EarthBound

"If only it was as fun as it was unique..."

-Intro-

Earthbound is and will always be a game that is tied together with the word “controversy”. Most of the time when someone will mention games that are love or hate, Earthbound will be one of their first examples (probably along with Chrono Cross). I happen to be more on the “hate” side, and while I don't necessarily hate the game, it's definitely not one of my favorites. There are many reasons I dislike Earthbound, but the main problems I had was the terrible battle system, mediocre graphics, average music, and the sometimes frustrating difficulty.

The game was released as Mother 2 in Japan in the summer of 1994. About ten months later, it was released in America as Earthbound, which marked the first game of the series to be released in the United States. Initially, it wasn't too much of a success financially or critically, however over the years it has gained popularity and a large cult following. Many people praised Earthbound for being original and funny. Really though, the storyline is the only thing that could be considered original and the humor is really hit or miss. Not very often will you see people praising the gameplay aspects of this game, and you will find out why when you play the game.

I suppose I should get into detail now. Here we go.

-Gameplay-

The gameplay in Earthbound is one of the weaker aspects of the game, and I will explain why in a little bit. The game is a turn-based RPG, and of course uses many of the traditional aspects of the role-playing genre like dungeons, towns, equipment, and bosses. However, there is no overworld in this game. One of the more interesting aspects of the battles is that they are not triggered randomly, rather, you can see your enemies on the field. The angle at which you ran into the enemy also played a part as it determined whether or not you will get ambushed or a chance to strike first. I liked that aspect of the battles, yet I disliked how incredibly hard it was to dodge enemies that you don't want to fight. The battles may as well have been random, because there aren't many situations in which you can actually get by without battling. It was a good idea, but it became more annoying than anything.

Now the battle system itself isn't much better, for several reasons. First off, the battles are very similar to the Dragon Quest games, as you cannot see your players during battle and only the enemies are shown. This was a feature I never liked in the Dragon Quest games, so you can imagine how I felt when I saw that Earthbound used the same concept. Anyways, your main options in battle are Fight, PSI, Items, and Run. PSI is the magic system in this game, that works similar to many RPGs. When your characters level up, they will learn new PSI spells. Simply as that. No innovation, but it still works fairly well. Anyhow, I'm getting off track. The biggest problem with the battle system is the fact that the enemies are just too damn strong. This becomes a huge problem in the game, and not just in the end, but in the beginning as well. In fact, they become so strong that you will have a hard time surviving many normal enemies and will attempt to avoid them constantly. Then you remember that it's nearly impossible to avoid some of these enemies and end up getting ambushed, leading to more problems. This did not create a fun experience for me and makes playing the game extremely frustrating.

The health bars are also different in this game, as when an ally gets attacked, the damage will roll down the total amount instead of dealing it all at once. This is an interesting feature that would allow the player to heal that character before they die and allowed characters to survive if the battle ended before there meter went to zero. However, most of the time it seemed like the meter went much too fast and it was a rare occurrence for me to ever save a friend from dying anyway. Ah well, not too big of a deal.

Another problem I had with the battles was the fact that the characters you control were very unbalanced. Ness was by far the strongest of the group, who will have stats that are much higher than the other characters for the entire game. Also, each character you get starts with you at level one, even the last character you get. This just added to the unbalancedness of the game.

The inventory system for Earthbound was another aspect of the game that disappointed. It was again similar to the Dragon Quest games in terms of inventory, which is not a good thing. Each character had their own set of items that they hold, and they can only equip items that they are holding. That means that if you want Ness to equip that baseball bat, you have to make Paula give the item to Ness and then equip it. It just created an unnecessary hassle and it felt like a primitive way of handling items.

The control in this game was solid and had no problems. They are quick and responsive, as to be expected. Navigating through menus is simple and easy. Aha! I knew there was something good about the gameplay!

So when it comes down to it, there are just far too many flaws with Earthbound to consider it to be a fun game. The battle system is primitive, uninteresting, and frustrating all at the same time. It's actually difficult to find something I like about the gameplay. Well, on to the other categories. Maybe they could save the game from being terrible, right?!

-Story-

The part of Earthbound that usually gains much of the game's praise is its storyline. The game revolves around a young boy named Ness, who starts the game off by investigating a meteor crash not far from his home. He meets a bumble bee on the way home that tells him to find his eight sanctuaries and to fight the evil Giygas who is wreaking havoc in the future. It seemed like a bizarre premise, and the storyline in general is pretty bizarre. The game is also unique in the fact that it takes place in a modern setting, instead of a fantasy setting. There is also bits of humor in the form of NPC comments. Many people found this to be fresh and original, but I just found it to be tacky and generally unfunny. I know, I feel bad for saying this, since I'm a guy who loves a good joke. At least the NPCs aren't uninteresting like most RPG NPCs out there though. Many of the plot points in the game are quirky, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I felt that the storyline was uninteresting for most of the game. Most of the events that happened during the game had little relevance to the overall plot as well. There was a few cool points in the storyline, however, like the point when Poo had to undergo his trials. The ending of the game is actually pretty cool too. So, in short, the beginning and end of the game's story is good, but everything else not so much.

Now to talk about the characters. *sigh* The characters in Earthbound, to put it bluntly, are flat, boring, and undeveloped. Compared to other games of its time, the character development in this game is terrible. Ness is the silent protagonist, which is fine since many games at that time used the same idea. However, the other characters that join you, Paula, Jeff, and Poo, are just as personality-deprived as Ness. None of them even speak at all once they join your party. It felt like playing an NES RPG again. Also, it's worth noting that this game has probably the most annoying character from any video game ever: Pokey Minch.

They storyline in Earthbound may not be the worst ever in an RPG, and it definitely has its moments, but it still disappointed on many levels.

-Music and Sound Effects-

Earthbound is just full of disappointments, and its music is no exception. Before I played the game, I had heard much talk about how good the music in Earthbound was. I shouldn't have listened to them, since as I played the game I realized that the music was mediocre at best. Like the gameplay and story of this game, the music was just far too simplistic for my tastes. There are hardly any memorable songs in this game. Most of the time, the music fits the atmosphere quite well, but there are others times when the music sounds so wacky that it can completely throw the mood of the situation off. Some of the songs in this game are actually pretty terrible, and are bad enough to turn the volume down. However, I will admit that I liked a couple of songs, with Onnett's theme sticking out the most. Overall I'd say that the music is both good and bad, but mostly bad.

The sound effects are so-so, although they certainly could've been better. There are many bleeps and bloops which seem inappropriate for a late-SNES game. The sound effects in battle are also a bit underwhelming as they could have easily been on the NES. Ah well, what's left…graphics?

-Graphics-

Certainly a game that was released at the same time as Final Fantasy VI would have great graphics right? Well, you'd be surprised. The graphics in Earthbound are (like the gameplay, story, and music) much too simplistic. This game could've easily been done on the NES. The sprites lack any sort of detail and the backgrounds are plain. The effects in battle are also nothing to get excited about, as you can't actually see anything happen, just read about it at the text box. The enemy designs in this game are probably the most unique of any game I've played. To give you an idea of some of the enemies in the game, one of the bosses you fight is a giant pile of puke. Some people might like the graphics because of their simplicity and may think of them as cute, but I am one of those that feels much differently.

Also, since you cannot see your characters in battle, there is literally no animation whatsoever. And on the field, the characters' sprites are not animated at all. The first time you look at them is the same as the last time you look at them.

-Challenge, Length, and Replay-

As I have said many times before in this review, the challenge in this game is very high. The developers clearly weren't thinking when they decided to make every single random enemy an epic and ferocious beast. The bosses in this game are even more difficult than the normal enemies, if you can imagine. This game isn't hard in a fun way, it's hard in a frustrating way. If you want to make the game easier for yourself I suppose you could try level grinding, but we all know that that is no fun.

The length of this game is probably around medium. I don't know of a time frame because the game doesn't count how long you have played. I'd guess that it would take around 25 to 30 hours to beat on a first play through. You will not be disappointed with the length, unless you're like me waiting just for the game to end.

The replay value is low, since there aren't any side quests and the game is very linear. You will do everything you will ever want to do in the first play through. There isn't a variety of ways to train your characters and nothing new happens on your second play through.

-Summary-

Gameplay – 4/10………..below average
Story – 6/10…………....fair
Musics/Sound – 4/10…below average
Graphics – 3/10……...poor
Overall – 4/10………...below average

-Final Words-

Regardless of how I feel about this game I still suggest you play the game. Many people out there love the game, however for reasons I cannot understand. I guess most of the appeal is from its originality storyline-wise and its humor (or lack, thereof). However, these fans seem to overlook the shortcomings this game has in the gameplay department, which unbiased players cannot ignore.

If you're cheap, your best bet is to emulate, since finding the cartridge in the wild is near impossible and buying it on eBay will cost over $40. Don't worry too much about it though, as you're not missing out on too much. In the end, Earthbound offers a unique experience, but unfortunately its numerous shortcomings and frustrations make this unique experience an unpleasant one.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/07