Mother (SPOILERS for those who haven't played them yet)

[The Knights of Wario Land]

Yes, the one, the only, the Mother series. It's fitting to start a discussion thread over one of the greatest RPG series ever, on a forum about an RPG.

To me, Mother 2/Earthbound is one of the most magical games I've ever played, with an undeniable charm, wit, and feeling that I don't feel from any other I've played. It feels so relatable, while so out there. It's truly a one-of-a-kind experience (and I have it on cartridge).
I REALLY want to play Mother 3, but currently every way I've tried to play it has failed : <

Post your thoughts about the series.

 

[Glen]

despite being a massive rpg enthusiast, i've never played a mother game

i've heard mother 3 is one of the most heartfelt and emotional experiences one can have with a video game

 

[Jangrafess]

I've never played one of these either, but I was always really interested in doing so after playing with Ness on Smash Bros.

Mr. Saturn was a major part of that interest, I really wanted to know what the story on that little guy was.

 

[Zacchaeus]

[youtube]wuK0f-Zur9A[/youtube]

After seeing the characters and things in the Smash Bros. games, it looks quite interesting, but I've never played any of the games or met someone who has. It sounds kind of like the Fire Emblem dilemma: It's a really cool Japanese game so if you aren't Japanese you're shit out of luck

 

[M. Rock]

YES. This thread was long overdue. Ness and the numerous EarthBound trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee eventually got me interested and intrigued in the series, and after a bit of googling, I found out about ROMs and emulation pretty quickly. Being a purist, I played the whole series in order (then waited a long-ass time for the Mother 3 fan translation to finish). My thoughts on each game, in hide tags to avoid spoilers for those who have not played this excellent series:

MOTHER (NES)

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The first game is pretty strange. Think Dragon Quest, except in late-80s suburban America. There was a pretty good story behind it, but.....it wasn't presented really that well. They wait until the very end to suddenly reveal all that stuff about Ninten's grandfather and his relation to Giegue (as well as Magicant being fake), and for most of the game you question what the hero's motivation is anyway. Also kinda pissed that half of the game's boss battles have fixed outcomes just to go along with the story. Overall, though, I enjoyed this game. The final area, Mt. Itoi, is the greatest, most difficult retro game challenge you can ever give yourself. It was untested, and as a result, it's full of Starmen who can kill any party member in ONE HIT with PK Beam!

MOTHER 2/EarthBound (SNES)

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This game borrows basically everything from the last title....the same villain, some of the same enemies, some of the same music, and the main characters look almost identical to those from MOTHER 1. Also, there's really no story but "save the world". Regardless, this is definitely the defining game in the series. Aside from having an inventive battle system, the enemies are so inventive and quirky and fun. And there are PLENTY of boss fights. It's also a really long game; like, it took me two months to beat in-between school work and other life obligations. That's a lot of bang for your buck. Any one else who played this game feel a little miffed that your team's levels are constantly all over the place? I feel like they separated the main cast too much, causing this level imbalance. (Regardless, though, Ness is a fucking beast. As if he wasn't the most OP character, after you collect the 8 melodies, he gets like 800-900 HP and a shitload of PP to go with it O.O)

MOTHER 3 (GBA)

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Holy shit. This game is sad right from the get-go. In the first chapter alone, Flint (Lucas's father) loses his wife, his oldest son (Claus), and his peace of mind. And he's forced to kill the Drago that used to be a family friend. After that it mellows out for a bit, then gets kinda dark in the last few chapters. The story is so fucking brilliant...the pacing was great, just everything about this story was exceptionally well-written. Way to much love to fit into one post.

If you love RPGs, you owe it to yourself to play the last two games in the series (Warning: EarthBound is really, really long)

Also, Glen is right: M3 is one of the most heartfelt stories to ever be told in a game. It's amazing: a story good enough for motion pictures get into a little GBA game (although I think Itoi was a TV writer before he did games, so.....)


EDIT: Everything in Super Smash Bros. Brawl about the Mother series makes a lot more sense after you play M3. However, it connects to M2, so you might want to watch the ending of EarthBound on YouTube before playing. Not a lot to catch up on, since EarthBound doesn't really have a story. Also, Mother 1 is pretty obscure: it doesn't connect to future games at all except that the main villain returns in 2 to get beaten by a new group of kids.

 

[PK Gaming]

oh man i was the biggest mother fan, like you wouldn't believe. earthbound is still one of my favorite games of all time, mother 3 still tears up me, etc. mother was great...

but now im forsakin it because fuck i just found a better series than my old crappy one which i never got any appreciation for anyway

 

[Tobes]

MOTHER

 

[Tobes]

CAN YOU KEEP THEM IN THE DARK FOR LIFE

But seriously I've been meaning to try this series. Is there a GBA port?

 

[M. Rock]

CAN YOU KEEP THEM IN THE DARK FOR LIFE

But seriously I've been meaning to try this series. Is there a GBA port?

Yeah, there was a GBA game release that was literally called "MOTHER 1 + 2" (in case you didn't guess, it has the first two games in one). There are ROMs, and work on an English patch is in the works (at least I still think it is).
If you want to play it on a real cartridge, your options are:

1. Buy the actual Japanese cartridge online. I don't know how good your Japanese is, but you can give it a shot. It tends to be pricey b/c you most likely have to import it, and it's a collector's item, usually priced high because Mother fans are rabid and have plenty of cash.
EDIT: Yeah on ebay there's one cart that's $1.29, all the others are $70 at the minimum, most either 90 or over 100. Since only one of them is sold dirt cheap, I'd think that one looks kinda sketchy

2. Wait for the translation patch to finish and then download it onto a GBA flash cart. That's how I play M3.

 

[capefeather]

Last I heard, Tomato finished translating the Mother 1 part of the Mother 1 + 2 release.

I still have yet to play Mother 1 :(

 

[PK Gaming]

CAN YOU KEEP THEM IN THE DARK FOR LIFE

But seriously I've been meaning to try this series. Is there a GBA port?

Mother 1: Yes
The fan translation can be found here

Contrary to popular belief, the Mother 2 game in Mother 1 + 2 is NOT fully translated. Only menus & names are translated.

Mother 2(Earthbound): No, but the SNES version is as good as ever. Download the rom + any SNES rom and you're good to go.

Mother 3: Yes
The fan translation can be found here

i'd personally start with Earthbound, then Mother 3 and play Mother 1 last. The reason being, Mother 1 is loosely linked with the rest of the series in terms of story, and trust me Mother 2 is just a lot better than the original. I didn't even appreciate Mother 1 until long after I beat Mother 2 & 3, and there's a good chance that you'll burn out playing Mother 1, so yeah listen to me guy.

But what are you listening to me for? I ain't no Mother fan.

 

[mattj]

http://soundcloud.com/pentecostrawks/199x-final-backing-track

A song we do that I call 199X that's about Earthbound. Mother 2 is the game that got me hooked on RPGs. I had played a few before, but idunno, they were all just too serious. And here comes this game where you're a modern day kid with his cap on backwards using wiffleball bats and yoyos as weapons, getting medicine from the pharmacy beating down ducks and slugs.

I was hooked.

Also, did anyone else find Pokey's poop?

what

the

heck

 

[Zracknel]

I recommend giving the mother series a shot if you haven't played it and are reasonably into rpg-type affairs

Earthbound/Mother 2 is unequivocally my favorite SNES title, has had a tremendous influence on me, and is on the all-times fave games list. Whether or not in reality it's a good game I can't really say (my nostalgia goggles are on a bit too tight) so if anyone goes through the series as a result of this thread I'd love to hear your thoughts

The mother series has pulled some really weird stuff on me in terms of nostalgia:

Something to note is that Mother 2 is a cliffhanger of sorts-- or isn't fully resolved-- which led young Zracknel to overflow with anticipation for the sequel. Years passed. Earthbound 64 was teased; never came. Eons later the successor was released-- solely in japan for the GBA. A rom translation project was underway. Signed up for an e-mail list. More waiting, months and months

The project finally finished and life was great. In the interim I was always disappointed when it seemed like the sequel was going to deviate from mother 2's cast and setup, but after playing it I found the fresh start to be a positive

Mother3 basically does a 180 at the very end and for a brief moment decided it wanted to include very nostalgic elements to tug the hearts of longtime fans. By that time, though, after waiting so long and playing through the title, falling in love with the new cast and feeling connected to the storyline, I was actually really turned off by this. I wish that nostalgia stuff wasn't there; I think it would have made the game better as a result. I've never heard anyone voice a similar opinion, though, and realize I am likely in the minority on this, but I'm curious if anyone else might agree

I found Mother3 to be the strongest title in the series, so I'd say if you're only going to play one game, play that

oh man i was the biggest mother fan, like you wouldn't believe. earthbound is still one of my favorite games of all time, mother 3 still tears up me, etc. mother was great...

but now im forsakin it because fuck i just found a better series than my old crappy one which i never got any appreciation for anyway

What a weird post. It makes it sound like you need appreciation from others to be an enthusiast about something, or to see something as meaningful. I don't really get this

despite being a massive rpg enthusiast, i've never played a mother game

i've heard mother 3 is one of the most heartfelt and emotional experiences one can have with a video game

I would personally agree with this hearsay but I'm sure it's different for everyone

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

http://earthboundcentral.com/m2eb/

This is currently my favorite Mother article on the internet, the writer basically went through the ENTIRETY of Mother 2 and Earthbound and showed the translation changes. I've never seen that kind of dedication to detect mere translation differences in a game before.

And also mattj

poop wtf

 

[PK Gaming]

What a weird post. It makes it sound like you need appreciation from others to be an enthusiast about something, or to see something as meaningful. I don't really get this

I've jumped ship, Mother is dead to me.

No but seriously, my post was a threeway between a joke, a reference, and an inside joke. I like Mother series because I feel more comfortable playing that game than arguably any other video game. It just fits my style.

 

[Lemonade]

2 was incredibly fun (lol I played on my hacked itouch) but I lost interest because I don't like leveling RPGs that much anymore. Maybe I was just bad and I didn't need to grind? But I got to Saturn Village and the boss behind the waterfall beat me every time.

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

2 was incredibly fun (lol I played on my hacked itouch) but I lost interest because I don't like leveling RPGs that much anymore. Maybe I was just bad and I didn't need to grind? But I got to Saturn Village and the boss behind the waterfall beat me every time.

Are you possibly talking about Master Belch? He's easy, all you need to do is use the Jar of Fly Honey and he gets distracted, allowing you to pummel him.

 

[Yamata no Orochi]

May I throw one of my favorite songs in here?
Monkey's Delivery Service

 

[phoopes]

I have started playing Mother 3 recently, but I haven't gotten too far into the game yet. However, I'm far enough to know that...

Hide

Ness' and Lucas' mother dies.

However, after skimming through the thread, it makes me want to play Earthbound first. Since the two are pretty closely linked, anyone think I should just put my play of Mother 3 on hold to play Earthbound? I'm thinking that's probably the best bet, but I don't know.

 

[moonbound]

Ness is a fucking beast. As if he wasn't the most OP character

Learn to Big Bottle Rocket son.

It sounds kind of like the Fire Emblem dilemma

There's a notable difference here in that Mother 2 and 3 had some pretty notable copyright issues which prevented them from getting re-released and localized respectively (1 and 3 also had to deal with being released for systems that were on their way out).

Anyone who can read usernames can tell that I like this series, even if I'm sorting going through what PK Gaming talked about. Honestly, Mother 1 isn't that great of a game (especially if you're dealing with expectations set by 2/3), but 2 and 3 are easily among my favorite games of all time (some people claim that 3 especially is as much of an interactive storybook as it is a game, and I sorta see their point. However, what it may lack in advanced game play or difficulty, it makes up for with music, humor, and a story that's nearly without rival on the GBA). There's not much to say about Earthbound that hasn't already been said, but it's still a great game.

I'd recommend starting with 1, because it kinda felt like a letdown for me after playing 2 and 3 before it. It can be a grindfest at times, but the easy ring patch gives you a little more exp from battles so it's not as bad. Also, anyone new to the series who might want to play on an actual console better have some deep pockets. I could teach a week long course on supply and demand only talking about Earthbound cartridges, which go for over $100 at a minimum (anything under that is probably broken or a fake btw).

 

[ooh_shiny]

It's a great series. I skipped playing 1 cause it looks too hard, but I played the other two. Gotta say that I was impressed when playing it. For an older game, it was still pretty good. My favorite thing about them is how they can be really off the wall with the humor aspect.

 

[Lemonade]

Are you possibly talking about Master Belch? He's easy, all you need to do is use the Jar of Fly Honey and he gets distracted, allowing you to pummel him.

Yep. Tis a shame, my save data got wiped with the iOS update. Maybe I'll just watch the speed run for the story??

 

[Zenotwapal]

Honestly I have read a lot about these games and they are supposedly great. I would be open to playing them in the near future.

One game I'm extremely curious about is the planned and never released installment for the N64DD "Mother 64". Judging from the beta footage it looked like a pretty stellar game for its time. Would have liked to play that.

 

[Lord Jesseus]

I played Earthbound for a while, and I quite enjoyed it.

I kinda lost patience with it though, which happens with a lot of RPGs for me.

 

[Fatecrashers]

Mother 64 was in fact the first incarnation of Mother 3 for the GBA, so although it was a shame it wasn't released for the N64, playing Mother 3 would still net you the same experience except graphics-wise. But of course the graphics in Mother games is far less important than the humour, music, setting, characters, and story that combine to make such a unique RPG package.