"Flawed Genius"

So often in life something comes along that is packed full of genius of some sort, but these things are inevitably flawed. Earthbound is one such unfortunate game.

From the start you can tell this game is going to be different. A bizarre art style, odd and occasionally catchy music, and a good dose of clever humor serve to create the perfect atmosphere.

To tell the truth, I used to love this game. That is, I loved it until I played past about halfway through it. I dug the first half of the game immensely - so much so that I rented it twice, something I've done for no other game. Thanks to the current crop of hyper-powerful videogame consoles, SNES games are cheaper than ever. After snagging it used and without a manual (who needs a manual when you already know how to play the game?) for $5, I started playing through it.

Over the course of the next weekend I went from engrossed in every little detail to disgusted with the sheer number of button presses required to sell two character loads of snakes I kept getting from random battles. I also made the unfortunate mistake of selling them in Saturn Valley (why? I wish I knew...).

I went to the Mr. Saturn I thought was the store. After ten minutes of repeatedly resting at an inn, I realized that I was talking to the wrong one. So, I went looking and eventually found the correct one. Twenty minutes later I've managed to offload 16 snakes to Mr. Saturn for an amount of cash that wasn't worth it.

I know what you're thinking, ''I can deal with spending time selling stuff.'' The madness doesn't end there. You're not so fortunate here that one button press ''Talks'' and ''Checks''. Oh no, one button press will open the menu. From here you get to select various choices (Talk, item management and ''Check'' are all in this menu). Please, Nintendo, don't do this to me again.

The sound effects range from sucky to average, but you'll still smile when you hear Master Belch burp. The music has its cool moments (some very cool electro-Jazz and Techno during the battles especially), but it also has some highly annoying moments. My ears are still bleeding from the last boss's music. *shudder*

From a few of the reviews I’ve read, it seems I’m one of the few people that intensely dislikes the battle system in Earthbound. Or rather, not the system, but the fact that some (many) of the enemies are unfairly strong. It’s not fair to hit Ness with a big status attack before Paula joins the party (this is a beef I have with all RPGs that throw status attacks around when there is a single character – FF Mystic Quest, Dragon Warrior both come to mind as offenders in this category). The enemies also seem far too strong at times (maybe I just never leveled up enough?).

The PSI powers soak up way to many PP to use them all the time. I guess I’ve been spoiled by every other non-Enix RPG out there, but I like to do a lot of my healing with magic and just carry items to heal the MP or PP or whatever you want to call them. The item limit per character in Earthbound is too strict as well. The ATM card, rulers, protractors and such take up as much space in the inventory as do useful items like weapons and the afore mentioned PP healing items. This in itself would be easily forgiven is you could carry lots of items per character but no, you’re quite limited in what you can lug around. It would have been quite fitting if somewhere along the way you picked up a “black hole in a jar” which let you carry as much junk as you wanted – then I wouldn’t have needed to go through my ordeal with the snakes and the Mr. Saturns…

Lest you start thinking I’m some soulless primate that derived no enjoyment from the game, the humor saves the game from being an exercise in pointlessness. I can guarantee that without the constant parody of various genre conventions, pulling in thinly veiled cameos of various celebrities (Runaway Five my ass… *cough*bluesbrothers*cough*), and truly strange inhabitants (your Dad who you never actually see for one) and monsters (Annoying Reveler and New Age Retro Hippie) no one would have liked this game.

You see, the game doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s all a big joke, from beginning to end. And it is the joke that makes it worth playing.

Gameplay: 3

You’ve read my story about trying to sell a bunch of items to exactly the wrong people to sell stuff to in the game. You’ve seen my dislike for the unbalanced combat. The gameplay here is purely substandard in every regard. The plain vanilla RPG Secret of the Stars had better actual gameplay than this.

Story: 9

It isn’t that the plot is the best thing since sliced bread that gets this score rolling up to higher numbers, it’s the humor. Any game that can make fun of itself and everything else without making it look contrived (“As odd as this may sound, there's several rabbit statues blocking your way.” is a classic line from this game) gets plenty bonus points for that. In fact the joke overshadows most of the flaws, as long as you’re not selling a bunch of snakes to Mr. Saturn… *shudder*

Graphics: 8

The graphics are not good. It’s that simple. But then they weren’t supposed to be good in that sense of the word. They were made to fit the mood of the game. And in this they work perfectly. The battle backgrounds are nearly too hypnotic… but I love them anyways.

Sound: 5

The sound effects are not good either. But in a game like this, they are not what is important. This game is all about the style. The music is a key to getting that style down right. Most of it is bearable some is pretty good, but all of it is truly strange. I’ve listened to a lot of Experimental and Noise (heck I was in a band that played that kind of music) and that’s not really what this stuff is. Some of it is electro-jazz played with a strange sample set, and other bits are cool techno (again with a strange sample set). Not something I would want to listen to frequently, but it works perfectly for the mood.

Replay: 5

I will never play this game again, period. I like it, I used to love it, but there are too many little annoyances that interrupt the flow of the humor. I don’t mind the homesickness thing Ness can get, but I don’t want his Dad calling me for no apparent reason other than to annoy me every twenty minutes of leveling up.

Other: N/A

Definitely see if you can borrow it off of someone. You might like it more than I do. It’s worth the price of admission as long as you’re not shelling out more than $20 or so, above that and I would think you’re getting ripped. The guys at e-Bay shelling out $100-plus for it are just plain crazy.

Overall: 6

This is a game you’ll probably love or hate, but a lot of people do love it. I enjoy the attempt at humor the game makes. It’s the rare RPG that is so light hearted that it takes nothing seriously, but Earthbound fits that bill perfectly. If you can overlook the stupid little things that hurt my appreciation of the game, and you crave a light hearted that will barrage you with little jokes, then Earthbound is the game for you. Anyone expecting a flawless experience or wanting a serious RPG should probably stay away.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/25/02, Updated 06/25/02