March 24, 2023
By Andrew Carmo
Earthbound (AKA Mother 2 in Japan) is an RPG released for the SNES. The game was released during August 27, 1994 in Japan and June 5, 1995 in North America. The game got released as a standalone game in the US but in Japan, it was released as the 2nd installment of Shigesato Itoi’s Mother trilogy. Mother 1 overtime eventually got an english release as Earthbound: Beginnings for the Wii U’s virtual console in 2015 and the Nintendo Switch during February 9th of this year. At this time, Mother 3 has still never gotten an English release as many fans still rely on the fanmade English Translation ROM hack. (Without spoiling anything about the game) Earthbound is about a boy named Ness trying to stop the evil Giygas and his alien army from conquering the Earth. The game is often considered to be a “sleeper hit” (which means while the game wasn’t a success upon release, the game eventually gained more traction and popularity over time). Shigesato Itoi is often seen as a bit of a major celebrity in Japan as not only is he responsible for the Mother series, but he also has his own comedy game show, has voiced the characters Mei and Satsuki’s dad from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, and he owns one of the leading brands of jam in Japan. In conclusion, Earthbound (and the Mother series in general) might’ve not been an instant hit upon release but the game eventually found its place in people’s hearts years after.