I almost left the New Player Ready crew in frustration due to Earthbound’s placement on our top 100 SNES rankings. I desperately wanted it to be #1, and I expressed myself by creating approximately 47 Slack posts detailing all the reasons everyone else was wrong; I said I would only write about Genesis sports games for the remainder of the year; and I acted like a petulant child until Carl intervened.
That being said — the reason Earthbound is so brilliant is because it is so unique and personal that it is virtually impossible to rank it based on objective criteria. Earthbound was a game that did what all the other JRPGs were attempting to do, but refused to follow suit. And it worked in so many different ways, long after everyone else had forgotten what a JRPG was supposed to look like.
What Makes Earthbound So Unique?
Developer: Ape/HAL Laboratory | Release date: Aug. 1994 (Japan as Mother 2), Jun. 1995 (North America)
Earthbound is the second instalment in the Mother series, and continues the story of a young boy named Ness, who finds that he has developed psychic powers. In the past, a time-traveller from the future told Ness that an alien force called Giygas was going to wipe out the planet and that only Ness and three other children could stop him. To prevent the impending disaster, Ness and his friends must gather the eight melodies located throughout the country of Eagleland (a twisted version of America).
Although the setup appears to be quite straightforward, the execution is far from it. Earthbound is a modern-day JRPG set in a version of 1990s America where hippies run coffee houses, zombies are running amok, and abstract alien forces threaten the fabric of reality. Players will encounter various enemies, including the New Age Retro Hippie, the Mad Taxi, and the Annoying Old Party Man. They will also eat hamburgers to restore health points and contact their dads on the telephone to save their progress.
Earthbound is consistently flipping between comedy and darkness without providing any transition, and yet it seems to work. The quirky interactions with eccentric non-playable characters (NPCs) will be followed immediately by the player encountering child abuse, cults and cosmic horrors. Earthbound expects its players to be mature enough to deal with this kind of tonal whiplash.
A Break-Through Combat System
Earthbound employs a conventional turn-based combat system, but provides players with several innovative elements that contemporary RPGs employ today. The rolling health point counter means that the player loses health gradually rather than instantly, and that if the player can either heal or conclude the battle before the counter reaches zero, they will live to fight another day. This produces a great deal of anxiety during the intense portions of the game.
Status effects produce results. When you feel strange, you may begin performing random actions. When you feel nauseated, you may vomit in the middle of a battle. Being turned into a diamond (diamondised) is somehow worse than being stoned. The game does not provide you with the typical “poisoned” and “paralysed” options; instead, it provides you with unusual, specific conditions that affect gameplay.
In addition to the standard health point counter, the game allows players to utilise PSI (psychic) abilities to perform functions similar to traditional magic spells. Ness, for example, learns PSI Rockin’, which damages all enemy characters. Paula acquires PSI Freeze and PSI Fire. Poo learns PSI Starstorm. Jeff, however, does not use PSI, but instead, he utilises broken items to repair them and uses gadgets to assist in battle. Each player character performs a unique role in the battle that complements the other player characters.
Earthbound has an interesting level of difficulty. The early game is extremely difficult if the player does not develop a few characters prior to progressing. However, once the player develops PSI, the difficulty becomes lessened. Once the player enters the latter stages of the game, the difficulty increases dramatically. However, since the player has a rolling health point counter, the player can employ skill and quick thinking to avoid being killed in situations that would otherwise result in instant death.
A World That is Both Alive and Strange
Eagleland is a satirical depiction of American culture, filtered through the views of Japanese video game designers. As such, the result is both recognisable and foreign. Onett is a small town, reminiscent of a real small town. Twoson features a circus and a hospital. Threed is overrun by zombies. Fourside is a thriving metropolis featuring a department store and corrupt government officials.
Earthbound’s humorous tone is omnipresent. The player interacts with NPCs that are telling genuinely odd things. There is a man obsessed with his broken iron. There is a man who simply stands around doing nothing. The Runaway Five are a blues band stuck in debt. The Mr. Saturn creatures are… I still do not understand what they represent, but they appear to be cute and strange.
However, beneath the quirky humour lies some serious darkness. Porky (Ness’s neighbour) becomes increasingly corrupted and malevolent. The Happy Happyists are a cult attempting to paint the entire world blue. Moonside is a nightmare realm that serves as a metaphorical representation of Fourside. Giygas is a cosmic horror entity that cannot be described.
Earthbound trusts its players to process the tonal shifts and not to coddle them regarding the darkness present in the game. Earthbound does not explain the shifts or mitigate the darkness. The player can go from battling a Spiteful Crow to battling the embodiment of pure evil that destroyed its own species. Earthbound treats its players as adults capable of processing the bizarre, uncomfortable concepts presented in the game.
An Inventory System Fit for Hell
Now we come to the issue of Earthbound’s inventory system. Earthbound’s inventory system is poor. Each player character has a limited amount of inventory slots available. Items do not stack above a certain limit. Therefore, the player is forced to continually decide which items to discard in order to make room for new ones. Do you want to hold onto the broken machine for Jeff to repair later? You will have to throw away something else.
Escargo Express is a delivery service that allows players to store items and have them transported to the player’s location. Unfortunately, Escargo Express is clunky and expensive. Players will find themselves spending considerable time managing inventory, particularly during the mid-to-late game when the player is discovering useful items but lacks sufficient space to store them.
Is Earthbound’s inventory system a flaw? Yes, it is. Is it a fatal flaw? No. The player will grow accustomed to the limitations of the inventory system. The player will become adept at deciding which items to choose. The player will frequently visit Escargo Express. It is annoying, but it is manageable, like a strange cousin at a family reunion — part of the overall experience, whether you enjoy it or hate it.
A Soundtrack That Defines Each Moment
The soundtrack created by Hirokazu Tanaka and Keiichi Suzuki is incredibly eclectic. The Onett theme is pleasant and reflects a typical small town atmosphere. The Moonside theme is disorienting and represents a nightmare realm. The Winters theme is melancholic and lonely. The Giygas theme is disturbing and unnerving.
The battle themes vary greatly, ranging from upbeat and funky to frightening and sinister. The Kraken of the Sea battle has a ridiculously campy surf rock theme. The battle against Giygas has a theme that is distorted and terrifying. The sheer diversity of the soundtrack is enormous — there is no area of the game that sounds remotely similar to any other area, and the music always perfectly captures the atmosphere of the scene.
The sound design also plays an important role in creating the atmosphere of Earthbound. The psychedelic battle backgrounds that pulse and twist. The absurd sound effects associated with PSI abilities. The strange noises produced by enemies. Earthbound uses sound design in ways that very few other SNES games attempted to.
A Conclusion That Still Resonates
I’m not going to spoil the details of the battle with Giygas, but I will say that it is one of the most memorable final battles in gaming history. Not because of the complexity of the battle mechanics or the grandiosity of the battle, but because of how it deviates from the conventions of the JRPG genre and evokes real emotional resonance.
The fact that the player defeats the ultimate evil by praying — by having people believe in you and support you — is the perfect thematic culmination to a game about four children fighting against incomprehensible evil. The final moments of the game are truly moving in ways that few games accomplish.
And then the credits roll and the player sees what happens to all of the characters after the game is completed and it is bittersweet and wonderful and perfectly fitting for the game’s tone.
Can Earthbound Stand the Test of Time?
Yes, but with caveats. The quirky nature of the game and the emotional aspects of the game are timeless. The humour is still effective. The darkness is still unsettling. The central concept of the game — four children fighting against incomprehensible evil while managing their inventory and dealing with feelings of homesickness — is still compelling.
The graphics of the game are intentionally simplistic — no Mode 7 showboating, no pre-rendered 3D. Simply clean sprites and psychedelic battle backgrounds. Compared to Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, the graphics of the game are outdated. However, the visual style of the game is distinctive and deliberate.
Some players may find the grinding frustrating. Some players may find the inventory management frustrating. The pacing of the game may be slow. None of these are rose-coloured memories — they are legitimate flaws that some players will not forgive.
However, if you are able to overlook the flaws, Earthbound is a game like no other. Earthbound is a game that was courageous enough to be weird, personal, and emotionally honest when the safest route would have been to churn out another fantasy RPG. That courage is what makes Earthbound so special, even when the execution is imperfect.
Why I Fought for Number One
When we were discussing the SNES rankings, I made the argument that Earthbound deserved to be ranked number one. Not because it is technically flawless — it is not. Not because it is more polished than Chrono Trigger — it is not. However, I felt that Earthbound was more influential and courageous than anything else on the SNES.
Carl fought for Chrono Trigger’s design perfection. John advocated for Super Metroid’s atmosphere. Sam wanted more representation for fighting games. Carl tried to hurry us along because we had spent three weeks on the list and had not yet determined the rankings. I maintained — and still maintain — that Earthbound’s influence and bravery outweighed all else.
We ultimately agreed to place Earthbound at number seven. I remain dissatisfied. This should be higher. However, I am writing this article and therefore I am entitled to express myself freely.
A Marketing Disaster That Killed It
Earthbound failed to sell well in North America, largely due to Nintendo’s marketing efforts, which were bizarrely inept. The company released “This Game Stinks” scratch-and-sniff advertisements that focused on the disgusting enemies in the game. The company provided strategy guides the size of phone books that came with the game, thereby increasing the cost of the game. The company did not adequately explain what made the game so unique.
As a result of this, Earthbound sold poorly, received no sequel (although Mother 3 remained exclusive to Japan for years), and eventually gained cult status through word of mouth and emulation. Nintendo essentially guaranteed that Earthbound would be their worst-selling JRPG by marketing it as a gross-out humour game, when in reality, it was a heartfelt, bizarre, and emotionally complex game.
Ironically, Earthbound’s cult status now exceeds what it likely would have accomplished with a better marketing effort. Earthbound has become a mythical “lost treasure” that gamers stumble upon and proselytise about.
Conclusion
Earthbound is one of the most influential games on the SNES. Not the best-designed. Not the most technically proficient. However, it is the most willing to be different, to take risks, to trust that being weird could be successful as long as it was done with passion and sincerity.
It is a game about children fighting against incomprehensible evil using PSI powers and baseball bats. It is funny and dark and touching and unsettling at times, all within the span of an hour. It has a terrible inventory management system and can be frustrating to grind, but it has some of the most memorable experiences in gaming history.
If you have never played Earthbound, play it with an open mind. If you dismissed it due to the flaws mentioned above, give it another chance and endure the rough patches. If you loved it as a child, replay it and appreciate the courage required to create a game that was so unique and bold in 1995.
And yes, it deserves to be higher on our list. Challenge me.
Rating: 10/10 — Flawed genius that proves different is valuable
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Joe’s a history teacher who treats the console wars like actual history. A lifelong Sega devotee from Phoenix, he writes with passion, humor, and lingering heartbreak over the Dreamcast. Expect strong opinions, bad puns, and plenty of “blast processing.”
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