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The Return Of Earthbound For GBA

warmgun writes "One of the biggest cult video game series ever is getting a second chance at stardom for a new generation. The games are the console RPGs Mother 1 and Mother 2. Mother 2 was released in the US as Earthbound on the Super Nintendo, and stars Ness, more recently known for appearing in Super Smash Bros. More info on the games and their currently Japanese-only GameBoy Advance re-release can be found at Starmen.net. Help the site convince Nintendo to release this gem Stateside!"

20 comments

  1. For those too lazy to read... by cloudless.net · · Score: 5, Informative

    Screen shots from the Mother 1+2 commercial.
    Looks pretty much unchanged from the original NES version.

  2. Get it now by Traderdot · · Score: 2, Informative

    No need to wait for a US release. Gameboys don't have region coding so you can get the Japanese version through your favorite importer and play it on your US or Euro Gameboy.

    1. Re:Get it now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or download the rom.

    2. Re:Get it now by Guppy06 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Being region free doesn't make kanji any easier to read.

  3. Imported by Gr33nNight · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, you can get it imported, but like any Japanese RPG, knowing the language makes it ALOT better, otherwise its not much fun.

  4. It's Earthbound... by Nindalf · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...you think it will make more sense after it's been translated to a language you understand?

  5. Music by Tom7 · · Score: 1

    My favorite thing about these games was the music, by Hiro Tanaka (Metroid, Kid Icarus). Is that guy still making video game music??

    1. Re:Music by willr7 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Check out this link

      It shows all of the music that Hiro Tanaka has made for games.

      The last tune that he composed was for Earthbound.

  6. Earthbound 64 by willr7 · · Score: 2


    There was supposted to be an Earthbound 3 for N64, but Nintendo scraped it.

    Now there's rumors that the Earthbound title for N64 is going to hit gamecube.

    Kind of like how Star Fox Adventures was originally an N64 title, but them moved onto the Gamecube.

    I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo waited until their next console to release Earthbound, so all the fans would pick up the next console. Kind of like how Metroid skipped the N64.

    1. Re:Earthbound 64 by xxxj03yxxx · · Score: 0, Troll

      Sadly enough, I don't think that the Earthbound series has enough fans loyal enough to purchase a new system just to play the game. Nintendo knows this, I'm sure. I, on the other hand, would buy the new system only to play a new Earthbound game. If only they'd remake Maniac Mansion...

    2. Re:Earthbound 64 by willr7 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Don't get me started on that game, that game was FANTASTIC!

    3. Re:Earthbound 64 by elite+lamer · · Score: 1

      According to this, Mother 3 is planned to be released on the Game Boy Advance. I think that would indicate that it would be a direct sequel to Earthbound, rather than an entirely new Mother game, due to the graphics of GBA.

      Mother 3, when it was being developed for N64, was to be a 3D title. You can see screenshots of it here. It was to be a new entry in the Mother series, quite different from Earthbound (Mother 2).

      However, due to the fact that GBA can't do true 3D (yet) but rather tends to imitate the graphical style of SNES-era games, I think Mother 3 might be a more direct sequel to Earthbound, as was hinted in Earthbound itself.

      ...Yeah, kind of off-topic, but I thought I'd supply some information.

      --
      Oops!
    4. Re:Earthbound 64 by willr7 · · Score: 1

      I thought that Mother 1 was known as "Earthbound 0"? (A prequel, since it wasn't released in US), and Mother 2 was named Earthbound(in the US at least), even though Mother 1 came out first.

      I think they just renamed the game for the US release, and its known as Mother in Japan.

      Like Secret of Mana series in US is known as Seiken Densetsu in Japan.

      I see what you mean by Nintendo scrapping the N64 version and translating it to GBA, since that's what the article says, but (my opinion) wouldn't you think that it would be hard to start developing a game in 3d on a system like N64 and then do a complete 360 and put it on an inferior (power wise) system? Just my thoughts.

      Hey, I know your not slamming the GBA, (and this really has nothing to do w/ what you said) but I would like to say that----

      I LOVE the fact the GBA is keeping SNES style games alive, I'm playing Zelda DX (originally released for GBC, I think) right now, and it's awesome. SNES style games are great. Kind of like the SNES never went away, and companies are still making games for the console.

  7. excellent news indeed by xxxj03yxxx · · Score: 1

    For me, this is absolutely great news. The SNES version of Earthbound remains one of my all-time favorite RPGS, and video games in general. When I first heard rumors of a new one being made for the N64 I almost couldn't contain myself. Needless to say, I was more than disappointed when it was "cancelled." If they make an Earthbound game for the GCN, I will definitely buy it. If they re-release Earthbound for the GBA, I am definitely buying it. If they do decide to release the original Mother on the GBA over here in the states, I'm getting that as well.

  8. Re:2nd.1st post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry you got modded troll replying to that AC post [which is why I posted AC *shrug*]. I would've given you an interesting/informative [if I had mod points], but the mods seem to have tanked the whole post and threads. :P