The original MOTHER was quite distinctive, being the first video game soundtrack at Nintendo composed by an outside source with Keiichi Suzuki; so where do you go from there in creating music for the sequel? While MOTHER may have had an expansive soundtrack for the time, there certainly was room for improvement with the new, enticing Super Famicom hardware on the horizon! 

“The biggest chance was that we had more sound channels,” music programmer Hirokazu Tanaka spoke on the Super Famicom. “In the Famicom age, it sounded more like ‘game’ music, we had to be inventive. But with more channels available, it became more like composing music. There was more freedom to insert music that you liked or really fit the game, so it was a lot of fun”.

When it came to the creative process, MOTHER 2 was similar in approach to the first game, with Keiichi Suzuki composing the melodies and Tanaka transcribing them to the sound chip; however, this time there was more overlap between the two artists. Since the hardware now allowed for more colourful instrument samples as opposed to simple square waves, the two composers often debated over which sounds to use. Over the unusually long development cycle for MOTHER 2, ideas for what direction the music should go in became scattered. Suzuki and Tanaka felt confident going wild due to having the time to experiment, wanting to create something truly unique from other games at the time. Nevertheless, MOTHER 2 has a lot of inspirations and focus from both jazz and rock, which Tanaka admitted the latter as a primary influence: “I feel that all of that was within the rock genre — so not too scattered, in the end”.

Along with all the inspiration and influence came an issue quite sensitive in the subject of videogames—sampling. While other games in the past such as Mega Man had sample melodies from other artists, such as Journey, none had gone so far to pay tribute as MOTHER 2 did. Right from the opening menus of the game you can hear the boisterous trumpets of the “Liberty Bell March”, paying homage to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. These musical references carry out through the entire game, with many samples consisting of The Beatles and John Lennon. One of the more conspicuous examples is heard in the song “The Place” in the final area of the game, which directly samples the opening lyric of “Deirdre” by The Beach Boys.

Nintendo of America did in fact review this concern when the impending North American release of EarthBound was preparing to ship out the door. The localization director of EarthBound, Marcus Lindblom, voiced, “We did sit down with our legal department and we were pretty certain that there weren’t going to be any issues with a lot of this stuff because we were kind of protected to some degree by the parody clause you get”. While this may have not have been an issue at the time, Nintendo did have a change of heart a decade later when EarthBound was being reviewed for release on the Wii’s Virtual Console. According to Clyde Mandelin of Legends of Localization fame, Nintendo of America’s legal department, “…were demanding changes to the game, and while we can’t say specifics, it’s safe to assume they were uncomfortable with the game’s constant pop culture references. EarthBound‘s soundtrack, in particular, constantly referencing bands like The Beatles is enough to make any IP lawyer wring his hands”. 

Despite the MOTHER fandom’s best efforts to voice their demand for EarthBound’s rerelease (which included the creation of the “EarthBound Anthology”, a 260-page compilation of fan art, articles and even several CDs of fan music), a meeting between Starmen.net’s staff and Nintendo of America insiders in 2007 once again reiterated that EarthBound would not be given the Virtual Console treatment due to these issues. It seemed like the game would never again see the light of day.

Hirokazu Tanaka voiced his confusion on the sampling topic to 1-UP.com in 2012, stating, “The sampling issue is a little sensitive, because… well, I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like that is one of the reasons EarthBound is not able to come out in America”. Unexpectedly, following MOTHER 2’s release on the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console in March 2013, EarthBound was officially announced for re-release on the North American counterpart the following month! Although this was an exciting time for any English-speaking MOTHER fan, many were uncertain whether changes would be made to the game or not following the transparent history of the legal issues surrounding the pop culture references. Kotaku addressed the fan’s concerns over the music to Nintendo Marketing Manager Bill Trinen, who reassured, “They’re taking the original game and putting it on Wii U”.  Many wondered if Nintendo of America once again had a change of heart when it came to the soundtrack; regardless, most were happy to once again have the game in distribution! 

Despite all these trivial issues, MOTHER 2 is hailed as having one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time, covering many genres and bending the rules of music-making with its unorthodox sound. Though neither Keiichi Suzuki or Hirokazu Tanaka would return for the next installment, MOTHER 3, their ventures in creating the sound for the MOTHER series remains one of their most recognized achievements!