With EarthBound celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year in 2024, and Hobonichi releasing not only a bunch of new merchandise for all three MOTHER games, but also a museum exhibition called “The Secrets of MOTHER 2” in Japan, I thought it would be good to talk about my memories with the series!
Ever since I played Super Smash Bros. Brawl around 2010, I’ve known about Ness, Lucas, and the general “world of MOTHER” for a very long time! I always found the characters to be a mix of cool and silly, like many other Nintendo characters, Ness especially felt like a cross between a Pokemon character and a Kirby character, despite his series predating both! I knew they were from a series, but not what series specifically, as back on the Wii, the MOTHER games were never released on the Virtual Console, and I had little access to the internet in those days, so the origins of those characters remained a mystery to me for a good while afterwards.
That was, until around 2013 or so, when I learned about the SNES EarthBound/MOTHER 2, through various YouTube videos discussing Nintendo games that needed sequels, and Nintendo games that had huge cult followings, around this time I also learned about Starfy, Famicom Detective Club, and other less known Nintendo franchises.
Then, when EarthBound released on the Wii U virtual console the next year, I finally got to experience the game, but I wasn’t very good at it, and I only finished the game when it was included on the SNES Classic Edition 4 years later.
Around the same time in 2014, I learned about MOTHER 3, and the fans who desperately wanted it to come to the west. The more I learned about the game, the more I understood their plight, and how frustrating it was to be consistently ignored or at times mocked by Nintendo in the Wii U era.
When I modded my Wii in 2018, I finally got the chance to play both the original NES EarthBound Beginnings, and MOTHER 3’s english fan translation via emulation, and I fell in love with the series all over again. The amount of raw emotion, humor, and humility found across all three games, be it the hope of MOTHER 1, the absurdity of EarthBound, or the tragedy of MOTHER 3, all the games stick out in my mind as some of the most impactful and emotional games I’ve ever played.
But that’s just my opinion! What do you guys think of the Mother series? Do you guys love Nintendo games with heart-breaking stories and silly moments?
Tell me down below, and say Fuzzy Pickles!
