"Saving the world with a baseball bat and fireworks."

In my honest, most professional opinion, Earthbound is the greatest, most fun game ever made. Unfortunately, it never became very popular in the U.S., due to its "bad" graphics, as people who judge games by graphics have labeled them. Which is sad because Earthbound is one of the greatest video game experiences I have ever had, if not the greatest. This game changed my life. This is the game that got me hooked on RPG's. It's so good, it's unbelievable. It is hated by many because it wasn't the prettiest game; even in its time. Well, Earthbound is one of those ground-breaking games that prove graphics ain't got nothing on gameplay. No game I have ever played even comes close to the originality and plain wackiness of Earthbound. Aside from the relatively short gameplay time and a lack of side quests, there is nothing I can complain about Earthbound, and that's really saying something. Earthbound is the absolute closest thing in my opinion to a perfect game. You can't call yourself an RPG gamer and hate Earthbound. On to my review of my favorite game of all time.

Story: 10/10
Awesome. An RPG that takes place in modern times. The story is you are Ness, an average kid in an average town. But when a meteor crashes onto a hill near your house, you go to check it out. While it may seem like an average meteor, your friend/neighbor knocks on your door later that night and asks you to help him find his lost brother, who went to the meteor. When you go there again, an insect creature comes out of the meteor and says he's from 10 years in the future. And in the future, all has been destroyed by Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer. He says a legend states that three boys and a girl will save the earth from Giygas. He believes you to be one of those boys and you are sent on a quest to gather the eight melodies that can grant the power to kill Giygas. The eight melodies together form one melody. It is great because it is set in modern times, which no RPG to my knowledge has attempted yet. This means that healing herbs and potions are replaced by double burgers and cans of fruit juice. The Mr. Saturn are original and hilarious. So are many of the enemies. This story line is wacky and fun; it's a nice game to play to get away from the stresses of every day life. The humor and originality are both a refreshing change of pace from other, more serious RPG's that involve chivalrous knights or medieval times.

Controls: 10/10
Well, it's a traditional RPG, so controls aren't complicated at all. You have a button to open the menu, make descicions, talk to people, cancel descisions, etc. No complaints about the controls. You'll never get stuck, and the cursor is a bit slow, so you won't end up using the wrong item, therefore wasting it.

Graphics/Sound: 10/10
While many consider the graphics of Earthbound to be "crappy" they are not. The graphics on Earthbound are colorful and cartoonish, which fits the comical mood of the game flawlessly. When you get into a battle, you don't see your characters, but you see your enemies in a 1st person view type that is similar to Dragon Warrior. There is no specific background according to where you are, but instead you have a colorful, moving screensaver type background that changes depending the enemy you encountered. The music in Earthbound is outstanding. Every song fits the mood of the what's going on. You have upbeat songs when you are in a town, slow music when in a dark place, and lively, exciting songs when in a battle, and some of them are funny. There are more battle songs on this game than any other RPG I've played, you have like five different themes for regular enemies alone, and they fit in with what you're fighting. If you are fighting a Spiteful Crow, the music is fast and funny. If you're fightning a snake, it slows down a bit, but is still funny. If you're fighting a mushroom, the music is just plain funny. But, if you're fighting something scary, like a zombie, or something big and dangerous, like a mighty bear, the music slows down and is creepy and not at all funny. The robotic enemies have a futuristic battle theme. I love almost every song on this game. The sound effects are funny, too. Although most of them are just beeps and bloops, you do hear sizzling during a fire attack, Master Belch belches, a cash register sound when you purchase/sell something. These areas are flawless.

Gameplay: 10/10
This...is...incredible! This game is so much fun. The bright, colorful graphics and crazy items and enemies all add to the fun. In this game, you fight enemies like ducks, gas pumps, fire hydrants, coffee cups, records, piles of gunk, crooked cops, tough guys, cranky ladies, slugs, hippies, gangsters, ropes, local guys, oak trees, taxis, and many, many, more. And, your weapons are baseball bats, yo-yo's, frying pans, slingshots, and ray guns. You have non-equipable attack items like slime generators and bottle rockets. Your healing items include cold medicine, cups of noodles, hamburgers, french fries, pizzas, and cans of fruit juice. Instead of magic, you have psychic powers, or PSI. And, you never kill your living adversaries. When defeated, they become tame or turn back to normal. Instead of inns, you have hotels that read you the front page when you wake up. Item shops are drugstores and department stores. Instead of monsters blocking your path to the next town, you have cops that have issued roadblocks. In Earthbound, you don't donate money to a church and have the priest pray some heavenly body to revive your part members; you pay their hospital fee. This game is unique, because it is normal and not normal at the same time. It is normal because you use and fight things you could find today, but then again, no RPG has attempted this yet, which makes it so unique. There is nothing in the video game world like it. As one would expect, you move your character 360 degrees. However, unlike most role playing games, can see your enemies. This hardly helps, though, because they are hard to avoid. Battles are normal unless you approach an enemy from the back or side, then you get a suprise attack. The enemy will get a surprise attack if they touch you from behind, too. If you are stronger than the enemy, it will be defeated instantly. The battle engine is nearly identical to Dragon Warrior. You face your enemies and your characters are replaced by status bars. A message box at the top of the screen tells you what's going on during the battle. You issue commands for all of your party members, then you and the enemies take turns bashing each other until everyone/thing in the battle has done their turn, which take place in the order of greatest agility. One of the most helpful features of the game is the scrolling HP system. If you have a lot of HP left and are dealt a mortal blow, the HP meter will scroll down very rapidly, just like a slot machine. If you can heal the character before his or her HP reaches zero, they will survive. The game is not too difficult, but is in some places, which shall remain nameless. *Cough* Fourside Department Store *Cough* This game is so unique and fun, I can almost guarantee you will love it, unless you either hate RPG's, video games, or have little/no sense of humor at all, that's a promise. The only two things that bring this game down are a lack of side quests and a short amount of game playtime.

Replayability; 10/10
This game is so much fun and so crazy; you'll want to play it over again and again. I have. I have beaten this game many a time and I still play it regularly. There are not a whole lot of RPG's that you can play over and over again, but Earthbound is one of them. This game has the highest replay value of any RPG that I've ever played. It never gets old.

Rent or Buy?
Heh heh, sorry, you won't find this game for rent, but if you have the opportunity to buy it, by all means BUY IT! Even if you have to buy it off your friend for $80, buy it, it's worth it.

Pros:
Originality
Very Funny
Lots of Wacky Enemies and Items
Graphics Fit the Game Perfectly
Incredible Music
Battles are Fun
Shopping is Fun
The Game is Just Plain Fun
The Mr. Saturns
Difficulty is Well-Balanced

Con:
Too Short/lack of sidequests. Then again, if this game were fifteen hours longer, it would still be too short, because you can't get enough of a game like this.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/18/05