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Description
Finally! i thought this review would never see the light of day! so most might be asking ''What the hell took so long?''. And my answer to that is ''i got lazy and easily distracted'' so needless to say its my fault for this being SO overdue. So now without anymore delays and distractions let's talk about MOTHER.

(source: gameandgraphics.com/post/28065… )
(music playing)

People love Earthbound or the MOTHER series in this case, its only had 3 games, but each of those 3 games are fondly remembered and hold a special place in the eyes and hearts of many gamers. Its created a healthy fan base that continues strong to this day, constantly hoping and praying for MOTHER 3's release over here in the west (though the would censor the hell out of it), they have a cult following and have inspired games like UnderTale and Lisa. you would see people cosplaying as Ness,Lucas,Jeff,Poo,Frank,Paula,Kumatora,Starmen, etc. One could clearly tell these people are passionate for this type of genre and series with its quirky humor,witty dialogue, and great characters (for MOTHER 3 anyway since both 1 and 2's are lacking in character development). And no doubt people still talk about it today, well at least MOTHER 2 and 3, MOTHER 1 is barely mention. Not to say its ignored, just not have as much hype as its two other games, it rather viewed as more of ''its there'', the game has a fanbase (though rather small) and while people do cosplay, not as much as 2 and 3. MOTHER 1 definitely set's up the plot for both its sequels to follow, yet the game is hated or not well liked for its story,battles, and how confusing it can be to navigate. And that why today i decided to make this review, to give my thoughts and feeling on this game, my conclusion will be in the end and once you reach the end of this review, ultimately it's up to you to decide if this game is worth the pay of admission on Wii u VC (considering those who STILL have a wii u) or not.

MOTHER was made and produced in 1989 and was released only in Japan, the game sold well under a 150,000 copies and even received a ''silver hall of fame'' score from Weekly Famitsu. The creator of the MOTHER series being Shigesato Itoi.

Sources say that Itoi named the game MOTHER off of a John Lennon song with the same name.
(source: [link] )

Of course there is more history about Mr.Itoi pitching the game to Miyamoto and more backstory for MOTHER, but this is a game review, not a history lesson (not to mention if your curious enough, you can search it on your own to learn more). Regardless of the history, MOTHER was planning to get a western release, the translation was finished and was ready to be released in 1990 under the original name EarthBound (pretty much meaning that THIS was the original title and not EarthBound on the SNES which would be later known as MOTHER 2), however Nintendo decided to not release the game, due to the fact that the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) was released and by this time and people with who owned an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) were already making a leap into the next console, thus the game was never released. I guess that would be the end of EarthBound (Nes), but the game did finally get an official release, during at E3 with Nintendo, where to the shock of many, Itoi came on screen to announce the release of EarthBound (Nes) which was given a new title, called EarthBound Beginnings.

(source:[link] )

(source:[link] )
Of course when buying it on the Wii U, the title will say EarthBound Beginnings, but the game title itself says EarthBound, so either A, they were lazy to put Beginnings in the title screen or B, they just put the unreleased version here without the slightest changes (except for 1 very minor thing, but its not important). My money is on B, but regardless the world can finally experience the original MOTHER without emulation (assuming you didn't do that from the start).

(source: aminoapps.com )
The protagonist you play as is Ninten, a very blank slate who has no personality, and no, he doesn't get developed as the story goes along and neither do the other characters you meet along the way (Ana,Lloyd,and Teddy) however their actions and reasons are more, how does one say? more ''friendship'' than EarthBound, cause in EarthBound, while you do friend Paula by saving her, you friend Jeff and Poo, because Paula called them. Needless to say, i would say that EBB has a more friendship vibe than EB, but regardless, were not gonna spend more time on characters (since there isn't much aside from teddy's story, but even that is a little shallow), lets get into the story.
(source:www.grouvee.com/games/10909-ea… )
in the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural america. At the time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home.
The man's name was George, the woman's name was Maria.
Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself.
As for maria, his wife... She never returned.
80 years have passed since then.
After the prologue, you find yourself in the Ninten's room, and the 1st problem you will encounter with the game is the control, it can feel VERY wonky and the only way to make it ''smoother'' is by holding the B button to go faster (then again, all of this could be because of the Wii U VC if your using that as your method of playing this game). But aside from that, you soon leave your room, when suddenly, the lamp attacks! so after your done knocking down the lamps and you sister's possessed doll and find a song/melody inside. you go down stair to and talk to your mother who is afraid of the whole situation, when suddenly, you get a call from your father who just thinks must be the work of a poltergeist, after the call, you pack you things go outside to explore and collect the remaining Melody's.

(Music playing)

If i am being 100% honest, the game doesn't REALLY tell you what to do and where to find the rest of the Melody's on your first playthrough, but you will mostly find them by pure curiosity, take the 3rd Melody in the Podunk/Mother's day zoo. You get it from checking a sign that is labeled ''See the one and only, signing monkey'', and the monkey will start to sing (of course you can only do that ONCE the threat that makes the animal go insane disappears), and if you think ''Wow okay, so does that mean all of them will be obvious?'' and the answer is ''No''. Maybe one's like the Dragon or the Piano, but not Ones like the Cactus (which if you decide to take Plane ride a, it will circle around it a few times so symbolize its importance) or the canary, and this is mostly because the world of MOTHER is pretty huge, and i do mean HUGE!

starmen.net/mother1/miscinfo/ (a map to all the area's in MOTHER)

Now one glace at the Map design and you would be like ''That world is huge! how am i even suppose to remember all of this!?'', to be honest, the area's may look huge, but i can guarantee they are actually pretty small, of course this that is if your not going linear and just exploring everything, then yes it can be confusing (and to be honest the map isn't super useful). But for 1st time players, i would recommend staying linear and mostly just talk to npc's, and recommend some exploration to find certain area's like Yucca desert which a 1st time player might not know where it is, of course with the internet, nowadays people just search up where to go and what to do, but i REALLY recommend you just explore and find stuff yourself, but if you are really desperate, then go ahead, its understandable for 1st time players.

Oh boy, i got a little off track, alright back to the story, After you get 3 of the Melody's, save Pippi from the graveyard, and Destroy the Starman Jr. that was making the animals go insane, you then cross the bridge to go to a mysterious cave in the East, inside you find a pink shell with an X on top, you then read from your GGF dairy (which is Located in Ninten's basement) and get transported to Magicant, a strange realm that is not of earth, and has some strange People/inhabitants and plenty of enemies. You go inside the queen Mary's castle who ask of you to collect the eight melody's so she can remember the full song, after exiting the castle, going through a well, taking some random paths (don't worry you will figure it out) and after talking to a man that tell you to forget him, you reach Merrysville/Thanksgiving (these names in the original Japanese version are named after holidays).

This is where you meet Lloyd, a kid that gets picked on by his peers, his father, and even the game itself, Lloyd is not so good with the damage and to be honest his weapon selection is no Jeff, but once you get to Easter/YoungTown, you get the air gun, which is pretty good (assuming your grinding, this game being a classic JRPG and all). You can't befriend Lloyd until you get him a Bottle rocket from the ''sweets factory'' which is located south of Twinkle elementary school, and Once you befriend him (and grind him, since every party member except Teddy starts at level 1) you then make your way to Duncan's factory (which is completely confusing to navigate), send a rocket to destroy a rock blocking the train tracks, and ride that train to Snowman.

In Snowman you will meet your next party member, Ana, who just like Lloyd can't hit for squat (which might be even LOWER than Lloyd's), but has some good PSI at her disposal, Gonna say this right now, PK Freeze and Thunder do not work like they did in MOTHER 2/EarthBound, and they are also Nerfed, Pk Beam and Fire can Destroy enemies and are good to use. But back on track, after you return Ana her hat (which you can get from some old lady in Reindeer) she then joins your party and your off to find the next bunch of melody's (DEFINITELY for 1st time user to get her as your party member).

(Music playing)

After passing through the Yucca desert, getting the 5th melody, being on a tank and destroying R7307, and being inside the Monkey cave, you reach YoungTown/Easter where its here that you find out that all the adults are missing, or rather they were kidnapped by aliens, you also meet a baby that can teach you teleportation, after that, you Head for the swamp (which is a very confusing place to navigate). But you also find Lloyd's dad and Pippi there (and can even rest there), after making it through the treacherous swamp, you reach Ellay/Valentine (i see what they did there) and you go inside the Live house, after doing a cute 8 bit dance with and an amazing piece of music, you meet Teddy,the leader of the BB gang (or Blah Blah gang), who will fight you on a one on one fist fight (and you can't choose anything else except fight) and win, he wants to join you so he can get vengeance at the Monsters who killed his parents at Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly, he kicks Lloyd out of the party and will be his replacement. Now Teddy has some very tough stats, and he's both quick and strong, he has no PSI, but he makes up for this with his brute strength.

(Music playing)

Once you reach the cave of Mt.Holy loly/Mt.itoi, you go through a confusing cave that even with a map, won't be much easier, but once you are out of the cave and reach the Mountain yourself, you climb up ropes and fight strong enemies and reach the healers house to rest, after you have a dance with Ana and she confesses her love for you, you are then interrupted by a loud noise outside, and after fighting R7308...Well more like after R7308 mops the floor with you, Lloyd then shows up to save you and the rest of your party members. Once you get all rested up, Teddy has been hurt so badly he can't fight in his state, so Lloyd decides to take Teddy's place and fight along side Ninten and Ana, after that, you reach the top of Mt.itoi/Mt.Holy loly again and you get a little further, you spot a boat in the distance, thanks to Lloyd, he fixes the boat and once your on, you notice a whirlpool and choose to go in, after being sucked in your inside a mysterious lab with no enemies or anything to inhabit it.

After exploring the empty lab, you reach the top and find EVE, a robot designed by George to protect you, but before anything else can happen, the glass shatters and water starts rising but you escape that (somehow) and are back on the Mountain without harm. Once you start to get closer and closer to the end of the Mountain, you encounter R7308XX, who won't fight you and your party, but EVE instead, after EVE gets the lights beaten out of her, she makes on last move and decides to blow up herself to save Ninten and co. From the robot. After that tragic death, you get the 7th Melody from EVE and reach the very end of the mountain to find a grave, the grave ends up talking to you (just roll with it) and tells you that its your great grandfather George, and gives you the final melody.

(Music playing)

Boy that was quite a story to summarize, but as for the ending, well i won't spoil it here, i know it's common among everyone, but for those who have not played it and experienced it for themselves i wouldn't like to spoil it, but moving from story, lets talk Gameplay and....Well this is where the game can get rather tough.

(Music playing)

The difficulty of this game boils down to whether you can grind or not, personally its no problem for me, but for others i know what an issue it can pose, but its not just grinding that makes the game hard to play, its the enemy themselves. Not all the enemies are tough, but what you will encounter will most likely give you some game overs before next time you confront it you know what to do, take for example 'Maniac truck' aside from hitting hard, he also has a nasty move that can give your character (Ninten) Asthma, and unless you got your Asthma spray, Ninten will not be able to take down and the truck and just keep gasping for air (basically Paralysis in a nutshell) and unless Lloyd is at a good level, he too will get his the cupcakes beaten out of him. Either way, the point is some enemies have some sort of gimmick (or PSI for tougher damage) that can make your fights seem like more of a ''boss battle'' than a ''battle'' itself (and also the whole Combo attack in one turn), Another thing to note, is that since this is the Nes and the HP rolling bar isn't implemented in this game, its fair to say your gonna have to be a little more careful and strategic with your choices (of course this is no Fire emblem, but its best to consider what your next attack will be).

Now as for the battle screen itself, well it looks like any typical JRPG from the 80's, just a black background with the enemy sprite in the front (like dragon warrior, which fun fact, Itoi used as one of his inspirations), you also got your standard Commands like Fight,Guard,Goods,PSI,Check, and State.

(source:pietriots.com/2015/07/25/earth… )

As basic as it looks, i actually quite like it, most JRPG's were doing this by the 80's. Now one thing i wanna state about the game before i talk about what PSI is, Mt.Holy loly/Mt.itoi, i can guarentee with 100% it is SUPER hard, and the enemies will quick your butt with or without a gimmick (or PSI), they hit for INSANE amount of damage so i reccomend being level 35 (or 40 just to feel more safe), my 2nd recommendation would be to also use PSI shield B, it cuts damage in half from both physical attacks and PSI attacks, trust me, it will save you lots of game overs.

Now about PSI, PSI is basically just magic, you can cast shields, attacks, and supporting magic, now if your looking at the picture with the crow (that is not mine) you will see PP on the bottom, Magic can cost a lot depending on what Spells your using, and it can drain quickly, however there are also PSI stones that can recover PP (for 1 to 20), they can be used multiple times, but they are also random, so make sure to carry a spare if yours runs out. Now that we got the basics down, its time to talk about the music.

(Music playing)

Just gonna say it, the Music is fantastic, every track melts my heart and it sounds good 28 years later, and i love each and one of them (except the Monkey cave, but hey, that's just me), Now to be honest Pollyanna and Being friend's can get annoying since they get overplayed in the overworld sometimes, but i don't mind it since i never feel like they are the ONLY track in this game, you still get to hear others like 'Buy something will ya?, Ghastly Site, Yucca desert, and More. I even like the small short played themes, and you know a games soundtrack is good when you search it up on Youtube, there's also the MOTHER CD soundtrack, which has the songs with lyrics (selected few, but still worth checking out) and you can check one them down below, if your curious enough you might just search them all.

(Music playing)
If memory serves, these were released alongside the Mother 1+2 and they sound pretty good (although they can get weird in some parts).

Now lets talk Graphics, the graphics have that 'Peanut' style, they look okay, nothing ground breaking, but its simplistic and i don't think anyone is really triggered by this, One of the characters was changed for the Wii U VC release, but its a pretty small detail taken away, nothing really much to say in the graphical department.

Overall this game is worth playing, not only to experience the 1st Mother game legit, Not only to support the game to get MOTHER 3 over here in the states, but as a game can hold dear to their heart, i know some people will disagree and say its ''too hard'' but i really don't see it that way, sure the Grinding can be problem but if you push on, i'm sure one can love what is in my opinion, Not a perfect, but not a bad game, i love it, its one that i think has lots of replay value and doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, sure there's a community for it, but i wish there was more love for it. Now if your gonna Play this version of Mother but wished it was easier, then this would be anyone's recommended version starmen.net/mother1/easypatch/ , in short words its the same game but with enemies that have been tweaked to be easier (even the Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly enemies) for a less stress inducing time.

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Well i'm done with review, all i'm going to talk about this point and forward is about the 25th Anniversary Rom hack and Mother 1+2, so its not necessary to stay, but if your the slightest interested, then join me for 1 more but small review.

(Music playing)

Now the Mother 25th Anniversary is just the original MOTHER game, but with enhanced Sprite work and the original Japanese translation. the game can look beautiful in some areas. I know some people have issues with the whole ''But it takes away the graphical design the original game was going for'' and i don't really care for that, i guess some people could be bothered by how Ninten and other NPC's look or how some of the enemy designs are a little Wacky, but i don't really mind it since i love how it looks and i think the whole Wacky enemies is goofy fun. Nothing has really Changed per say in the 25th anniversary (again unless you count the graphics and Japanese translation) except 2 things. 1, being the map, the original map in MOTHER was pretty useless in my opinion and i never really needed it, not to mention it didn't help much, but with the 25th anniversary....Just look at the detail.

(Source:www.romhacking.net/?page=hacks… )

I can guarantee it will help for 1st time players and you won't exactly feel so lost. Now the 2nd thing that was changed was the difficulty, it has the Easy patch on the rom, so the enemies worn't cream you, and while its a turn off for me, others might enjoy it, alongside with the other good things this Rom hack has to offer and you can check it out here www.romhacking.net/hacks/2211/ .

Now that i got the 25th Anniversary out of the way, lets talk about the Mother 1+2 game....oh boy.

Okay i'm gonna be honest, i don't like the Mother 1+2 version all that much, Now whats different about this version, is the fact that aside from being on a handheld and the screen looking a little smaller, the music isn't good, not bad, just not good and it can sound off.

Aside from the music not sounding good, the random encounter (in my opinion) has been raised plus 1, and i can tell ya its more frequent than in the original, and deciding not to use the run button, doesn't make the encounters much more easier. Sure the game has everything uncensored and the controls don't feel Wonky, but that really isn't enough for me to like it, this game also has an easy ring. The ring makes the random encounters and Money much more easier, but even then, when playing the game for what it really is, its just a bad port, Now for the Japanese this port of the game could be good for them since they only had the original FC MOTHER and in that game there were plenty of changes (like the map being an item and you could not run at all), and they didn't have the English version we had that was never released, but i digress, if you like this version of MOTHER, then go ahead and play it, its your taste at the end of the day that counts.

One final thing i wanna discuss before i end this review (and i'm going to Piss off plenty of people for this) i wanna talk about a certain video

Now its not necessary to hear this part, this is just my issues with this video (also if i do GAIN fans, please don't harass/WitchHunt this person), Lots of problems arise from this video and i'm going to go over them, and i do respect his opinions and choices, but i want to critic whats also WRONG with those choices and opinions, last chance to turn away and not hear this part....ya sure? alright here we go.

Know i'm going to make a few points to save some time and marking every single time frame of what i have a problem with, now the the points i'm gonna go over are rather small and not an essay so hopefully this won't be so painful.

1, I know this is a RETROSPECTIVE, but games take 2nd playthroughs and when you replay it, you get good at stuff like this and those problems on your first playthroughs aren't gonna come up the same as you had in your 2nd playthrough.

2, Yes you do have to talk to NPC's, what are exactly are you suppose to do then? just play the game without talking to them and figure it out on your own without the clues and hint? no wonder you had such trouble

3, Despite the flavor, its nots like NPC's are so boring you want barf out 8 bit pixels and play another game, not to mention its not the same 'medieval quest fighting in dungeons and dragons while saving princesses and the world' that some games at the time were replicating

4, Well i will give you that, but the game isn't about parodying other JRPG's at the time, its about a 10 year old boy going on an adventure to save the world from aliens

5,Yeah melody's are exactly forced, but queen Mary tells you of its importance so its not like its a side quest

6,...And what is that suppose to mean? of course any player who's played any RPG would check it (not to mention Ninten's sister even tells you to CHECK it)

7, Yes its true some players won't think to check the cactus, but in Magicant the dude with the guitar even tells you of its importance in case you missed it

8, Are the Melody's so hard to miss? What about the 1st.2nd,4th,6th,7th, and 8th? so that makes only 2 then that some might miss

9, Sounds like more flavor text? what does that even mean? Seriously the 1st is not hard to miss and the dude with the guitar even tells you when you reach a certain level

10,...Its a canary, it even says it in the text box...oops

11, You didn't think to check the plaque again? Seriously, anyone that's played an RPG should know this, even a first time player who's never played an RPG would get that

12, Oh come on, the 25th anniversary should have fixed the problems that ''infuriate you'' like level grinding and enemies

13, Well your not wrong, so i will give you that, the map design is big, but playing the game a few times, and you will know where to go and what areas are dead ends...except Duncan's factory and maybe the Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly cave, also since your looking at the 25th anniversary, the encounters really aren't high, i would understand if your playing the original, but the 25th anniversary are suppose to make things easier.

14, The difficulty balancing!? are you serious!? this is pretty easy compared to original which can kick you in head without mercy if you were not at a good enough level, this would be the least problems one could have.

15, Gee, a truck and a bear hit harder than a Bug and snake? who would have thought

16, you could have grinded a bit in Merrysville/Thanksgiving for extra cash or just use the onyx hook to return to magicant, it would have been annoying sure, but at least you save money

17, Ever used bread? it can help you when you want to return to an area you died in and didn't want to walk all the way there while encountering enemies

18, You used the internet to find out what you were supposed to do, so why didn't you use a map for the mountain

19, Is grinding THAT much of a problem in the 25th anniversary, i understand, but why not also use the PSI moves like PSI shield B or Pk Beam r?

20, Well your friend was HALF right, you do need to grind, but to at least a decent level (level 35) and it is true that Itoi was constricted with time so he couldn't balance the last enemies on the mountain, however its not like the enemies are unbeatable

21, No shoot atomic robo would blow up, just ignore him and run away or use PSI shield or defense up, would it not be easier to study your own enemies to avoid future kicks in groin?

22, Oh for the love of MOTHER, looking at the footage, i can see why you had such a problem ,your level is seriously low, and not to mention didn't you buy the boomerang, oh right, i forgot, that would mean going in circles for a few minutes for the next enemies

23, Are they seriously that rare? you can get them from Nancy's and Starmen not to mention in total there's like 5 in the overworld if you explore deep enough

24, I understand that teleporting can be hard, but come on this is just pathetic, there is so much spaces in other areas, like are you kidding me?

25, Are you 100% sure that MOTHER has zero redeeming qualities

26, Because this game isn't the same JRPG of times that had long stories of quest and adventure, it was a game that starred a 10 year old boy saving the earth

27, The game isn't so flawed its broken, not to mention this rom hack FIXES some of those issues in the original (i said some not all)

28, I understand its your opinion, but one of the worst you ever played!? This game is the least offensive, if you wanna play garbage, your looking at the wrong game

29, Again, are you SURE there wasn't anything good that came out of MOTHER?

30, A waste of time? isn't that like all video games, to waste time and enjoy yourself when you need to do something? not to mention, by EarthBound lore i would say there was no waste of time here since there was a lot of important detail here too

Well overall that was all my issues with this video, its his opinion and i understand, and i even respect it, but there's also plenty of flaws in that video and i just kept asking ''did he even play the same game?'' But whatever, now that that's over, thanks for reading my review of mother. If you are interested in more content like this please hit ''Follow'' button (basically its the subscribe button) and enjoy yourselves and have a good evening.

Description
Finally! i thought this review would never see the light of day! so most might be asking ''What the hell took so long?''. And my answer to that is ''i got lazy and easily distracted'' so needless to say its my fault for this being SO overdue. So now without anymore delays and distractions let's talk about MOTHER.

(source: gameandgraphics.com/post/28065… )
(music playing)

People love Earthbound or the MOTHER series in this case, its only had 3 games, but each of those 3 games are fondly remembered and hold a special place in the eyes and hearts of many gamers. Its created a healthy fan base that continues strong to this day, constantly hoping and praying for MOTHER 3's release over here in the west (though the would censor the hell out of it), they have a cult following and have inspired games like UnderTale and Lisa. you would see people cosplaying as Ness,Lucas,Jeff,Poo,Frank,Paula,Kumatora,Starmen, etc. One could clearly tell these people are passionate for this type of genre and series with its quirky humor,witty dialogue, and great characters (for MOTHER 3 anyway since both 1 and 2's are lacking in character development). And no doubt people still talk about it today, well at least MOTHER 2 and 3, MOTHER 1 is barely mention. Not to say its ignored, just not have as much hype as its two other games, it rather viewed as more of ''its there'', the game has a fanbase (though rather small) and while people do cosplay, not as much as 2 and 3. MOTHER 1 definitely set's up the plot for both its sequels to follow, yet the game is hated or not well liked for its story,battles, and how confusing it can be to navigate. And that why today i decided to make this review, to give my thoughts and feeling on this game, my conclusion will be in the end and once you reach the end of this review, ultimately it's up to you to decide if this game is worth the pay of admission on Wii u VC (considering those who STILL have a wii u) or not.

MOTHER was made and produced in 1989 and was released only in Japan, the game sold well under a 150,000 copies and even received a ''silver hall of fame'' score from Weekly Famitsu. The creator of the MOTHER series being Shigesato Itoi.

Sources say that Itoi named the game MOTHER off of a John Lennon song with the same name.
(source: [link] )

Of course there is more history about Mr.Itoi pitching the game to Miyamoto and more backstory for MOTHER, but this is a game review, not a history lesson (not to mention if your curious enough, you can search it on your own to learn more). Regardless of the history, MOTHER was planning to get a western release, the translation was finished and was ready to be released in 1990 under the original name EarthBound (pretty much meaning that THIS was the original title and not EarthBound on the SNES which would be later known as MOTHER 2), however Nintendo decided to not release the game, due to the fact that the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) was released and by this time and people with who owned an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) were already making a leap into the next console, thus the game was never released. I guess that would be the end of EarthBound (Nes), but the game did finally get an official release, during at E3 with Nintendo, where to the shock of many, Itoi came on screen to announce the release of EarthBound (Nes) which was given a new title, called EarthBound Beginnings.

(source:[link] )

(source:[link] )
Of course when buying it on the Wii U, the title will say EarthBound Beginnings, but the game title itself says EarthBound, so either A, they were lazy to put Beginnings in the title screen or B, they just put the unreleased version here without the slightest changes (except for 1 very minor thing, but its not important). My money is on B, but regardless the world can finally experience the original MOTHER without emulation (assuming you didn't do that from the start).

(source: aminoapps.com )
The protagonist you play as is Ninten, a very blank slate who has no personality, and no, he doesn't get developed as the story goes along and neither do the other characters you meet along the way (Ana,Lloyd,and Teddy) however their actions and reasons are more, how does one say? more ''friendship'' than EarthBound, cause in EarthBound, while you do friend Paula by saving her, you friend Jeff and Poo, because Paula called them. Needless to say, i would say that EBB has a more friendship vibe than EB, but regardless, were not gonna spend more time on characters (since there isn't much aside from teddy's story, but even that is a little shallow), lets get into the story.
(source:www.grouvee.com/games/10909-ea… )
in the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural america. At the time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home.
The man's name was George, the woman's name was Maria.
Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself.
As for maria, his wife... She never returned.
80 years have passed since then.
After the prologue, you find yourself in the Ninten's room, and the 1st problem you will encounter with the game is the control, it can feel VERY wonky and the only way to make it ''smoother'' is by holding the B button to go faster (then again, all of this could be because of the Wii U VC if your using that as your method of playing this game). But aside from that, you soon leave your room, when suddenly, the lamp attacks! so after your done knocking down the lamps and you sister's possessed doll and find a song/melody inside. you go down stair to and talk to your mother who is afraid of the whole situation, when suddenly, you get a call from your father who just thinks must be the work of a poltergeist, after the call, you pack you things go outside to explore and collect the remaining Melody's.

(Music playing)

If i am being 100% honest, the game doesn't REALLY tell you what to do and where to find the rest of the Melody's on your first playthrough, but you will mostly find them by pure curiosity, take the 3rd Melody in the Podunk/Mother's day zoo. You get it from checking a sign that is labeled ''See the one and only, signing monkey'', and the monkey will start to sing (of course you can only do that ONCE the threat that makes the animal go insane disappears), and if you think ''Wow okay, so does that mean all of them will be obvious?'' and the answer is ''No''. Maybe one's like the Dragon or the Piano, but not Ones like the Cactus (which if you decide to take Plane ride a, it will circle around it a few times so symbolize its importance) or the canary, and this is mostly because the world of MOTHER is pretty huge, and i do mean HUGE!

starmen.net/mother1/miscinfo/ (a map to all the area's in MOTHER)

Now one glace at the Map design and you would be like ''That world is huge! how am i even suppose to remember all of this!?'', to be honest, the area's may look huge, but i can guarantee they are actually pretty small, of course this that is if your not going linear and just exploring everything, then yes it can be confusing (and to be honest the map isn't super useful). But for 1st time players, i would recommend staying linear and mostly just talk to npc's, and recommend some exploration to find certain area's like Yucca desert which a 1st time player might not know where it is, of course with the internet, nowadays people just search up where to go and what to do, but i REALLY recommend you just explore and find stuff yourself, but if you are really desperate, then go ahead, its understandable for 1st time players.

Oh boy, i got a little off track, alright back to the story, After you get 3 of the Melody's, save Pippi from the graveyard, and Destroy the Starman Jr. that was making the animals go insane, you then cross the bridge to go to a mysterious cave in the East, inside you find a pink shell with an X on top, you then read from your GGF dairy (which is Located in Ninten's basement) and get transported to Magicant, a strange realm that is not of earth, and has some strange People/inhabitants and plenty of enemies. You go inside the queen Mary's castle who ask of you to collect the eight melody's so she can remember the full song, after exiting the castle, going through a well, taking some random paths (don't worry you will figure it out) and after talking to a man that tell you to forget him, you reach Merrysville/Thanksgiving (these names in the original Japanese version are named after holidays).

This is where you meet Lloyd, a kid that gets picked on by his peers, his father, and even the game itself, Lloyd is not so good with the damage and to be honest his weapon selection is no Jeff, but once you get to Easter/YoungTown, you get the air gun, which is pretty good (assuming your grinding, this game being a classic JRPG and all). You can't befriend Lloyd until you get him a Bottle rocket from the ''sweets factory'' which is located south of Twinkle elementary school, and Once you befriend him (and grind him, since every party member except Teddy starts at level 1) you then make your way to Duncan's factory (which is completely confusing to navigate), send a rocket to destroy a rock blocking the train tracks, and ride that train to Snowman.

In Snowman you will meet your next party member, Ana, who just like Lloyd can't hit for squat (which might be even LOWER than Lloyd's), but has some good PSI at her disposal, Gonna say this right now, PK Freeze and Thunder do not work like they did in MOTHER 2/EarthBound, and they are also Nerfed, Pk Beam and Fire can Destroy enemies and are good to use. But back on track, after you return Ana her hat (which you can get from some old lady in Reindeer) she then joins your party and your off to find the next bunch of melody's (DEFINITELY for 1st time user to get her as your party member).

(Music playing)

After passing through the Yucca desert, getting the 5th melody, being on a tank and destroying R7307, and being inside the Monkey cave, you reach YoungTown/Easter where its here that you find out that all the adults are missing, or rather they were kidnapped by aliens, you also meet a baby that can teach you teleportation, after that, you Head for the swamp (which is a very confusing place to navigate). But you also find Lloyd's dad and Pippi there (and can even rest there), after making it through the treacherous swamp, you reach Ellay/Valentine (i see what they did there) and you go inside the Live house, after doing a cute 8 bit dance with and an amazing piece of music, you meet Teddy,the leader of the BB gang (or Blah Blah gang), who will fight you on a one on one fist fight (and you can't choose anything else except fight) and win, he wants to join you so he can get vengeance at the Monsters who killed his parents at Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly, he kicks Lloyd out of the party and will be his replacement. Now Teddy has some very tough stats, and he's both quick and strong, he has no PSI, but he makes up for this with his brute strength.

(Music playing)

Once you reach the cave of Mt.Holy loly/Mt.itoi, you go through a confusing cave that even with a map, won't be much easier, but once you are out of the cave and reach the Mountain yourself, you climb up ropes and fight strong enemies and reach the healers house to rest, after you have a dance with Ana and she confesses her love for you, you are then interrupted by a loud noise outside, and after fighting R7308...Well more like after R7308 mops the floor with you, Lloyd then shows up to save you and the rest of your party members. Once you get all rested up, Teddy has been hurt so badly he can't fight in his state, so Lloyd decides to take Teddy's place and fight along side Ninten and Ana, after that, you reach the top of Mt.itoi/Mt.Holy loly again and you get a little further, you spot a boat in the distance, thanks to Lloyd, he fixes the boat and once your on, you notice a whirlpool and choose to go in, after being sucked in your inside a mysterious lab with no enemies or anything to inhabit it.

After exploring the empty lab, you reach the top and find EVE, a robot designed by George to protect you, but before anything else can happen, the glass shatters and water starts rising but you escape that (somehow) and are back on the Mountain without harm. Once you start to get closer and closer to the end of the Mountain, you encounter R7308XX, who won't fight you and your party, but EVE instead, after EVE gets the lights beaten out of her, she makes on last move and decides to blow up herself to save Ninten and co. From the robot. After that tragic death, you get the 7th Melody from EVE and reach the very end of the mountain to find a grave, the grave ends up talking to you (just roll with it) and tells you that its your great grandfather George, and gives you the final melody.

(Music playing)

Boy that was quite a story to summarize, but as for the ending, well i won't spoil it here, i know it's common among everyone, but for those who have not played it and experienced it for themselves i wouldn't like to spoil it, but moving from story, lets talk Gameplay and....Well this is where the game can get rather tough.

(Music playing)

The difficulty of this game boils down to whether you can grind or not, personally its no problem for me, but for others i know what an issue it can pose, but its not just grinding that makes the game hard to play, its the enemy themselves. Not all the enemies are tough, but what you will encounter will most likely give you some game overs before next time you confront it you know what to do, take for example 'Maniac truck' aside from hitting hard, he also has a nasty move that can give your character (Ninten) Asthma, and unless you got your Asthma spray, Ninten will not be able to take down and the truck and just keep gasping for air (basically Paralysis in a nutshell) and unless Lloyd is at a good level, he too will get his the cupcakes beaten out of him. Either way, the point is some enemies have some sort of gimmick (or PSI for tougher damage) that can make your fights seem like more of a ''boss battle'' than a ''battle'' itself (and also the whole Combo attack in one turn), Another thing to note, is that since this is the Nes and the HP rolling bar isn't implemented in this game, its fair to say your gonna have to be a little more careful and strategic with your choices (of course this is no Fire emblem, but its best to consider what your next attack will be).

Now as for the battle screen itself, well it looks like any typical JRPG from the 80's, just a black background with the enemy sprite in the front (like dragon warrior, which fun fact, Itoi used as one of his inspirations), you also got your standard Commands like Fight,Guard,Goods,PSI,Check, and State.

(source:pietriots.com/2015/07/25/earth… )

As basic as it looks, i actually quite like it, most JRPG's were doing this by the 80's. Now one thing i wanna state about the game before i talk about what PSI is, Mt.Holy loly/Mt.itoi, i can guarentee with 100% it is SUPER hard, and the enemies will quick your butt with or without a gimmick (or PSI), they hit for INSANE amount of damage so i reccomend being level 35 (or 40 just to feel more safe), my 2nd recommendation would be to also use PSI shield B, it cuts damage in half from both physical attacks and PSI attacks, trust me, it will save you lots of game overs.

Now about PSI, PSI is basically just magic, you can cast shields, attacks, and supporting magic, now if your looking at the picture with the crow (that is not mine) you will see PP on the bottom, Magic can cost a lot depending on what Spells your using, and it can drain quickly, however there are also PSI stones that can recover PP (for 1 to 20), they can be used multiple times, but they are also random, so make sure to carry a spare if yours runs out. Now that we got the basics down, its time to talk about the music.

(Music playing)

Just gonna say it, the Music is fantastic, every track melts my heart and it sounds good 28 years later, and i love each and one of them (except the Monkey cave, but hey, that's just me), Now to be honest Pollyanna and Being friend's can get annoying since they get overplayed in the overworld sometimes, but i don't mind it since i never feel like they are the ONLY track in this game, you still get to hear others like 'Buy something will ya?, Ghastly Site, Yucca desert, and More. I even like the small short played themes, and you know a games soundtrack is good when you search it up on Youtube, there's also the MOTHER CD soundtrack, which has the songs with lyrics (selected few, but still worth checking out) and you can check one them down below, if your curious enough you might just search them all.

(Music playing)
If memory serves, these were released alongside the Mother 1+2 and they sound pretty good (although they can get weird in some parts).

Now lets talk Graphics, the graphics have that 'Peanut' style, they look okay, nothing ground breaking, but its simplistic and i don't think anyone is really triggered by this, One of the characters was changed for the Wii U VC release, but its a pretty small detail taken away, nothing really much to say in the graphical department.

Overall this game is worth playing, not only to experience the 1st Mother game legit, Not only to support the game to get MOTHER 3 over here in the states, but as a game can hold dear to their heart, i know some people will disagree and say its ''too hard'' but i really don't see it that way, sure the Grinding can be problem but if you push on, i'm sure one can love what is in my opinion, Not a perfect, but not a bad game, i love it, its one that i think has lots of replay value and doesn't get as much attention as it deserves, sure there's a community for it, but i wish there was more love for it. Now if your gonna Play this version of Mother but wished it was easier, then this would be anyone's recommended version starmen.net/mother1/easypatch/ , in short words its the same game but with enemies that have been tweaked to be easier (even the Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly enemies) for a less stress inducing time.

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Well i'm done with review, all i'm going to talk about this point and forward is about the 25th Anniversary Rom hack and Mother 1+2, so its not necessary to stay, but if your the slightest interested, then join me for 1 more but small review.

(Music playing)

Now the Mother 25th Anniversary is just the original MOTHER game, but with enhanced Sprite work and the original Japanese translation. the game can look beautiful in some areas. I know some people have issues with the whole ''But it takes away the graphical design the original game was going for'' and i don't really care for that, i guess some people could be bothered by how Ninten and other NPC's look or how some of the enemy designs are a little Wacky, but i don't really mind it since i love how it looks and i think the whole Wacky enemies is goofy fun. Nothing has really Changed per say in the 25th anniversary (again unless you count the graphics and Japanese translation) except 2 things. 1, being the map, the original map in MOTHER was pretty useless in my opinion and i never really needed it, not to mention it didn't help much, but with the 25th anniversary....Just look at the detail.

(Source:www.romhacking.net/?page=hacks… )

I can guarantee it will help for 1st time players and you won't exactly feel so lost. Now the 2nd thing that was changed was the difficulty, it has the Easy patch on the rom, so the enemies worn't cream you, and while its a turn off for me, others might enjoy it, alongside with the other good things this Rom hack has to offer and you can check it out here www.romhacking.net/hacks/2211/ .

Now that i got the 25th Anniversary out of the way, lets talk about the Mother 1+2 game....oh boy.

Okay i'm gonna be honest, i don't like the Mother 1+2 version all that much, Now whats different about this version, is the fact that aside from being on a handheld and the screen looking a little smaller, the music isn't good, not bad, just not good and it can sound off.

Aside from the music not sounding good, the random encounter (in my opinion) has been raised plus 1, and i can tell ya its more frequent than in the original, and deciding not to use the run button, doesn't make the encounters much more easier. Sure the game has everything uncensored and the controls don't feel Wonky, but that really isn't enough for me to like it, this game also has an easy ring. The ring makes the random encounters and Money much more easier, but even then, when playing the game for what it really is, its just a bad port, Now for the Japanese this port of the game could be good for them since they only had the original FC MOTHER and in that game there were plenty of changes (like the map being an item and you could not run at all), and they didn't have the English version we had that was never released, but i digress, if you like this version of MOTHER, then go ahead and play it, its your taste at the end of the day that counts.

One final thing i wanna discuss before i end this review (and i'm going to Piss off plenty of people for this) i wanna talk about a certain video

Now its not necessary to hear this part, this is just my issues with this video (also if i do GAIN fans, please don't harass/WitchHunt this person), Lots of problems arise from this video and i'm going to go over them, and i do respect his opinions and choices, but i want to critic whats also WRONG with those choices and opinions, last chance to turn away and not hear this part....ya sure? alright here we go.

Know i'm going to make a few points to save some time and marking every single time frame of what i have a problem with, now the the points i'm gonna go over are rather small and not an essay so hopefully this won't be so painful.

1, I know this is a RETROSPECTIVE, but games take 2nd playthroughs and when you replay it, you get good at stuff like this and those problems on your first playthroughs aren't gonna come up the same as you had in your 2nd playthrough.

2, Yes you do have to talk to NPC's, what are exactly are you suppose to do then? just play the game without talking to them and figure it out on your own without the clues and hint? no wonder you had such trouble

3, Despite the flavor, its nots like NPC's are so boring you want barf out 8 bit pixels and play another game, not to mention its not the same 'medieval quest fighting in dungeons and dragons while saving princesses and the world' that some games at the time were replicating

4, Well i will give you that, but the game isn't about parodying other JRPG's at the time, its about a 10 year old boy going on an adventure to save the world from aliens

5,Yeah melody's are exactly forced, but queen Mary tells you of its importance so its not like its a side quest

6,...And what is that suppose to mean? of course any player who's played any RPG would check it (not to mention Ninten's sister even tells you to CHECK it)

7, Yes its true some players won't think to check the cactus, but in Magicant the dude with the guitar even tells you of its importance in case you missed it

8, Are the Melody's so hard to miss? What about the 1st.2nd,4th,6th,7th, and 8th? so that makes only 2 then that some might miss

9, Sounds like more flavor text? what does that even mean? Seriously the 1st is not hard to miss and the dude with the guitar even tells you when you reach a certain level

10,...Its a canary, it even says it in the text box...oops

11, You didn't think to check the plaque again? Seriously, anyone that's played an RPG should know this, even a first time player who's never played an RPG would get that

12, Oh come on, the 25th anniversary should have fixed the problems that ''infuriate you'' like level grinding and enemies

13, Well your not wrong, so i will give you that, the map design is big, but playing the game a few times, and you will know where to go and what areas are dead ends...except Duncan's factory and maybe the Mt.Itoi/Mt.Holy Loly cave, also since your looking at the 25th anniversary, the encounters really aren't high, i would understand if your playing the original, but the 25th anniversary are suppose to make things easier.

14, The difficulty balancing!? are you serious!? this is pretty easy compared to original which can kick you in head without mercy if you were not at a good enough level, this would be the least problems one could have.

15, Gee, a truck and a bear hit harder than a Bug and snake? who would have thought

16, you could have grinded a bit in Merrysville/Thanksgiving for extra cash or just use the onyx hook to return to magicant, it would have been annoying sure, but at least you save money

17, Ever used bread? it can help you when you want to return to an area you died in and didn't want to walk all the way there while encountering enemies

18, You used the internet to find out what you were supposed to do, so why didn't you use a map for the mountain

19, Is grinding THAT much of a problem in the 25th anniversary, i understand, but why not also use the PSI moves like PSI shield B or Pk Beam r?

20, Well your friend was HALF right, you do need to grind, but to at least a decent level (level 35) and it is true that Itoi was constricted with time so he couldn't balance the last enemies on the mountain, however its not like the enemies are unbeatable

21, No shoot atomic robo would blow up, just ignore him and run away or use PSI shield or defense up, would it not be easier to study your own enemies to avoid future kicks in groin?

22, Oh for the love of MOTHER, looking at the footage, i can see why you had such a problem ,your level is seriously low, and not to mention didn't you buy the boomerang, oh right, i forgot, that would mean going in circles for a few minutes for the next enemies

23, Are they seriously that rare? you can get them from Nancy's and Starmen not to mention in total there's like 5 in the overworld if you explore deep enough

24, I understand that teleporting can be hard, but come on this is just pathetic, there is so much spaces in other areas, like are you kidding me?

25, Are you 100% sure that MOTHER has zero redeeming qualities

26, Because this game isn't the same JRPG of times that had long stories of quest and adventure, it was a game that starred a 10 year old boy saving the earth

27, The game isn't so flawed its broken, not to mention this rom hack FIXES some of those issues in the original (i said some not all)

28, I understand its your opinion, but one of the worst you ever played!? This game is the least offensive, if you wanna play garbage, your looking at the wrong game

29, Again, are you SURE there wasn't anything good that came out of MOTHER?

30, A waste of time? isn't that like all video games, to waste time and enjoy yourself when you need to do something? not to mention, by EarthBound lore i would say there was no waste of time here since there was a lot of important detail here too

Well overall that was all my issues with this video, its his opinion and i understand, and i even respect it, but there's also plenty of flaws in that video and i just kept asking ''did he even play the same game?'' But whatever, now that that's over, thanks for reading my review of mother. If you are interested in more content like this please hit ''Follow'' button (basically its the subscribe button) and enjoy yourselves and have a good evening.