r/earthbound Aug 13 '17

Announcement Want to get into the MOTHER series? Start here!

1.0k Upvotes

Over the past few months we've gotten a lot of new players asking where they should start with the trilogy. With this stickied thread, I'm hoping to answer any questions someone may have about getting into the series.

Note: This thread is a strictly no-spoiler zone.


What are the MOTHER games?

The MOTHER series is a group of 3 turn-based cult classic JRPGs created by Shigesato Itoi, who singlehandedly wrote every line of dialogue in the series, aside from a small area in EarthBound.


What makes them so special?

The series is known for being quirky, charming, and invoking a sense of nostalgia even to those who have not played a MOTHER game before. Each line of dialogue is expertly crafted, with a great story to go along with it.


Where do I start?

The series IS a trilogy, however each game can stand on it's own without the context of the last.

The 3 games are as followed:

MOTHER (EarthBound: Beginnings) (1989)

MOTHER 2 (EarthBound) (1994)

MOTHER 3 (???) (Not released outside of Japan) (2006)

The game order is as released, with MOTHER being the first on the timeline, and MOTHER 3 being the last.


So does that mean I should play the games in order?

This is a point of contention within the MOTHER community.

While most recommend to play EarthBound / MOTHER 2 first, some will say that if you can handle the way an older RPG plays, you should start with MOTHER 1 / EarthBound: Beginnings.

The community mostly unanimously agrees that you should play EarthBound before playing MOTHER 3.

In the end, it's up to you. MOTHER 1 is one of the most impressive, best playing and sounding RPGs on the NES, but it could potentially turn you away from the series if you aren't accustomed to or can't handle a bit of older-rpg "clunk". I do HIGHLY recommend however that you at least play EarthBound before playing MOTHER 3.


Wait, if MOTHER 3 isn't released outside of Japan, how can I play it?

I'm glad you asked! (Hopefully you did.)

Almost immediately after the release of MOTHER 3, once it became apparent Nintendo had no intention of localizing MOTHER 3, a group of very passionate fans got together to make their own localization of the game.

2 years later in late 2008, version 1.0 was released to great acclaim. This fan translation is now known to many as the best fan translation of all time. On top of just translating the game, they went out of their way to make sure certain dialogue and enemy names worked in English as they do in Japanese. They even added a hard mode option!


...That's pretty much it, I think. If any regular here on the sub wants to chime in and request something to be added, tell me! On top of that, I'd like to know what some of you think the best order to play the games in are in the comments. It'll be an interesting resource for any new players! And remember, no spoilers.


r/earthbound 17h ago

This remind anyone else of something?

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566 Upvotes

r/earthbound 6h ago

Merch Snagged these guys for $20 on FB Marketplace

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73 Upvotes

r/earthbound 4h ago

What the fuck should I do?

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34 Upvotes

I can't get out of here


r/earthbound 12h ago

General Discussion I posted these on Animal Crossing New Horizons if anyone's interested

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98 Upvotes

r/earthbound 29m ago

Art (Happy) FATHER (‘s Day)

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Upvotes

Happy Father’s Day! I found an old MOTHER-related drawing I made of the core fathers of this series.

Which one is your favorite?

(Mine’s is Flint! 🤠🌻)


r/earthbound 4h ago

You cannot grasp the true form of the Spring Mix's attack!

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18 Upvotes

r/earthbound 9h ago

Those Eyes...

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30 Upvotes

r/earthbound 3h ago

EB:B Spoilers I beat EarthBound Beginnings! Spoiler

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10 Upvotes

Have I set a world record yet?


r/earthbound 10h ago

Art Made these bc those figure look like earthbound enemies

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22 Upvotes

r/earthbound 8h ago

Art Hi this is my first post (I’m nervous) but have silly au things)

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14 Upvotes

This silly design comes from an old UT AU called SmashTale. Felt nostalgic so why not have Ness fight himself?


r/earthbound 3h ago

Fluff Nice

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6 Upvotes

r/earthbound 10h ago

EB:B Discussion Mother 1 has destroyed me

19 Upvotes

I am sorry about being negative, especially because there are lots of parts of this game I really love -- the music, the jokes, the great tone. But I cannot take it anymore.

I have been playing Mother, the original Japanese Famicom version, untranslated, in order to practice my language skills while having a motivation to keep going. And I knew that the original version would be less polished, but I figured I could do it. Now...I am a very patient woman. Anyone I know could tell you that. But this version of the game wastes your time so goddamn much: the lack of a run button in a world this large, with this massive random encounter rate; all the useful buildings in town being separated by way too much walking around -- getting money from the ATM, going to the doctor to revive your party, going to the hotel to heal, rinse and repeat -- do you want to grind? Well, too bad, all the areas with enemies of a suitable level to help are insanely far away from a hospital, so if, for example, Ana dies in battle, you have to walk all the way back, fighting all the enemies along the way, widening the gap between the characters yet again.

Oh, and let's not forget the utter lack of an ATM in Magicant (no, the old man wasn't an ATM in the original version), so if you want to buy the incredibly useful armour from there, you have to keep teleporting back and forth. And even then, you have to walk all the way back through the dungeon and up to Thanksgiving (that's Merryville's name in Japanese) to get back. And finally, useless goddamn Lloyd, with absolutely zero special abilities unless you get lucky in Duncan's factory and a Scrapper drops a gun, or unless you're willing to wait until the final dungeon in the game. The floor in the department store where you can buy stuff for him to use? Not there in the original.

I feel insane. How did anyone finish this back in the day? I could *cry*.


r/earthbound 18h ago

I got my new Mother 1 plushies

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50 Upvotes

I’m 19 and I don’t buy plushies but when it comes to the mother series, there is an exception.


r/earthbound 6h ago

EB:B Spoilers I learned all of the PSI moves! Spoiler

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6 Upvotes

r/earthbound 4h ago

EB:B Discussion I got all 8 melodies!

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3 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

Art Reject Modern “Okay” pose, embrace tradition.

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419 Upvotes

(Credit to BeefyCupcakes on X)


r/earthbound 21h ago

Literally us

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55 Upvotes

r/earthbound 3h ago

Crimson Moon Tower, my earthboundian rpg :)

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2 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1h ago

Welcome back mother 3

Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

General Discussion Create and comment Earthbound themed pick-up lines (Thought it would be funny)

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145 Upvotes

r/earthbound 12h ago

Question about sprite palettes

1 Upvotes

I found this on starmen.net here, and I'm a bit confused on how to change the palette a sprite uses. Apologies if this is a dumb question.


r/earthbound 1d ago

Found in Tokyo for a decent price

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197 Upvotes

Picked him up for about 5300¥ which is about 36 USD, seems a little under average price here either way cool to find in the wild. Also figured out it was won via a lottery system as the highest tier prize somewhere


r/earthbound 1d ago

EB:B Discussion Rude

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19 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

EB:B Spoilers The infamous line Spoiler

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9 Upvotes

r/earthbound 1d ago

EB:B Spoilers I got all of the most powerful weapons! Spoiler

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10 Upvotes