Retro Game: EarthBound

Overview

EarthBound is a one-of-a-kind role-playing game that trades dragons and castles for suburbs and aliens. Players take on the role of Ness, a seemingly ordinary boy living in the town of Onett, whose life is turned upside down when a meteorite crashes nearby. This event sets him on a grand adventure across the quirky, contemporary world of Eagleland to stop the cosmic destroyer, Giygas. Joined by a psychic girl, a nerdy genius, and a martial artist prince, Ness must use his latent psychic abilities to battle bizarre enemies and collect eight melodies to save the universe.

Background

Known as Mother 2 in Japan, EarthBound was developed by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo in 1995 for the SNES. It was famously written and directed by Japanese copywriter Shigesato Itoi. Upon its North American release, the game was met with a strange marketing campaign (including scratch-and-sniff ads proclaiming "This game stinks!") and struggled commercially. However, over the years, its profound story, unique humor, and charming characters earned it a massive and passionate cult following, and it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games ever made.

Gameplay

EarthBound plays as a traditional top-down Japanese RPG but with many unique twists. Players explore towns, talk to eccentric NPCs, and navigate dungeons, all set in a satirical version of Americana. Combat is turn-based, but the presentation is from a first-person perspective, showing enemies against psychedelic, animated backgrounds. A key mechanic is the "rolling HP meter"; when a character takes damage, their health scrolls down instead of instantly depleting, giving the player a chance to quickly end the battle or heal before the damage becomes fatal. Characters fight using unconventional items like baseball bats, frying pans, and toy guns, and utilize a range of psychic powers called PSI to attack and heal.