Exploring the Game
This is the first in a two-week series exploring Mother 1 and Mother 2.
About ten years ago, Mother 1 was released by Nintendo of Japan. It was a new kind of RPG, one that mixed in a bit of life in the 80's in rural America with the mix of the usual RPG elements such as a tactical battle menu, odd enemies, and an alien megalomaniac bent on destroying the world.
The man working on this project was Shigesato Itoi. A man with a vision. A vision of a new kind of RPG, one that would set a golden standard for how future RPGs would be.
So he created Mother 1. It had a modern setting in America, rather than a fantasy place and time, and featured characters that you might find in real life. Yet at the same time, it didn't lose the sense of fantasy, destiny, or science-fiction that many other RPGs have.
It was almost whimsical. Where else, after all, can you fight Mad Cars and Bag Ladies? Especially with characters bearing huge character flaws? After all, who expects a nobody from Podunk, a loser with glasses, a girl from a backwater city, and a punk from a big gang to save the world?
Nobody. And that's why this game is so great. It has the element of suprise behind it. Sadly, this game was never released for play in North America. It almost did, but Nintendo of America pulled it at the last minute.
But six years later, somebody with a ROM dump card managed to get his paws on a copy of the game. Within a week, he had a hacked-up version all ready for everybody to be able to use with a NES emulator. EarthBound Zero finally had a chance to make its mark in America.
This is the first in a two-week series exploring Mother 1 and Mother 2.
About ten years ago, Mother 1 was released by Nintendo of Japan. It was a new kind of RPG, one that mixed in a bit of life in the 80's in rural America with the mix of the usual RPG elements such as a tactical battle menu, odd enemies, and an alien megalomaniac bent on destroying the world.
The man working on this project was Shigesato Itoi. A man with a vision. A vision of a new kind of RPG, one that would set a golden standard for how future RPGs would be.
So he created Mother 1. It had a modern setting in America, rather than a fantasy place and time, and featured characters that you might find in real life. Yet at the same time, it didn't lose the sense of fantasy, destiny, or science-fiction that many other RPGs have.
It was almost whimsical. Where else, after all, can you fight Mad Cars and Bag Ladies? Especially with characters bearing huge character flaws? After all, who expects a nobody from Podunk, a loser with glasses, a girl from a backwater city, and a punk from a big gang to save the world?
Nobody. And that's why this game is so great. It has the element of suprise behind it. Sadly, this game was never released for play in North America. It almost did, but Nintendo of America pulled it at the last minute.
But six years later, somebody with a ROM dump card managed to get his paws on a copy of the game. Within a week, he had a hacked-up version all ready for everybody to be able to use with a NES emulator. EarthBound Zero finally had a chance to make its mark in America.
