EarthBound was a gift I received for my birthday when I was 12. In the same way that you might recall a favorite book or toy from your childhood, I fondly recall this game. It has held up remarkably well over the years, and when I started playing it again today, I remembered all the reasons I loved EarthBound as a kid.
The story is set in the 1990s in Eagleland, a kitschy and romanticized parody of America (perfect lawns and quiet suburbs). No dragons, mystical knights, or staff-wielding wizards appear in this game. You are just an average 13 year old kid from the suburbs...until the night a meteor lands in your backyard. The local wildlife start attacking you, a gang of local hoodlums begins causing trouble downtown, you realize that you have psychic powers, and a mysterious messenger from the future tells you that you are destined to save the world.
But, before you face any of this, your mom reminds you to change out of your pajamas.
Armed with a cracked baseball bat, a lucky charm for protection, and whatever food you can find (including whatever gets thrown into the trashcan outside the burger joint), you begin your quest to stop the evil alien Giygas from destroying the world.
A few highlights from the game:
- obsessive-compulsive police roadblocks
- bribing crooked politicians
- saving a girl kidnapped by a cult obsessed with the color blue
- solving a town's zombie problem
- freeing a race of aliens enslaved by a talking pile of puke
- fighting hippies with toothbrushes
- wandering inside a psychedelic minus-world ruled by an evil statue
- being taught by a talking monkey how to teleport
- having your soul transplanted into the body of a robot in order to facilitate time travel
But, before you get too involved in these kinds of things, you should remember to call your mother. If you go too long without hearing her voice, you'll get homesick.
(Description via Starmen.net)
The game is an RPG, which means it's not terribly exciting to watch.
But I did find a video that expresses the feel of the game.
And this is a good description of the story.
The game has received so much support over the years that fans translated a Japanese only sequel into English, they're making an entirely new sequel from scratch, and remixed the soundtrack to the game (Bound Together).
And there's Mr. Saturn too. DOING!!
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