Well, this is my first article. You may have seen my name on the message boards before, even read some of my messages. Before I begin on Earthbound, let me say a little bit about how I came to find the game (if this seems boring, skip to the good stuff below). Several years ago, I was faced with a choice. I was standing in Wal-Mart, trying to decide what new SNES game I should get. I had planned on getting Illusions of Gaia, but then I saw this strange looking box for a game named Earthbound. Why did I pick it, a game I had never heard of, over a game I had read of and planned on getting? It came packed with a strategy guide! I flipped through a copy sitting on a desk, and it seemed like an interesting game, so I chose it. I brought it home and played it. Years later, after having played such great games as Super Mario RPG, Mario 64, Zelda 64, and others, I still consider it the greatest game of all time, with the best pieces of music ever created.

This leads me to my article. I am going to simply cover the reasons of Earthbound's Greatness. First, my favorite part, the music. From the calm music of Summers to the exciting music of the Hippie to the elegant music of Fourside to the incredibly powerful music of the Sound Stone, the music of the game have been my favorites. I listen to it very often, and have even created a piece of music tying together Earthbound, Earthbound Zero, and other pieces of music together in my grand masterpiece.

However, the music is not the only great thing behind the game. The story was incredible. A thirteen year-old boy goes off and saves the world, not using strange items like The Mystic Sword of Great Power or The Magic Shield of Somebody, but baseball bats, frying pans, bracelets, and pendants. The other items are interesting too. To recover your health, how does a Hamburger sound? Pizza? Royal Iced Tea? Kraken Soup? Maybe not the last one. Still, the items are interesting, as is the storyline. Four teenagers unite to defeat a universal threat that is like nothing from any other game. And where in any other game can you fight tiny ants and huge yellow heads within the same game?

While certaintly not surpassing at the time, the graphics also are some of the finest I have ever seen. The spell graphics are very nice, and the enemies look very well done also. Perhaps my favorites are the Starmen and the Mani Mani statue.