Hey all and welcome back to the blog that jerks wrote, in today's posting I am going to write a small briefing about a video game series I feel deserves some attention. Usually the aim of the blog will be to raise the awareness of games which have been somewhat missed and in today's blog i will not strain far from that idea.
Today's game series is Mother or known as Earthbound in the U.S. The reason i have chosen this game series is because i personally own Japanese copies of Mother 1+2 and Mother 3 and I think I may be one of the few Brits that actually knows about this game from a hands on experience (I would also like to note that i can't read Japanese, sorry) i also managed to find fan made English patches for the these games which made playing them through a lot easier the second time. the main reason i am shining light on these games is because Neither Mother 1, 2 or 3 ever made it to the E.U. in fact the only coverage and knowledge of this game would be the appearance of
Ness in the Super Smash Brothers Series and later Lucas would be introduced to that very same game. So without further ado lets get this show on the road.
Mother
The first game of the series which was released on July the 27
th 1989 in Japan on the Nintendo
Famicom or
NES as we know it as locally, the game series was directed by
Shigesato Itoi and was produced by
Shigeru Miyamoto. The game is set in the U.S. around the year 1988 and follows the story of a boy called
Ninten.
Ninten is a 12 year old boy who discovers that he has
psionic powers who is charged with a mission of finding the 8 melodies and using them in order to save the earth from the threat of an evil invasion.
During the game you will come across many allies and foes, your allies and friends are also youngsters such as yourself, the first of which you meet is Lloyd a nerd who is often bullied for his interests. Later you encounter a young girl named Ana who like
Ninten also shares the gift of
psionic powers and uses them to help
Ninten in his plight against the alien invasion, these are just a few allies that you meet during your time in Mother, now for the enemies. Mother has an array of enemies that you can relate to in the modern world and these enemies you encounter will become more abundant the further you play on, these monsters range from U.F.O's and Aliens to well known animals such as elephants and crows.
The games Graphics now days are nothing more than 8-bit history, but at the time of this game's release the graphics were considered ahead of its time and was praised rightfully so. The game was also very successful in Japan selling over 400,000 copies, the sound track was filled with catch little jingles which suited well for its time and again was one of the many aspects that the game was praised for, the music ranged from having happy melodies which followed
you as you walked from town to town but all that would change should you become the victim of a stray dog attack. Another thing that gain this game popularity was the fact that most
RPGs at this time was best in a medieval setting and Mothers risking leap to set the stage in the modern was a bold one which evidently reaped rewards. The games combat system had a typical
RPG turn based approach which is all to common now days, but to keep with the feel of an
RPG the game had to develop a more modern feel to the battles, critical hits would be indicated by a big
SMAAAAASH! effect which grew quite popular on it's own throughout the
RPG community and also brought its own set of status ailments to the table from classic effects such as poisoned to more time related problems such as asthma attacks.
Personally i think that this game for its era was fantastic though i did not actually play the game at that moment in time, the game was set for a U.S. release under the title Earthbound but by the time translation and localisation was finished the
SNES would soon be on the scene which unfortunately sealed the non-existent release of the game outside of Japan. As for how this game ends? well now that would be telling.
Mothe
r 2After the success more Mother in Japan,
Itoi and
Miyamoto set out on the sequel to the game with Mother 2. The game would be released 5 years after the first installment of the series on the 27
th of August 1994 in Japan and would later receive a U.S. release under the title of the Earthbound on the 1st of June 1995. Like its predecessor Mother 2 is based in a modern setting in the U.S. the game is follows the events that happened several years after Mother. in this game you play as
Ness, in appearance
Ness looks similar to that of
Ninten and like him he to also has the gift of psi.
The games plot is reminiscent of that in Mother. The game follows
Ness an average boy from the town of
Onett who lives peacefully with his mother and sister, life is good and
simp
le until that faithful night when a meteorite would crash into the hillside of
Onett. Being a curious soul
Ness seeks to see what the commotion was about but before he arrives at the scene of the meteor he police have already barricaded it of from the public. whilst trying to sleuth more about the situation you encounter Porky the kid from next door who is harassing the police and being a general pest on the scene, after some investigation you would later return home and retire for the night however during your sleep you would be woken by a loud knocking at the door, upon opening the door you are greeted by Porky. Porky hysterically explains that his younger bother Picky has gone missing and he fears that he has gone to the meteorite, in the fear of being grounded Porky has asked
Ness for help in finding his Brother.
The games plot though similar to that of Mother is very unique in it's own right with a bizarre cast of villains and locations the game has a funny feeling to it which pulls you in from the start, however the game does have a more sinister side and more than its fair share of twists and turns as the game's plot unravels. The combat system doesn't change more from the original other than it is a lot
more attractive in appearance and graphically, like its prequel the game was praised for its fitting sound track and today is still regarded quite highly by Mother fans and video game enthusiasts alike. The game's mechanics also varied to that of Mother, a notable example would be the removal of all random fights, you would see what was attacking you before hand and you could physically try and avoid getting into a fight should you want to save time, or just simply not want to fight. A unique thing that Mother 2 has is that if you are much stronger than your opponent you can defeat them before the fight even begins which can sometimes be useful should you want to go through an area unharmed.
Mother 2 was a good addition to the series and shared a unique feeling with all those who played it, though the game was not praised graphically for its appearance the game was given kudos on its musical score. As stated the game would be the first time Mother would be seen outside of Japan and within Japan it would rise to 1# in the game charts of
Fanimitsu magazine
within the first month of its release however, its U.S. release was not so glamorous as the game was even classed as simply 'horrid' by many
RPG critics but would later become a cult classic in the U.S. and even the EU to an extent. Upon the U.S. release was backed by a series of promotions in order to sell the game though it did not do as well as Nintendo had anticipated and the game only sold 140,000 copies in the U.S. alone less than half of that of Japan's 300,000 and later an additional 320,000 copies when the game was ported to
GBA as Mother 1+2. Again i believe this game was slightly ahead of it's time but unfortunately met resistance the the U.S. market at the time as their was many other games to compete with and being the
RPG franchise didn't catch on properly until later years, the following result would end anymore hopes of the game being released outside of Japan and also any sequel to the series in the future.
Mother 3
After over a decade since Mother 2's release in Japan, Mother 3 was announced for the
GBA. The game again was developed and produced by
Itoi and
Miyamoto, and was set for release in Japan on the 20
th of April 2006. Mother 3 is slightly different from it's two predecessors wherein the game is not based in the U.S. but a new place simply called Nowhere Island. however the game does follow the same principle in other elements, in this game you play as the protagonist Lucas who like
Ninten and
Ness possesses the ability to use
psionic powers however, it would lay dormant within him and later be awoken within him by one of the mysterious
Magypsies.
The game starts with an overview of Nowhere Island and an introduction that rushes you through the surroundings of this new world. After viewing several scenes and locations you come across the house of Alec, the grandfather of Lucas and his twin brother Claus who are
staying at Alec's house with their mother
Hinata. after being woken up by your brother who pulsing with excitement as the local
Drago's have had a baby and Clause can't wait for you to see them and thus runs off without you, after finally getting out of bed you sleepily make you way downstairs and try to leave the house, of
crouse mum intervenes and explains you are still in your pajamas and you should get changed before venerating outside. Once you are clad in your clothes you set off to meet with Claus and the
Dragos. You play with the
Dragos and their new baby whilst learning a new trick or two before it's time to head home for dinner and later the journey home.
Whilst the you and your brother have gone to gather your things,
Hinata your mum has written a letter to your father Flint back home, after sending the letter to him via a carrier pigeon a strange anthem starts to emit from a passing flying object (if you have played it, you know the theme :D), Startled but tired,
Hinata returns to her quarter's to get ready to set off home with her boys. Shortly after they set off for home something goes awry in the Forest leading back home, out of nowhere the forest bursts into flames, but this is no normal fire, this was planned arson. You watch a scene as some strangely attired creatures throw bombs in the forest in order
to create this inferno and engulf the forest in a reddish blaze. Back home in
Tazmily the town crier Thomas has been told to gather what people he can to help tackle this calamity and fast! Thomas realises he needs people who are reckless to tackle a problem like this and he knows just the person, enter Flint. Thomas arrives at Flints home banging the door and shouting for Flint help even so that he actually pulls the door handle clean off. After enough row Flint answers the door and hears
Thomas's tale and escorts him to the forest where help is needed but what will become of this inferno? will Lucas and his family make it home
unscaved? and what why did the Pig mask wearing creatures start this fire? well why don't you find out and play the game.
Mother 3 is the latest and possibly last installment of the franchise, Mother 3 differs from the previous installments in several ways, for starters the game doesn't follow a single character but an sample of them which in their own right advance the plot and allow you to see what happened from many perspectives throughout the games 8 chapters. The game keeps that classic Mother feeling with it's array of strange characters and somewhat humble cast of heroes and villains though the combat system would over go a slight change, the encounters remain physical as in
Mother 2 but damage would be calculated by how well you could keep with the beat of the fight, as the music played hitting the attack button at the right note would allow a chain of combos that could hit to a maximum of 16 times. The songs in the game are great for which you would come to expect from the game series and some very catchy tunes at the same time, again the music is well suited for each scene and at points the music does bring out certain emotions within the player through out the game's story unfolds whether they be feelings of happiness, sadness or mild humor, I personally think that the game has a great way of pulling you in and getting you attached to the characters thus providing more power for when these emotions should come out. Mother 3 in my books is a classic game that i have played through multiple times and enjoyed is as much as the first time i did.
Mother 3 received massive publicity in Japan with T.V coverage, special promotions with commercial companies like Coca-Cola who into the release of the game has special Mother 2 key rings with special Coca-Cola products, a few years before the games release the Mother 1+2 would be released in order to help bolster the fan base of Mother 3 and help recap on what has happened i
n the game at this point and help refresh memories. One thing I do find peculiar about Mother 3 that it was released in 2006 on the
GBA, which was 2 years after the initial release of the Nintendo
DS in Japan, logically thinking I would have thought that they would have made the game for the
DS but evidently I would be wrong and this was also a very similar case which lead to the cancellation of Mother 64 (a story for another time). However despite being released for a console from the previous generation of handhold consoles the game fared very well in the Japanese markets selling 205,914 copies within the first 3 days of its release and would go on to be the 34th best selling game of 2006 in Japan selling a total of 370,213 units for that year. The game has since been demanded for an international release to the U.S. and the EU, this has sparked many rumors of whether this game will come out of Japan? Rumor has it that the game will be released on the DS as a compilation with all 3 games on however i can't stress enough that this is just a rumor and i don't want to get hopes built up about it though i do hope that the games does reach U.S. and EU shores one day.
Well, that's my apparently brief overview of the Mother series, i may later go on to do more in depth reviews of the individual games, but for now i think there is enough information to perhaps get people interested in the game and spread some awareness of this title,
as for the future of this series? well in an interview with Mr. Itoi after the Mother 3's release, Mr. Itoi announced that there will not be a Mother 4, at the time this was sad news for Mother fans such as myself but later on would release another interview when in he said he would like to see a Mother 4, but not so much be on the programming side of it. This does leave a glimmer of hope for the fans but the gap between Mother 2-3 was over 10 years so perhaps a sequel will be made? as for my opinion, i will believe it when i see it.
Thank you for reading and take care.
Rikgief
P.S
If you are interested in playing Mother 3 in English a patch can be found at: http://mother3.fobby.net/
Since Mother 2 was released as Earthbound in the U.S. English versions of the game are within circulation on places such as Ebay however, despite not getting an official release a leaked English version of Mother 1 was released and can usually be found under the name of Earthbound 0 and is quite rare to say the least.
How you acquire the game however, well that is up to you.
s Exodus and The Brutal Ballad of Fangus Clot some of which had at least made it into the development process. Currently Oddworld have plans for a CGI movie called Citizen Siege and apparently working on a new title though quoted by Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun saying "...They're such a talented group of people and I really trust their ability to create compelling content however, slow production schedule could make it "years" before the game sees release". Many of the first Oddworld games were on the PS1 and PC format but would later be bought my Microsoft and produce several games for the Xbox. 
ses around Oddworld, as for Abe you work at Rupture Farms Oddworld's biggest meat processing plant. Though you are called an employee the correct term would be slave to say the least. Whilst working late one night at Rupture Farms you sumble across a board meeting with the boss, Molluck the glukkon. Molluck and the board are talking about the recent financial crisis that has struck Rupture Farms as one of the company's best selling product Meech Munchies has gone out of production due to the fact Meeches have been farmed to extinction however, Molluck being the business glukkon he is has a
lready got plans for a replacement product, as for what the mystery meat good is? it's YOU! that's right Rupture Farm's new product the Muddoken Pop is due for launch and where better to get an ample supply of mudokken meat, than the slaves themselves. you are horrified by what you have just witnessed and flee from the scene but not before getting the attention of a guard at the meeting and thus a chase ensues. after running away from the guard you plan your escape from the factory, but what about the other 99 co-workers here that are unaware of Mollucks intentions? well it is your job to free them of course, remember Rupture Farms has a strict escapee policy...
ame gives you several techniques to help you on your quest throughout the game from simple things such as running and jumping to possession where you can take control of certain enemies and use them to your will such as the guard sligs. when in possession of another one can interact with the surroundings like they could when they were Abe though each creature and person has their own language so to speak. Though mind controlling sligs to do your bidding i personally found a lot of enjoyment of going round and beating up, shooting and leading muddokens down holes and into meat grinders however, when you get to the end of the game it's not so forgiving on you for killing your fellow comrades. The game is can be enjoyable at times but can also be frustrating when you are trying to rescue all 99 muddokens and you miss one early in the game which can lead to a complete restart, also the game can before increasingly annoying as some puzzles are long and strenuous and with no quick save function (which would later arrive in Abe's Exodus) it can leave you to feel as if you just want to throw the damn game out of the window. 
Music and Sounds 
The first game of the series which was released on July the 27th 1989 in Japan on the Nintendo Famicom or NES as we know it as locally, the game series was directed by Shigesato Itoi and was produced by Shigeru Miyamoto. The game is set in the U.S. around the year 1988 and follows the story of a boy called Ninten. Ninten is a 12 year old boy who discovers that he has psionic powers who is charged with a mission of finding the 8 melodies and using them in order to save the earth from the threat of an evil invasion.
you as you walked from town to town but all that would change should you become the victim of a stray dog attack. Another thing that gain this game popularity was the fact that most RPGs at this time was best in a medieval setting and Mothers risking leap to set the stage in the modern was a bold one which evidently reaped rewards. The games combat system had a typical RPG turn based approach which is all to common now days, but to keep with the feel of an RPG the game had to develop a more modern feel to the battles, critical hits would be indicated by a big SMAAAAASH! effect which grew quite popular on it's own throughout the RPG community and also brought its own set of status ailments to the table from classic effects such as poisoned to more time related problems such as asthma attacks.
r 2
le until that faithful night when a meteorite would crash into the hillside of Onett. Being a curious soul Ness seeks to see what the commotion was about but before he arrives at the scene of the meteor he police have already barricaded it of from the public. whilst trying to sleuth more about the situation you encounter Porky the kid from next door who is harassing the police and being a general pest on the scene, after some investigation you would later return home and retire for the night however during your sleep you would be woken by a loud knocking at the door, upon opening the door you are greeted by Porky. Porky hysterically explains that his younger bother Picky has gone missing and he fears that he has gone to the meteorite, in the fear of being grounded Porky has asked Ness for help in finding his Brother.
more attractive in appearance and graphically, like its prequel the game was praised for its fitting sound track and today is still regarded quite highly by Mother fans and video game enthusiasts alike. The game's mechanics also varied to that of Mother, a notable example would be the removal of all random fights, you would see what was attacking you before hand and you could physically try and avoid getting into a fight should you want to save time, or just simply not want to fight. A unique thing that Mother 2 has is that if you are much stronger than your opponent you can defeat them before the fight even begins which can sometimes be useful should you want to go through an area unharmed.
within the first month of its release however, its U.S. release was not so glamorous as the game was even classed as simply 'horrid' by many RPG critics but would later become a cult classic in the U.S. and even the EU to an extent. Upon the U.S. release was backed by a series of promotions in order to sell the game though it did not do as well as Nintendo had anticipated and the game only sold 140,000 copies in the U.S. alone less than half of that of Japan's 300,000 and later an additional 320,000 copies when the game was ported to GBA as Mother 1+2. Again i believe this game was slightly ahead of it's time but unfortunately met resistance the the U.S. market at the time as their was many other games to compete with and being the RPG franchise didn't catch on properly until later years, the following result would end anymore hopes of the game being released outside of Japan and also any sequel to the series in the future.
After over a decade since Mother 2's release in Japan, Mother 3 was announced for the GBA. The game again was developed and produced by Itoi and Miyamoto, and was set for release in Japan on the 20th of April 2006. Mother 3 is slightly different from it's two predecessors wherein the game is not based in the U.S. but a new place simply called Nowhere Island. however the game does follow the same principle in other elements, in this game you play as the protagonist Lucas who like Ninten and Ness possesses the ability to use psionic powers however, it would lay dormant within him and later be awoken within him by one of the mysterious Magypsies.
staying at Alec's house with their mother Hinata. after being woken up by your brother who pulsing with excitement as the local Drago's have had a baby and Clause can't wait for you to see them and thus runs off without you, after finally getting out of bed you sleepily make you way downstairs and try to leave the house, of crouse mum intervenes and explains you are still in your pajamas and you should get changed before venerating outside. Once you are clad in your clothes you set off to meet with Claus and the Dragos. You play with the Dragos and their new baby whilst learning a new trick or two before it's time to head home for dinner and later the journey home.
to create this inferno and engulf the forest in a reddish blaze. Back home in Tazmily the town crier Thomas has been told to gather what people he can to help tackle this calamity and fast! Thomas realises he needs people who are reckless to tackle a problem like this and he knows just the person, enter Flint. Thomas arrives at Flints home banging the door and shouting for Flint help even so that he actually pulls the door handle clean off. After enough row Flint answers the door and hears Thomas's tale and escorts him to the forest where help is needed but what will become of this inferno? will Lucas and his family make it home unscaved? and what why did the Pig mask wearing creatures start this fire? well why don't you find out and play the game.
Mother 2 but damage would be calculated by how well you could keep with the beat of the fight, as the music played hitting the attack button at the right note would allow a chain of combos that could hit to a maximum of 16 times. The songs in the game are great for which you would come to expect from the game series and some very catchy tunes at the same time, again the music is well suited for each scene and at points the music does bring out certain emotions within the player through out the game's story unfolds whether they be feelings of happiness, sadness or mild humor, I personally think that the game has a great way of pulling you in and getting you attached to the characters thus providing more power for when these emotions should come out. Mother 3 in my books is a classic game that i have played through multiple times and enjoyed is as much as the first time i did.
n the game at this point and help refresh memories. One thing I do find peculiar about Mother 3 that it was released in 2006 on the GBA, which was 2 years after the initial release of the Nintendo DS in Japan, logically thinking I would have thought that they would have made the game for the DS but evidently I would be wrong and this was also a very similar case which lead to the cancellation of Mother 64 (a story for another time). However despite being released for a console from the previous generation of handhold consoles the game fared very well in the Japanese markets selling 205,914 copies within the first 3 days of its release and would go on to be the 34th best selling game of 2006 in Japan selling a total of 370,213 units for that year. The game has since been demanded for an international release to the U.S. and the EU, this has sparked many rumors of whether this game will come out of Japan? Rumor has it that the game will be released on the DS as a compilation with all 3 games on however i can't stress enough that this is just a rumor and i don't want to get hopes built up about it though i do hope that the games does reach U.S. and EU shores one day.
as for the future of this series? well in an interview with Mr. Itoi after the Mother 3's release, Mr. Itoi announced that there will not be a Mother 4, at the time this was sad news for Mother fans such as myself but later on would release another interview when in he said he would like to see a Mother 4, but not so much be on the programming side of it. This does leave a glimmer of hope for the fans but the gap between Mother 2-3 was over 10 years so perhaps a sequel will be made? as for my opinion, i will believe it when i see it.
ment Information: The game was made for the XBox 360 and later was ported to PC, the game itself was developed by RARE and was finally released in 2007, this in essence was Microsoft's first attempt at creating a game orientated for the younger audience. The game also had a T.V. Series based upon the characters in the game in which the show shared the same name as the game and was developed by 4Kids. The game itself would later go on to receive a sequel called Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise. Which was released along with Viva Piñata: Party animals for the XBox 360 and would later create Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise for the Nintendo DS.
an up the mess by cudgeling it to pieces. After disposing of the waste Leafos guides you though the basics of the game and gives you new items when you advance enough such as seeds and a watering can. if you may not have noticed yet, the game is basically gardening however don't let that be your deterrent from playing this game. with your new found tools you can begin to develop your new Garden, usually starting my flattening the land and growing grass on your new grown soil. Now growing a garden might sound monotonous though it does serve a purpose, upon re-turfing your new garden you will get your first visitor, this little fellow is a Whirlm (Worm). which has come to reside within the growing utopia which is soon to be your garden. So now you have attracted your first Piñata, is that it? well no not really with the Whirlm now a resident of your new garden this attracts the attention of other Piñatas however, the other Piñatas might not be so Hasty at moving in if the garden does not suit their standards (that's right, they are to good for your garden and they don't even pay your rent) but should you meet this requirement the Piñata will become a resident in your ever growing garden. Though this sounds like a peaceful and fun loving world Piñata Isle's gardens are often under siege of by the Piñata's of the games antagonist Professor Pester who seeks to ruin the fun and happiness of the inhabitants.
gather momentum to get the proverbial ball rolling but the game does offer a lot of diversity, as mentioned earlier some items may attract certain Piñatas whilst at the same time could deter others from coming, this adds a depth of thought to the game, for example the Doenut requires your garden to be 98% Grass, but the Quackberry requires around 30% water, from that you can see it is not possible to attract both at the same time. The game also allows your to build homes for the Piñatas you would take fancy to, or if you would like to theme your garden in a particular way like having only insect based Piñata or essentially turning your garden into a small aviary. During the game you will be visited by several bad Piñatas or other characters that may prove to be a hindrance of sorts these range from Sour Shellybeans which place tainted candy around the garden and eat the seeds of the plants in the garden, or the Arrival of the cunning Dastardos who comes to break open any ill Piñata and take their deliciously delicious candy entrails (the horror).
their homes, hence the Romance Dance. Like in real life some Piñatas are carnivores and thus feed on the papery flesh of your residents or visitors for that matter. The game also has a leveling system like a lot of games in this era, levels are gained by improving your garden by a certain degree, once enough experience has been gained for a level up new things become available such as new tools, new shops and new Piñatas. The game uses a currency system which is usually refereed to as CC, short for Chocolate Coins which can be used to buy an array of things for your garden such as fences, fruits and foot paths.
ng i have just done which can be a real pain in the ass if you have just spent 5-10 minutes working on a new fence or planting some seeds in the right place. Though i have complained about the button placement which i am pretty sure is only a problem to me and a few other people out there, the games controls itself are OK. at times the controls seem somewhat slow and the cursor looks like it could take forever to reach where you want to go, but other than that the controls are not a complete gripe and you would familiarize yourself with in time.
Hey hey, i know i wrote this one a bit hastily but i figure with the game coming out in less that 3 days i should get this up whilst it is still fresh in my mind and so forth. so here it is the SF4 demo i was talking about. Here are some images curtsy of my brother for taking these photos against an old friend of mine i hadn't seen for a few years until we finished our match and realized it was him. anyway the pic at the top is me after winning a round against him, he was playing as Ken and i was playing as Zangief, i am the one with the mohawk on the left.
