MOTHER, known as EarthBound Beginnings in the states, is the first game in the MOTHER series developed by Shigesato Itoi, a known Japanese celebrity. Itoi had originally pitched the idea to Nintendo and lead designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who was a bit hesitant on the ideas of making an RPG set in modern times. MOTHER’s setting was “slightly offbeat” to the late 20th century United States, according to Itoi. Unlike many games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, MOTHER set a different standard of using baseball bats and psychic abilities instead of swords and magic. The story begins with a young Ninten, who has the ability to use psychic powers, known as PSI. He uses his abilities to fend off inanimate objects, angered animals, and crazed people! Ninten then meets up with a boy named Lloyd who’s into science and bottle rockets, a girl named Ana who is capable of extremely dangerous PSI attacks, and Teddy, the leader of the B.B. Gang, who went from causing trouble to becoming a role model!

MOTHER 2, known as EarthBound everywhere else, is the second game in the MOTHER series developed by Ape and HAL alongside Shigesato Itoi. This is where Itoi has built up what he considers the series as “reckless wildness”, as he would casually offer ideas and encourage his staff to contribute to new ways of portraying scenes and demonstrations to the video game medium. Itoi saw the series as “big scenario scripts”; he felt that he wanted players to feel emotions such as “distraughtness” or “awkwardness” while playing the game. MOTHER 2 was developed with the same ideals from the previous game as MOTHER, and directly connects the original main antagonist, Giygas, as the cosmic destroyer of Eagleland. It’s up to Ness and his friends, Paula, Jeff, and Poo to thwart his evil intentions.

MOTHER 64, commonly referred to as “EarthBound 64” in the West, was the canceled original iteration of the third MOTHER game. It began development on the Super Famicom in 1994 before quickly switching over to the upcoming Nintendo 64 platform. Development was headed by HAL and Ape Inc., with Shigesato Itoi being more directly involved with the team. For this game, Itoi wanted to close the gap between the game world and the player by having the story set in one place that changes gradually over time. This setting would become the village of Tazmily, where a boy named Lucas and his family live in harmony among the animals. When a strange army of Pigmask soldiers invade their home, their way of life would be threatened as the soldiers begin to deform the animals into unsettling chimeras. Despite six years of development being spent on the game, it was canceled on August 22nd, 2000, due to Nintendo’s focus now being the soon-to-be-released GameCube in 2001.

MOTHER 3 is the final game in the series, released only in Japan on April 20th, 2006, on the Game Boy Advance. The story stays true to the canceled N64 version, following Lucas’ family and friends’ way of life being challenged when the malevolent Pigmask army invade the Nowhere Islands. The format of the game is broken into a chapter system, providing a much more traditional RPG feel when compared to its predecessors, and allowing for a more narrative-driven experience. Shigesato Itoi himself viewed MOTHER 3 as a more “macho” game when compared to the previous MOTHER games, as the gap between good and evil is portrayed in a very “grey” manner. The game has never been officially released outside of Japan, with the MOTHER community banding together to translate the game into English.

Echoes – Writer

8lackSphinx – Editor

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