A Great Game That Nobody Played (Nintendo)

Earthbound is one of the quirkiest and most unusual RPGs made for the Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems (SNES).

The basic premise is that you're a young boy living in Eagleland (Read: America) with psychic powers. A strange and powerful being named Giygas is threatening to destroy everything. You must travel the world, visiting each of "My Sanctuaries" collecting the melodies found and fighting anything that tries to stop you (including coffee pots). On the way, you'll meet up with a psychic little girl equipped with a frying pan, a child prodigy who can make a gun out of anything and the young prince of Dalaam, practiced in the ancient arts of Mu. Together they will stop giygas's influences and defeat the destroyer himself.

This little description doesn't do the game proper justice. While the game is fairly linier, it wants you to explore. There is a lot of humor to be found just by talking to people and plenty of little secrets to be seen if you're willing to find them (my personal favourite are the two sesame seeds who are hopelessly in love). But even if you ignore all that, the game will still throw some strange things at you. One minute you're walking around inside dungeon, the next you're surrounded by dinosaurs. You'll be wondering around a town, fall into a trap, call for help and then your perspective changes to a completely different character who you then play as in an attempt to rescue yourself. And then there's the final boss. Up till now the entire game is pretty light hearted but the points near the end are just unnerving, enough to fuel nightmares. It's a truly original game that anyone who likes RPGs (and even those who have boycotted the genre) should try. Oh, and the music is excellent, seriously.

"So, if it's so great, why haven't I heard of it" I hear you ask. Well, it was a big hit in Japan (Known there as Mother 2 [yes, it's a sequel]). But in a mixture of bad advertising campaigns (This Game Stinks!) and poor marketing choices, the game sold terribly in America and so was never released in Europe (much to my dismay). The only way I've managed to play it is via emulation.

I would recommend this game to anyone who wants something more fun out of their RPGs and to play it through any means necessary.