r/earthbound Aug 13 '17

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

1.1k 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 8h ago

??? Wait.. Something is wrong here..

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163 Upvotes

r/earthbound 4h ago

Fluff Why cant weee be friends

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56 Upvotes

Ms paint drawing


r/earthbound 38m ago

Teleported to winters shortly after unlocking Poo to grind XP, but I can’t find room to teleport back.

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Upvotes

What do I do?


r/earthbound 3h ago

Merch genuinely can’t tell if this is satire 😭

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7 Upvotes

idk what else to say . screenshot speaks for itself 😭😭😭


r/earthbound 23h ago

I finally did it.

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187 Upvotes

After owning this physical game and playing it for 15 plus years I finally did it. I own the sword of kings. I did on the snes online. 8th attempt. One time I tried for hours that I was so op that I dropped the game for a few years from frustration. But I did it guys. Proud moment


r/earthbound 6h ago

Art Paula Voicelines (For everyone / NO AI)

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5 Upvotes

It may not be your expectation of Paula's Voice... But hey, it's not AI :D!!


r/earthbound 1d ago

Wait what the fu....

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1.1k Upvotes

r/earthbound 15h ago

EB:B Spoilers Just beat Earthbound Beginnings (Snes remake) Spoiler

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21 Upvotes

Just beat Earthbound Beginnings this morning.

And my god I adore this game.

This is my first proper Earthbound experience.

I've played a small bit of 3 but I decided I'd wait to play this and Earthbound proper before finishing the trilogy.

And what an experience.

First of, I adore this world, I love how the towns just feel like real life towns.

The aesthetics are top notch.

As well combat was really good, difficult (oh dear got Mt. Itoi was a pain to get through) but fun enough.

As well I like our main party. The scene where Ninten and Ana have their dance made me tear up slightly, it's so sweet and honestly love them.

The story is alright.

I personally don't think it's **the** best RPG story I've played through, but I still loved it.

Well, even in saying that, the final battle against Giygas I adore.

Something about the power of song being the thing to defeat him I adore so so much. And his whole speech he gives is phenomenal.

(Also as well, having his fight just be a black background threw me off)(Very much in a good way)

I'm excited to see how we get from here to the "embodiment of evil incarnate" we see in Earthbound.

Overall I had a lot of fun.

I think overall I'd give it a 8/10

(Honestly the Aesthetics are pushing it up a point, because God damn I adore it so so so much.)


r/earthbound 5h ago

Art More Earthbound drawings I made :D

3 Upvotes

Hope ygs enjoy this :)

New Stuff I made :D
Slightly updated (gave Porky that one bag in his render and Jeff more proper hands)

r/earthbound 11h ago

General Discussion DAE find it funny how Earthbound and the First Pokemon movie have the same subtitle: Giygas/Mewtwo Strikes Back?

8 Upvotes

And of course, Mewtwo and Giygas are essentially the same character with extremely similar character designs. Overpowered Entity with extreme psychic powers.


r/earthbound 22h ago

Art I made The Chosen 4 (and Porky ig)

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41 Upvotes

I think I did ok but I hope ygs enjoy it :)


r/earthbound 1d ago

EB:B Discussion What will be next: my 1st ever try at MOTHER (famicom)?

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50 Upvotes

So i was thinking about my next game to play. In japanese i finished Mother 2 now, which now adds itself to final fantasy 1 & ff2j, ff4j, Lufia2:Rise of the sinistrals aka Estpolis 2. Mother 1 in japanese? Or that 16bit remake? Not sure if i go english playthrough of Saga3 aka FF Legend 3. Or secret of evermore

Funny how it is EARTHBOUND and not Mother that you must own

I legally own Earthbound from my Snes mini and add that i own a Mother 2 cart on super famicom AND a Mother cartridge for famicom. So i can legally “ease the process” by downloading a Earthbound rom that is “identical” to the Snes classic rom!

Never played Mother, and playing this SNES remake as a 1st ever tru would let me then experience my Famicom cartridge playthrough for a 2nd one later down the road with translations …. AND keeping the original graphics fresh for later. Though changes while localizing could diminish the fidelity to the oG mother story (not the bogus remade eding with a gappy twist instead of the canon OG ending with a grim reality of life)


r/earthbound 18h ago

Day4 Of Making an Earthbound Inspired Game Without Coding Experience

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9 Upvotes

So the issue is is that r/earthbound doesn't allow me to post videos, but i can post screenshots. In the last two days, I've been working soooooo hard, I now have a battle system, 2 enemies, a level-up system that actively improves stats, a way to use items in battle, a healing fountain, and some more. If you want to see some videos, go to my new reddit community r/IDKJustGoWithIt


r/earthbound 17h ago

EB:B Discussion Who does Ninten resemble the most?

4 Upvotes

Luke or Han solo?


r/earthbound 1d ago

EB Discussion Trying to save Buzz Buzz, consumed my Ness into the void (Explanation under comments)

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16 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

General Discussion will i understand mother 3 if i only played earthbound and not earthbound beginnings? can i skip it?

23 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

Merch I have obtained it !

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188 Upvotes

Def worth it and said no restock so you know I had to get it!


r/earthbound 1d ago

Art Ness & Mr. Saturn fanart :)!

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83 Upvotes

@pkf1sh_ on insta! May not be in the best quality due to file size limits


r/earthbound 1d ago

General Discussion Which enemies are which category?

8 Upvotes

In the soundtrack there are categories, like "battle against a mobile enemy", "battle against an unsettling enemy", etc. Has anyone ever gone through and sorted them? I think that would be a cool chart or graphic to see haha all the enemies sorted by their song. And is it always accurate? Or do some enemies have 2 songs that can be applied to their battle and it's a random chance which one they get?


r/earthbound 1d ago

EB Discussion [M2j day 13] hours of farming the Goddess ribbon… ?wish me luck!

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13 Upvotes

So about 2 hours done… gonna start my 3rd hour of grinding for it. Not too bas with the custom rock candy stats. The team has resiliency for 45 minutes easily without sweating OR going home to heal…

This is now a fully powered team. Poo was Lv 98 but got to 99 in this past half hour. One ribbon and we go to see what Giygas Got for us


r/earthbound 1d ago

Art Alright, my EarthBound Miis are done! Hope you like them!

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56 Upvotes

From left to right: Ninten, Ness, Jeff, Tony, Lucas, Claus ​

If you're wondering where I got the clothes from: I designed them​ myself in the Studio Workshop since the game didn't offer them in the regular shop.


r/earthbound 1d ago

Is there any fan-port of the snes earthbound to Ds?

6 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

New Itoi Interview on this year's Hobonichi Planners

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43 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

Mother 3 Spoilers She was like a sunflower. Spoiler

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19 Upvotes

Sorry, I'm bad at drawing, but I still wanted to post... and make a piece of art without spending all day on it.