Curious as to how MOTHER 64 would’ve controlled? Well, thanks to reports from IGN as well as those who attended Spaceworld 1999, we have a pretty solid depiction of the game’s controls! A diagram of what each button did, beautifully presented in a mock-up designed by Snowwood in the style of a classic N64 instruction booklet! (left)

The controls were one of the praised aspects of the demo due to their simplicity, with IGN declaring them “easy to master”. One of the more unique aspects was the ability to jump, which is naturally not present in any other MOTHER game, before or after! There were many other cool features planned exclusively for MOTHER 64, including: 

• Interactivity with the N64DD. This was scrapped in Fall 1998, when the game transferred to cartridge. Features planned up until that point included a dynamic game world, where every choice the player made was permanent (like footsteps in the sand, or planting seeds to grow vines). Integration with Mario Artist was also fully implemented, where players could plaster photos of their faces over character models. 

• Players could perform a “baton pass” to switch the lead party member at any time by pressing the Z-trigger in front of other playable characters.

• MOTHER 64 had a highly interactive overworld. This featured dynamic terrain, such as steep slopes the characters would slide off, or walls they would get their head stuck in if they were launched into them. NPCs were also highly responsive to the player’s actions, reacting to them if they performed a jump.

• Enemies now had to be directly attacked on the overworld in order to instigate the first person battle sequence. You could kick small enemies to flip them over and gain the advantage, or simply jump on top of them to start battle. Meanwhile, bigger enemies had to be punched to instigate battle. This aspect of the gameplay was very similar to Paper Mario.

• The ability to communicate with enemies in battle. By using the “Speak” function, you would be given the chance to avoid conflict and run. However, this would not always be successful. This was one of the earliest planned features, which Satoru Iwata was vocally excited about.
• A “Kindness” stat was new to the series, although it’s functionality remains unknown.

• Certain characters had their own unique abilities. For example, the main protagonist Lucas could summon friendly animals into battle with his “Call” ability.

• A rhythm combo system was added in order to change the flow of battle, and allow for continuous attacks. This could be executed by pressing the A button to the beat of the music in battle.

• PSI (also dubbed “Magic” on the battle menus) was performed differently in MOTHER 64. By absorbing the energy of the surrounding area in battle, you would be able to perform powerful spells. However, the addition of a magic meter limited the amount of energy a character could absorb, endangering them to be knocked out of commission for a few turns if the meter overheated! 

• Dialogue exchanges between characters were also more dynamic, allowing for a chain of responses resulting in unique conversations. 

• Last but not least, the ability to save by talking to frogs! This was revealed in the MOTHER 3 Times Volume 18.

Of course, there were many more planned features for the game than the ones listed above, including many we may never know about. Some of these additions were kept in the game’s realized vision on the GBA, but many remain exclusive to MOTHER 64.