Why you should play Earthbound

(Many of my friends would shake their heads at such a blog topic, namely because they're already huge fans of Earthbound and know exactly why it is they should play it.  Those of you who know it, join my nostalgic trip.  Those who don't, either enjoy or bear with me.)

Back in 1995, Earthbound was released for the Super Nintendo to a relatively lukewarm response.  Personally, I'd been following the game for about a year before it came out and when I got it for Christmas, I was thrilled.  I popped the thing in (I was allowed to play for half an hour before bed, it was a school night after all) and here's what I saw:

Bear in mind that up until that point, most of the games I'd played (especially in the Role Playing genre) had been populated by blue-haired anime-inspired heroes with capes and swords and bad dialogue.  Your party generally consisted of Heroguy McSwordface, Loveinterest W. Curespells, Bigsilent Heartofgold, and Secretvillain Evilbutt.  Earthbound had...buses?  And the main character is just some kid?  What?  Whaaat?


So why should you play Earthbound anyway?  Why should you dig up an 18 year old game and dive in when there are so many successful contemporary titles?  On top of that, how the hell does Earthbound still find its way onto so many "Best Games of All Time" lists?  Well, let's take a gander...

Firstly, from the moment you begin the game, you become instantly immersed in its world.   In the initial moments of gameplay, you're tasked with providing names for everything from the main characters to your favorite food.  Most games at the time would allow you to name a single main character, or name other allies as they joined you.  The designers wanted you to have a familiarity with specific aspects of the game before the first screen even popped up.  This way, when you meet new characters, you feel as though you've almost met them before.  When your mom offers you some 'favorite food', there's an undeniable sense of home and familiarity.  Unless...I guess...your favorite food is 'POOP' or 'HUMAN'.  In fact, you're asked to name a 'Coolest Thing' (the default is 'Rockin', but you can write whatever you want) which later becomes one of your strongest spells.  It's as if you came up with it yourself OH WAIT YOU DID.  Before the game officially even starts, it goes out of its way to make the experience more personal, despite being relatively narrative-driven.  This is where Earthbound really shines.  The secret is in the little details that you don't even notice while you're playing.

Once the game begins in earnest, you start to see what makes this particular little title a gem.  At a time when developers were trying to squeeze as much graphical fidelity out of the 16 bit Super Nintendo (after all, 32 bit platforms like the Sega Saturn were on the rise) Earthbound came around with its endearing cartoon style that resembled a tongue-in-cheek version of the Peanuts gang.  On top of that, it takes place in modern day America....well...they call it 'Eagleland' so come on.  In fact, the writer and director of the game--Shigesato Itoi--is basically the Japanese David Sedaris, so seeing the country through the lens of a foreign humor columnist is brilliant. While it's contemporaries were pushing forward with aesthetics, granted with spectacular results, Earthbound ropes you in with pure and utter charm.  It's cute, funny, and pulls at your heartstrings.

Throughout the adventure, the ally characters are constantly reassuring you that you can do this, while every single enemy--from the first ten minutes of the game on--is telling you that you don't stand a chance.  I'll try not to spoil much, but one of the beauties of Earthbound is that you know your enemy from the first time you pick up the controller.  Giygas, a highly powerful transdimensional alien from the future, is ALWAYS TRYING TO KILL YOU.  The main characters can't go an hour without hearing mention of Giygas's influence and power.  This reiteration adds an incredible sense of presence, immediacy, and danger to every single thing you do.  It forces you to take a pause and wonder if your impossible goal is even more impossible than you think.  After all, you're a group of teenage kids equipped with baseball bats, pop guns, and frying pans.  Slowly but surely however, you begin to trust in your own abilities as your characters become stronger and the enemies become more ferocious.  This tightrope act continues right up until the last moments of the game.  Any task you accomplish feels like one part courage, one part skill, and three parts miraculous luck.


But how does the game PLAY?  Well considering that it's a top-down(ish) view role playing game, a lot of it is standard fare.  Go here, kill them, find this, etc.  The WAY the game accomplishes these things bears mention, though.  Games SIMILAR to Earthbound did not seem to put much thought into the bare-bones aspects of the genre.  Many companies took for granted the fact that, as gamers, we had come to expect certain things from these kinds of games.  You kill an enemy?  They drop cash.  The main character will fight with a sword, and the second character on your team will be a female love-interest with healing abilities.

Not even close.

The main character is the healer.  The second character on your team is the love-interest, yes...but she also has the most powerful offensive magic in the game. This makes the main character feel much more like a caretaker, the responsible leader that's letting the others down if they get hurt in battle.  And enemies dropping cash?  Nope.  They may drop items at the end of a fight, but you have to use in-game telephones to call your father (who never actually appears in game due to his work schedule.) Your father in turn deposits money into your bank account and you make withdrawals from in-game ATMs.

Play the game.  This hat will make sense.

Travel from place to place?  Most games at the time featured an overworld map screen to make travel simpler and to make the world feel less dauntingly huge.  Earthbound makes you take the bus.

Or walk.

Or...well...I won't spoil the rest.

On top of that, each area in the game is connected to the others.  You never see a map screen, so the world itself feels enormous.  You really feel like you're making the trip yourself...and that trip can be long and arduous, but the sense of accomplishment and wonder when you reach a wholly unfamiliar area is absolutely palpable.

When it comes time to go mano y mano with the enemy creatures (which, by the way are things like this) the battles themselves require precision, strategy, and an understanding of your allies' strengths and weaknesses.  In addition, if you look at the battle screens, you'll notice that the characters hit points are on what looks like a rolling ticker...and when they take damage, the ticker begins to quickly wind down.  That said, if you manage to finish to battle before the ticker hits zero, your character will live to fight another day.  That way, even when dealt a mortal blow, the battle doesn't end.  Instead you try to end the fight as fast as you can by pulling out your strongest attacks or healing yourself just in the nick of time.  Through the gameplay, Earthbound somehow captures the hectic nature of combat.

If you aren't sold on it by now, it might not be your thing.  If you're considering getting a hold of it, DO IT.  I highly recommend it for your gaming education.

Earthbound Bullet Points!

• Healing potions?  Not in THIS game.  You heal yourself by eating hamburgers and pizza.
• 4th wall?  What 4th wall?  Earthbound is cavalier and playful with the fact that you're holding a controller in your hand.
• Endearing character round-up: a gum-chewing monkey that helps you tame a loch-ness monster, your loving sister who gets a part-time job storing and retrieving items you have no room for, a race of foot-high creatures who say 'BOING!' all the time, a man who designs dungeons for a living, a gang leader with a switchblade and a heart of gold, a brave bumble bee ally who serves as your first mentor and can kick the living crap out of aliens, a jazz quintet who--despite their best efforts--is always under the thumb of greedy promoters, a poor scruffy smelly inventor who turns out to be an incredible resource, and so on and so on.
• The final boss of the game is arguably one of the most terrifying opponents in the history of gaming.  I won't say exactly why...but trust me on this.  Giygas is frequently listed as the scariest boss ever created.

That's all for now.  Thanks for taking the time to join my nostalgia trip.  Seriously give this game a go.  You won't be disappointed.

Love love nerd love,
Dak