The game surpassed the hype. Breaking the traditional mold of its RPG ancestors, EarthBound introduced (and even today continues to introduce) RPG fans to an entirely different experience. The setting is modern, and it shows in every facet of the game. No dragons, no mystical knights, no staff-wielding wizards. Just a normal, 13-year-old kid... who has a comet land in his backyard. Who is then attacked by creatures from 10 years in the future. Who realizes he has psychokinetic powers. Whose main defense against the onslaught of attacks from alien-possessed creatures and humans is a cracked bat, a lucky charm, and an old baseball cap. Just a normal kid.

That's only the beginning of the game. From there things get even weirder. ATM Machines. Crooked politicians. Delivery Pizza. Baseball bats, frying pans, laser guns, and ancient ninja skills. Talking monkeys. Possessed road signs. Submarines. Time travel. Jazz concerts. Cults. Alien megalomaniacs bent on the ultimate destruction of the Earth. And one thing that every other RPG seems to lack - bathrooms.

So if all this is true, why don't all your gaming friends play EarthBound? Why don't major gaming websites refer to it as one of the greatest RPGs of all time? There are a few reasons. The main one was the lack of economic success. Nintendo hoped to turn EarthBound into an American cash cow. EarthBound disappointed them with low sales. The low sales may have been due to the fact that EarthBound didn't use flashy or high-tech graphics. Instead of pouring all the resources of the cartridge and SNES into graphics, the designers focused on making a FUN game. This turned off many gamers, who were looking for little more than eye candy. Even today the simple graphics serve as a stumbling block, turning away potential gamers. Those who actually play the game understand that graphics mean nothing with gameplay and storyline as amazing and funny as EarthBound's. In lieu of mass-recognition and insane sales figures, EarthBound gained its own niche of gaming fans. Starmen.Net has evolved into a sort of online shrine for EarthBound, and a gathering place for all those who love the game, and look forward to the sequel.

Maybe this gives you an idea of EarthBound, but whatever idea you've taken from this description is nothing compared to experiencing the game for yourself.

November 22, 2004

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