Why should you care about EarthBound? The staff of NWR (and a special surprise guest!) let you know.
I've made many assumptions in my lifetime, and like the saying goes, I haven't always been as on the nose as hoped.
One thing I thought I knew was a universal love for EarthBound. We're Nintendo fans, damn it! Of course we all admire and respect the stinkiest of games.
But, much like the time I assumed fellow Nintendo fans wouldn't cheat online (Mario Strikers Charged threw that out the window), I was completely off the mark.
Zach Miller, NWR senior editor, informed me that "EarthBound was never good; it was just incredibly niche and gained some kind of legendary status among people who clearly haven't played it." I was shocked. Was I tucked away in some sort of PK Bubble for all these years? Had I completely forgotten that other people have differing opinion?
Luckily, it wasn't a distaste for the work of Shigesato Itoi that opposed my belief the most, but it was none the less surprising. As it turns out, there's still many folks who simply haven't played the game yet. Kimberly Keller, one of our staff writers, put it simply, "Absolutely never played it, heard all about it from everyone I know, so I guess since I knew so much about it, I never had a burning desire to go out of my way and play it."
Interestingly, Kimberly heard so much raving about the title that it no longer seemed like an experience she needed. The notion popped up again when Nate Andrews, managing editor, echoed those feelings, "I have no excuse for not playing it. Maybe because the adoration and Internet word of mouth for it is still so constant and so effusive and so widespread. It's hard to find someone who doesn't have a soft heart or peculiar love for EarthBound. After a while, I think that positive, anecdotal atmosphere—the stories relayed and embraced by those who've played it—becomes the legacy of EarthBound for people like me who have not. And that's often just as good."
Problem is, I think EarthBound necessitates a genuine playthrough. Despite releasing in 1995, its mechanics remain as fresh as ever, and its visuals age perfectly thanks to a simple and effective aesthetic. Justin Berube, staff writer, finds two of EarthBound's mechanics specifically appealing, both of which are rarely duplicated in today's titles. "First, enemies will run from the player if they are much lower level than the party," Berube says, "Second, I really love how it's possible to instantly win against these weak foes just by running into them. No time wasted."
If viewed as nothing more than a game, it's aged perfectly. But EarthBound is more than that, it has a lot of soul to go with that handsome body.
"I think a big reason that EarthBound remains relevant after all this time is that the game is just full of heart and actual personality - many parts of the game come from bits of Shigesato Itoi's personal life, for example," says Clyde 'Tomato' Mandelin. As the creator of fansites Starmen.net and EarthBoundCentral.com, Mandelin certainly wears his love for EarthBound on his sleeve (perhaps alongside a Franklin Badge). His passion even led to the fan translation of Mother 3, a Game Boy Advance sequel to EarthBound that never saw release outside of Japan.
"Plus, now that gamers have grown up since the 90s, they can appreciate games on a deeper level than before," Mandelin continues. "It used to be that being bloody and gory and violent was what was important for games, you know? But now that gamers can connect with games on a deeper level, EarthBound and other games full of creativity are being rediscovered and passed around by word of mouth. I actually think that's what's also been sparking the rise of indie game stuff lately - people just discovering, 'Look at all this stuff we can do with games!'"
In hearing someone talk about EarthBound as Mandelin does, its clear that games like it don't come along very often. EarthBound is something special, its continued reverence can't simply be chalked up to nostalgia or rarity. Its achieved something special for many people, our own Scott Thompson included, "I think what makes EarthBound so unique is its defiance of genre trope, which is still noticeable today, even almost 20 years later. Though the core gameplay isn't too far off from that of Dragon Quest, it is the setting that defines EarthBound's legacy. You have this weird, satirical recreation of American life through the lens of a Japanese developer. Weapons are baseball bats, yo-yos, frying pans, toy guns, and more. Teddy bears can be brought along to soak up damage. Baseball caps and ribbons are equipped as armor. It is beautifully convicted to its theme. And the humor! Beatles references, breaking the fourth wall, a Blues Brothers tribute, and more! EarthBound is a love letter to Americana; a quirky and lovable spin on one of gaming's oldest genres that is still without rival today. If you haven't played it, you are sincerely missing out on one of the best games ever."
If you haven't had the chance to play EarthBound, hopefully we've pushed you over onto our side of the fence. Nintendo has failed to release and reintroduce many games throughout its history, but EarthBound stands out for good reason. Luckily, you won't have to wait much longer thanks to Nintendo's announcement of a digital release on the Wii U Virtual Console. Then you can impart your adoration of the game to your children, and your children's children, and the EarthBound legacy will live on.
