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The MOTHER 3 development discoveries never stop, don’t they? It was only a few years ago now that Lorenzooone, the user behind the Italian Fan Translation unearthed the extended debug rooms. If you happened to think that would be the end – prepare to be amazed!
On March 2nd, 2022, hacking community PPG restored additional debug menus for the overworld and battle system, pulling the curtains back on a handful of new development info on the game!
If you’re a MOTHER fan, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the Curiomatic team’s gorgeous MOTHER 3 Tribute trailer, which has taken the internet by storm the last couple of weeks. It’s an absolute love letter not only to the game itself, but the series as a whole – made by fans with the same love and passion Itoi and his team had, as if they were revisiting MOTHER all over again!
It’s one of those truly special treats crafted by the community that only comes around a few times each decade (Pollyana music video, anyone?) You can find the original video and their website right here, if you haven’t seen it yet! However, we wanted to dig deeper into the behind the scenes, and find out exactly what inspirations were behind such a monumental project. We were able to get into contact with Curiomatic’s founder, Omni Jacala (otherwise known as “Artsy Omni.”) So, grab a couple of Big City Burgers, and learn about the making of the MOTHER 3 Tribute in the interview below.
Being immortalized through a video-game is a surreal honor very few get to experience. One of the most famous examples often cited is the Chris Houlihan room from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but little do most MOTHER fans know that MOTHER 3 was nearly added to the list!
Featured below is a snippet from the MOTHER 3 Times Volume 3, where the game’s producer Shigesato Itoi, Atsushi Kakuta (Director), Toshinao Aoki (Enemy Designer) and Benimaru Itoh (Art Director) got together to review applications for the Spaceworld ’97 “MOTHER 3 Performer Contest.” This small portion focuses on an application from a certain individual who made a huge impression, but sadly did not end up winning the contest:
Over the last two decades, the MOTHER community has been at the forefront of the ROM hacking community and the creative ideas it can bring out of people. From the earliest efforts of the PK Hack community, to even the present day with Coilsnake, MOTHER fans are pushing the limits of what can be done with utilizing EarthBound’s engine. We’ve seen many creative hacks like HyperBound, which turned the beloved turn based RPG into an engaging, psychological adventure game. And of course, most notably Toby Fox’s ventures which have directly led into the modern classic, UNDERTALE. EarthBound hacking has always been an integral part of the MOTHER community, and is partially responsible for the indie scene we have today.
It’s not every day you wake up and new MOTHER 64 footage is found! Today, the video-game community was blessed by previously lost footage of the canceled N64 iteration of MOTHER 3 that was featured at Spaceworld 1997. As detailed on our site, the game was intended to be playable at the exhibition, but was pulled last minute and instead displayed in a sizzle reel of upcoming games.
Prior to the finding of this footage, only a few brief seconds of it existed from a similar sizzle reel that was shown at E3 1998 (unearthed by Echoes of MOTHER FOREVER in 2011). Ten years later, we can finally see that same footage and far more in higher quality! But, how did this manage to resurface over two decades later, and now? Let’s take a look!
On the evening of June 26th, 2021, we lost one of the greatest talents in the video-game preservation and emulation community, Near, formerly known as Byuu.
Most may know Near for their incredible work developing what’s unquestionably the most accurate SNES emulator, Higan (Formerly BSNES). They spent several years from 2004 onward developing the software, aiming to render the original coding of the system and games as accurately as possible. Near also clean dumped the entire North American and Japan libraries for the SNES and SFC respectively – so if you’ve ever played a ROM for these systems, it’s likely you might’ve been using a copy they dumped themselves.
Us MOTHER fans strive to see the N64 version of MOTHER 3 come to life in any capacity, don’t we? With each new piece of information we find, our curiosity grows ever stronger. After all, MOTHER FOREVER itself was founded on that same foundation of passion! That’s why today, we’d like to share something very special from the MOTHER 64 sub-community. Yes, just fresh off the recently translated report!
Over the years, the desire for a MOTHER 3 localization has had an incredible influence on social media. We’ve seen the game trend time and time again on Twitter, from hashtag movements or even a corporate shoutout. The freedom that social media gives us allows anyone and everyone to express their love for the game. And when we say everyone…we mean everyone. This is where American actor Terry Crews comes in!
Fans of the MOTHER series all rejoiced in celebration of a major milestone the other day – that being MOTHER 3‘s 15th anniversary, of course! A plethora of amazing art was published by fans of the game worldwide, with even the game’s art director Nobuhiro Imagawa joining with some lovely new sprite art for the occasion!
But what was the biggest surprise that day, you ask? Well, for most fans it would be the surprise release of version 1.3 of the MOTHER 3 Fan Translation! It had been in development for some time, and everyone was delighted to see it finally released with a great deal of improvements along with it.
Over the last couple of years, the video-game preservation community has grown exponentially, with a particular focus on prototype and canceled video-games. Among the most revered is the original N64 version of MOTHER 3, which has a small, yet incredibly passionate sub-community behind it. These particular fans aim to put their talents together to bring the ill-fated game back to life in one way or another. Consequently, we are proud to share a special project from one of these fans with you today!
