. Multiple critics wrote that ''Mother 3'' was one of the best role-playing games for the Game Boy Advance. ''GamePro'' Jeremy Signor listed it among his "best unreleased Japanese role-playing games" for its script and attention to detail.
Video game journalist Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicati ...
Tim Rogers posited that ''Mother 3'' was "the closest games have yet come to literature". There are no plans for an official ''Mother 4''. The series, and specifically ''EarthBound'', is known for having a
cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
that developed over time well after its release. Colin Campbell of ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' wrote that "few gaming communities are as passionate and active" as ''EarthBound'', and '' 1UP.com'' Bob Mackey wrote that no game was as poised to have a cult following. Starmen.net hosted a ''Mother'' 25th Anniversary Fanfest in 2014 with a
livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...
of the game and plans for a remixed soundtrack. Later that year, fans released a 25th Anniversary Edition
ROM hack ROM hacking is the process of modifying a ROM image or ROM file of a video game to alter the game's graphics, dialogue, levels, gameplay, and/or other elements. This is usually done by technically inclined video game fans to improve an old game ...
that updated the game's graphics, script, and gameplay balance. ''The Verge'' cited the two-year-long ''Mother 3'' fan translation as proof of the fan base's dedication, and Jenni Lada of ''TechnologyTell'' called it "undoubtably one of the best known fan translations in existence", with active retranslations into other languages. Frank Caron of ''
Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
'' said that the fan translation's "massive undertaking ... stands as a massive success", and that "one cannot even begin to fathom" why Nintendo would not release their own English localization.


''Super Smash Bros.''

''EarthBound'' Ness became widely known due to his later appearance in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. He appeared in the original '' Super Smash Bros.'' and its sequels: ''
Melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
'', '' Brawl'', '' 3DS/Wii U'', and ''
Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...
''. In Europe, which did not see an original ''EarthBound'' release, Ness is better known for his role in the fighting game than for his original role in the role-playing game. He returned in the 2001 ''Melee'' with ''EarthBound'' Mr. Saturn, which could be thrown at enemies and otherwise pushes items off the battlefield. ''Melee'' has an unlockable Fourside level based on the ''EarthBound'' location. When ''Melee'' was in development, Ness was not supposed to return as a playable character and would have been replaced by Lucas, the main character of ''Mother 3''. However, ''Mother 3'' original
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and Au ...
release was cancelled, though it was later successfully revived as a project for the Game Boy Advance. As a result, Ness was featured in Melee instead of Lucas. Ness was later joined by ''Mother 3'' Lucas in ''Brawl'', and both characters returned in ''3DS/Wii U'' and ''Ultimate''. Players can fight in the ''3DS'' Magicant stage, which features clips from the ''Mother'' series in its background.


Notes


References

Sources * *


External links


Official ''Mother'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mother (Video Game Series) Nintendo franchises Video games about magic Video games about psychic powers Video games about shapeshifting Video game franchises introduced in 1989