MOTHER 2 - GĪGU NO GYAKUSHŪ ( Earth Bound - The War Against Giygas ! ) マザー2 ギーグの逆襲 ©1994 Nintendo Release: 1994-08-27 (¥9800) Cartridge SHVC-MB Role Playing Game Released in America as EARTHBOUND ( SNS-MB-USA ) Mother 2, aka Earthbound, is a role playing game by Nintendo and sequel of Mother originally released in Japan for the Famicom system. In the years 199X, a weird meteor crashes in the hills behind Ness's Home in the middle of the night. The young boy, always eager for adventure, sneaks out that night and goes off to investigate the situation. Later on, helped by his neighbor Pokey, he meets Buzz-Buzz on the crash site - this talking bee from the future reveals him that the evil Gīgu (aka Giygas) is planning to take over the world. A prophecy predicted that three boys and a girls will stop Gīgu's terrific plans and he knows that Ness, with his psychic powers (called PSI in the game), is one of them... The boy and his friends embark on a journey to save the world and find the eight sanctuaries to reunite the power of the Earth and defeat Gīgu. The game follows the same rules laid down by other role playing games of the time - it is however an unique mix of titles such as Final Fantasy and Zelda. The world map is always at the same scale and enemies freely wonder around it - no random battles. However, fights are turn-based and follow a more traditional approach with a brilliant twist - the game automatically skips fights against weak enemies (they may even run away from the player !). Characters have their own set of skills, special abilities and they all complete one another. Ness is the strongest and defends himself with a baseball bat, Jeff is the geek of the group and can repair anything, Paula has super-psy abilities and Poo seems to be good at anything, thanks to his Mu training. Interestingly, the game's progress can be saved by calling Ness's dad on the phone. Related none The first Mother (picture on the left) was released for the Famicom system in 1989. The game features a young boy traveling the world and fighting a race of mind-controlling aliens. It was created by the Japanese writer and essayist Shigesato Itoi. Mother was sadly never released outside of Japan - an American version was initially planned but never made it to the shelves. A copy of the game was however released to the public in 1998 and called Earthbound Zero. Mother 2 was then released in Japan in 1994. The American version was released a year later and went by the name EarthBound. In 2003, Nintendo released in Japan Mother 1+2 which combined the first two games packed into one cartridge for the Game Boy Advance. The game was probably to promote the third opus, called Mother 3, released in 2006 for the Game Boy Advance. Both cartridges are currently only available in Japan. The voice that says "Ok desu ka" ("Ok isn't it ?") when the players enters his name is supposed to be Shigesato Itoi, creator of the game. Teaser text from the American version: GIYGAS INVASION!!! BIZARRE ALIENS ROAM THE EARTH!!! Intergalactic terror strikes the small town of Onett as a blazing extraterrestrial object crashes in the night! The earth now faces imminent destruction by the universal evil threat known as Giygas! Armed with a cracked baseball bat, a cookie and an ATM card, a courageous boy named Ness vows to save the planet from hideous destruction. He must first find his heroic companions, Paula, Jeff and Poo. Will Ness succeed in his attempts to ambush countless frightening monsters as he travels ? The ultimate test lies in the impending encounter with the all powerful Giygas!! Game Staff (Copied from the American version end credits) : STAFF Produced and Directed By Shigesato Itoi Written By Shigesato Itoi Music By Keiichi Suzuki Hirokazy Tanaka Game Designer Akihiki Miura Art Director Kouichi Ooyama Sound Director Hirokazu Tanaka Program Director Satoru Iwata U.S. Conversion Director Kouji Malta Translation Directors Marcus Lindblom Masayuki Miura Programmers Satoru Iwata Satoshi Mitsuhara Yoshimi Takahashi Seiji Otoguro Bou Nakajima Seika Abe Yoshiki Suzuki Jun Yamazaki Toshiyuki Ueno Takashi Sasaki Takashi Sakuma Kazuo Sato Kouji Malta Sound Programmer Hirokazu Tanaka System Engineering Makoto Kanai Takashi Sakuma Graphic Artists Kouichi Ooyama Hiroyuki Sakiyama Kouichi Yamada Makio Kataoka Tetsuya Notoya Yasunori Yanagisawa Special Effects Artist Tsunekaz Ishihara Font Designers Akihiko Miura Kouichi Ooyama Concept Of Saturn Font By Shigesato Itoi Graphics Data Manager Yasunori Yanagisawa Message Data Managers Masayuki Miura Hitoshi Matsui Additional Music Composed By Hiroshi Kanazu Toshiyuki Ueno Sound Staff Toshiyuki Ueno Kozue Ishikawa Assistant Programmers Ikuho Hagiya Katsuyoshi Irie Assistant Game Designers Kouichi Ooyama Takehiko Masuda Chiaki Yoshizawa Masayuki Miura Akihito Toda Hitoshi Marsui Katsuyoshi Irie Assistant Scenario Writers Masayuki Miura Akihito Toda Hiroyuki Jinnai English text Writers Marcus Lindblom Dan Owsen Translators Keiko Tamura Yuka Nakata Chief Debuggers Takumi Akabane Hitoshi Matsui Noa Debug Coordinators Sean O'Connor Michael Kelbaugh Ape Debugging Team Takahiro Nagai Junichi Akama Akira Matsumoto Nintendo Debug Coordinators Tohru Mashimoto Tatsuya Hishida Nintendo Debugging Team Kazuhude Ohgoe Atsushi Miyake Hajime Nakamura Mao Hamamoto Mayumi Tada Makoto Kedouin Kimiko Tsuchida Sayaka Komura Map Checkers Mapper Kojima Katsuyoshi Irie Sampling Voices Shigesato Ok? Itoi Yukari Whistle Saito Hirokazu Belch Koyano Etsuko Venus Kawano Takashi Mu Watanabe Opening Rock Guitar M.D. Seeger Hardware Support Hironobu Kakui Shigeki Yamashiro Production Managers Takashi Kawaguchi Keizo Kato Ikuo Hyakuta Yukari Saito Coordinators Takashi Watanabe Ryo Kagawa Hiroyuki Jinnai Etsuko Kawano Kazuyuki Yamamoto Atsuko Kawahara Sound Producers Akio Ohmori Ritsuo Kamimura Special thanks To Kenji Ando Miyuki Kure Takayuki Onodera Fukashi Omorita Yukio Takahashi Kazuhiko Amemiya Yasuhiro Kumagai Yoshio Hongo Naoko Kanazawa Benimaru Itoh Motohiro Ishii Hirokazu Koyano Masao Tottori Nobuyasu Makino Hiromi Tamagawa Nancy Yoshitake And Many Others The Producers Wish To Thank Ishel Artvision Moonriders Office Sedic Inc. Seta Co,m Ltd. Lucky Nice Okubo Design Studio On Associates Sai Koubou Ashura Office Shogakukan Shincho Sha Chief Coordinator Marcus Lindblom Line Producer Tsunekaz Ishihara Coproducer Satoru Iwata Noa Producer Mike Fukuda Supervisor Shigeru Miyamoto Executive Producers Hiroshi Yamauchi Minoru Arakawa Presented By Nintendo In Association With Ape Inc. and Hal Laboratory,Inc. and... Player VGDen G O O D I E S Japanese guide book Japanese book Japanese store ad Japanese Book Japanese manga Japanese manga Japanese book Japanese story Book Japanese comic Japanese game book Japanese book Japanese comic American guide book Japanese Soundtrack O M A K E Click on picture to enlarge S E C R E T S LK Add your Pov here ! P O V s Mother 2 is outstanding. It's a gem of its own that doesn't compare to any other game out there. And, I must say, the American version was perfectly translated and keeps all the inside jokes, parodies and weird references the original had. The game in itself is not groundbreaking - unlike many of its peers, the game didn't go for a striking visual aesthetic. Graphics are correct but nothing spectacular and the control system is simple but cumbersome in places. Nonetheless, one of the greatest achievement is certainly the sound effects and the music soundtrack - the game's opening with the weak sound of police sirens in the background is priceless. But the part where Mother 2 shines the most is definitely its witty dialog, funny storyline, strange monsters and inhabitants. The game is packed with useless information and hilarious situations with innovative ideas sprinkled throughout. Mother 2 is a game we either love or hate (especially for its dated interface and overall design), but in my opinion it's a gem not to be missed. The American version is sadly hard to find and can be quite pricey...

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