5/5 ★ – PurlSaturn's review of EarthBound.

My first exposure to EarthBound, (MOTHER2 in Japan), was through Super Smash Bros. Melee, like I assume it was for many others. Melee was a very important video game for me as when I played it for the first time, the only characters I really recognized were of the Mario cast. As well as Pikachu, obviously. So in a lot of ways, Melee was my first impression of The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, and Metroid. But none stood out to me more than this series called "EarthBound." Every other character in the game was a knight from a fantasy world, a cyber-enhanced bounty hunter from space, or a fire breathing turtle. But the character from EarthBound... Ness... He was just a kid from a small rural town in America. Well, "Eagleland," technically. And for some reason this made EarthBound resonate with me stronger than any other franchise. When EarthBound released in 1995, you'd be searching for a long time, (like a really long time,) before you'd find a video game with a contemporary setting starring characters who bear any resemblance to the target audience of gamers at the time. Sure there were plenty of Final Fantasys and Zeldas and oh so many tough guys slicing and shooting up baddies... but that was really all the market had. Much like my experience with Ness in Smash Melee, many gamers in the 90s and 2000s resonated with Earthbound as a JRPG because it WASN'T set in a fantasy world, or outer space, or Dracula's castle. It was set in America. And you were just a kid and his friends. The modern setting and relatable characters are really what most people praise EarthBound for, and I won't say those elements aren't the core of what makes the game wonderful. But there's so much more. Fuck there's so. Much. More to this game that makes it a masterpiece. To start, the game was created for a vastly different audience at the time than most video games were. The games director and lead writer, Shigesato Itoi, had created the series with his daughter in mind. Sadly, he had been separated from her due to a divorce when she was young, but wanted a way to still communicate with her at the time through his art. Because of this, the game was marketed as being for "Adults, children, and even young women..." in Japan. Because of this, the game defies a lot of trends of the time. It's emotional and sentimental, but it's still fun and silly. It's not trying to be a showcase of insane graphics or gameplay, but it still has moments that feel impressive and one-of-a-kind. I'm an adult woman playing this game, and I love it, and I don't think a young kid would enjoy it any less. The thematic elements of EarthBound are also something I strongly resonate with. Itoi mentions the Japanese name of the series, MOTHER, was inspired by the song of the same name by John Lennon. Lennon's song resonated strongly with Itoi, as the song recounts Lennon feeling abandoned and isolated from his parents and Itoi's situation with his parents being similar. EarthBound has so much about the relationship between the protagonists and their parents. Ness saves his game by calling his father, who is absent the entirety of the adventure. If he doesn't talk to his mother for an extended period of time, he begins feeling homesick and failing in battles. Ness's Mother and Paula and Poo's fathers all will heal the party when spoken to, but Jeff is neglected by his father, so the party must utilize a machine built by Jeff's father to heal instead. And then there's Porky, or Pokey, who's parents are neglectful but also implied to be physically abusive. In the Japanese version of the game, there's audio of Porky's parents beating Porky and his brother, Picky, for staying out late. While Ness and co. go on their adventure to save the world, Porky also goes on an adventure for undescribed reasons, though likely as an attempt to copy Ness and to escape his troubled household. By the end of the game, he's become nothing but a pawn of Giygas, the main antagonist and the embodiment of evil. Porky's story is tragic but of course this is only the first half. The final boss is enigmatic, surreal, and disturbing. I always wondered the significance of the fetus symbolism, and I believe it's simply a representation of Giygas's vulnerability, while also representing the birth and beginning of his terror. There's definitely a lot to unpack though and I'd like to analyze it further. Overall, EarthBound is one of the greatest games I've ever played. It's influence on gaming can be felt everywhere. There's so much more I can say and this is just a rambley start... but I just wanted to speak on some aspects of this game that I fell in love with.