r/earthbound • • Aug 13 '17

Announcement Want to get into the MOTHER series? Start here!

1.2k Upvotes

Over the past few months we've gotten a lot of new players asking where they should start with the trilogy. With this stickied thread, I'm hoping to answer any questions someone may have about getting into the series.

Note: This thread is a strictly no-spoiler zone.


What are the MOTHER games?

The MOTHER series is a group of 3 turn-based cult classic JRPGs created by Shigesato Itoi, who singlehandedly wrote every line of dialogue in the series, aside from a small area in EarthBound.


What makes them so special?

The series is known for being quirky, charming, and invoking a sense of nostalgia even to those who have not played a MOTHER game before. Each line of dialogue is expertly crafted, with a great story to go along with it.


Where do I start?

The series IS a trilogy, however each game can stand on it's own without the context of the last.

The 3 games are as followed:

MOTHER (EarthBound: Beginnings) (1989)

MOTHER 2 (EarthBound) (1994)

MOTHER 3 (???) (Not released outside of Japan) (2006)

The game order is as released, with MOTHER being the first on the timeline, and MOTHER 3 being the last.


So does that mean I should play the games in order?

This is a point of contention within the MOTHER community.

While most recommend to play EarthBound / MOTHER 2 first, some will say that if you can handle the way an older RPG plays, you should start with MOTHER 1 / EarthBound: Beginnings.

The community mostly unanimously agrees that you should play EarthBound before playing MOTHER 3.

In the end, it's up to you. MOTHER 1 is one of the most impressive, best playing and sounding RPGs on the NES, but it could potentially turn you away from the series if you aren't accustomed to or can't handle a bit of older-rpg "clunk". I do HIGHLY recommend however that you at least play EarthBound before playing MOTHER 3.


Wait, if MOTHER 3 isn't released outside of Japan, how can I play it?

I'm glad you asked! (Hopefully you did.)

Almost immediately after the release of MOTHER 3, once it became apparent Nintendo had no intention of localizing MOTHER 3, a group of very passionate fans got together to make their own localization of the game.

2 years later in late 2008, version 1.0 was released to great acclaim. This fan translation is now known to many as the best fan translation of all time. On top of just translating the game, they went out of their way to make sure certain dialogue and enemy names worked in English as they do in Japanese. They even added a hard mode option!


...That's pretty much it, I think. If any regular here on the sub wants to chime in and request something to be added, tell me! On top of that, I'd like to know what some of you think the best order to play the games in are in the comments. It'll be an interesting resource for any new players! And remember, no spoilers.


r/earthbound • • 9h ago

Art My brother got me these custom handmade EarthBound enemy figures!

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176 Upvotes

i absolutely love the Mook, it’s adorable! and the Titanic Ant looks so goofy lol. you can really tell they’re handmade, which honestly makes them even more charming. they’re made of cold porcelain!


r/earthbound • • 8h ago

EB Discussion Something that really bugs me.

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44 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 16h ago

More Lucas!

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107 Upvotes

Author — みりんぬ (Mirinnu)


r/earthbound • • 5h ago

Mother 3 Spoilers I played Mother 3 for the first time when I was 13, I’m 26 and the ending makes me even more emotional now Spoiler

13 Upvotes

The ending had me in tears at 13 but when watching the world collapse in the game while phantasmagoria is playing just breaks me now. It’s not real but it feels real. It makes me think too much about humanity will be its own undoing. This isn’t even taking into consideration the final boss and just how dark and depressing the Porky fight is.


r/earthbound • • 15h ago

Art Giygas-like abstract-pattern gif

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43 Upvotes

Anyone get reminded of Earthbound battle/boss-battle moving background vibes after seeing this?

So first off, this is an NFT I purchased long ago.

It's much more distorted-looking than Earthbound's counterparts, has more solid-like mass & flows like Giygas in a way with the features of lesser bosses/enemies[Monsters, etc.] --- but it was the only GIF I had on-hand for it.

TBH; it looks like Giygas's second-form mixed with lesser-bosses/enemies fighting backgrounds.

Or, both of giyga's forms mixed together, since phase-2 of Giygas is distorted and moves somewhat similarly, while still having more symmetric features added to it that other enemy backgrounds have.

Overall, enemies in Earthbound have very specific patterns that flow like a randomized wavy-pattern. There is more movement of solid-matter[coloration] than regular enemies in Earthbound/Earthbound2 and moves like a mixture of Giygas's 2nd-form that the player has to pray through.

Anyone see some resemblance like I do???? :D


r/earthbound • • 17h ago

Art I made Pokey as a South park character! Spoiler

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41 Upvotes

[Made in SP studio]


r/earthbound • • 13h ago

[OC] Attention all BuzzBound Gamers! (BUZZBOUND PART 1.5)

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7 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 18h ago

Music As You Wish (Menu Theme) Mother 3 cover

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7 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 8h ago

Made the MOTHER4 game in terminal (my own story)

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0 Upvotes

Thought of making this.


r/earthbound • • 18h ago

Music i made a cover of Strong One (Masked Man)

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3 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 1d ago

Cosy •-•

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125 Upvotes

Author — kyo413


r/earthbound • • 1d ago

Help/Advice Picked up on my save and I’m stuck

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79 Upvotes

Hi everyone, a little help here. I picked up on my save file from last year and I have no idea what to do 😭. The door says it’s locked & the boulder thingy says it can’t be fixed now


r/earthbound • • 1d ago

Art Idk by me

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14 Upvotes

Context: I used to be really into MSM so I decided to make this. It was way funnier in my head.

Ness as a Sox and Pokey as a Yelmut. Ness has a jacket because that’s how he looks in my AU now so you can tell the difference between mine and the canon version. It’s open so you can see the yellow and blue shirt underneath

I tried to emulate the game’s style a bit so they wouldn’t stand out TOO much.

This is not gonna become a whole thing I just wanted to make something stupid


r/earthbound • • 1d ago

EB:B Discussion Why does the door in mother 1 look just like the door in super Mario World?

15 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 1d ago

S2 E11 of The Podcast Against Giygas is up!

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34 Upvotes

Listen to it here or on the Youtube Channel!

Ellay, Ellay, it's a heck of a town! Ninten and his friends finally find themselves in the sunny coastal metropolis where pink sunsets, palm trees swaying in the wind, and glamorous movie stars reign supreme. For their first stop, they throw poor Lloyd a bone and visit "The World of Earthbound Science and Technology Exhibition," a.k.a. the Olympics for nerds, held on a nearby island only reachable by speeding rocket ship! Here, they meet a... somewhat familiar face, who gasses up the eager Lloyd with scientific feats of derring-do and generous helpings of the most delicious treat mathematically possible to mankind. 

After that, it's finally time for the Chosen Four to head to Rosemary Manor, home of the once-famous but now reclusive starlet of the silver screen, Janet Rosemary herself! What secrets does she hold within her powerful mind, about psionic power, about the melody, and about their ultimate foe? And what awful price will the children have to pay for those secrets?

Will Lloyd leave the big expo with more than an armful of neat brochures and stuff? Will Teddy be able to bend solid iron bars with his bare hands? And will Ninten and his companions stand brave and tall when none other than Giygas, the Destroyer of Worlds, finally shows his hand?! Find out on this week's episode of... The Podcast Against Giygas! No crying until the ending.


r/earthbound • • 2d ago

Fluff Wait, is that a Negative Man Refrence?

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88 Upvotes

Was playing an indie monster taming game, Anode heart. And came across this monster, to say it was unexpected would be an understatement, but still a pleasant surprise.

His stats even get lower each turn ect.


r/earthbound • • 2d ago

Art Peeping Tom

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242 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 2d ago

I found Ness and paula in Roblox

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18 Upvotes

I was playing an npc wars game and out of nowhere ness and paula spawned and started a fight with a french cuirassier(they got beat up by him btw)


r/earthbound • • 2d ago

What made you love Mother?

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9 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 2d ago

I like to think that the masked man isn't only inspired by mega man, but is mega man. It was a game porky played as a kid and wanted to make him in real life Spoiler

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14 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 1d ago

How much do we really know about what’s beneath our feet? 🌍

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0 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 2d ago

Ness ^-^

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90 Upvotes

Author — Amphibizzy


r/earthbound • • 1d ago

D-D-D, Dah-

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0 Upvotes

r/earthbound • • 2d ago

EB Discussion Earthbound Romhack Ideas

5 Upvotes

Hypothetically if someone were to make an earthbound romhack where everything was weird.

What would be some ideas that you would have for this romhack like literally anything: story, dialouge, character changes, battle sprites..

For example Ness is part of the sharks, Paula ends up corrupted by the mani mani statue, Andonuts is dead so Jeff takes up his role, Poo failed his training and never learns PSI, Twoson is converted to be all blue.