Mother (game series)

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Mother is a computer role-playing game series from the video game company Nintendo . The series was created by Shigesato Itoi and includes the three titles EarthBound Beginnings , EarthBound and Mother 3 . The games were published in Japan and partially in the USA for the platforms Nintendo Entertainment System , Super Nintendo and Game Boy Advance .

The games are RPGs with turn-based combat. The series later had a great influence on the Pokémon games, as many developers of the Mother series later worked on Pokémon.

The protagonists of the series are psychokinetically gifted boys from small towns who, together with their friends, fight against villains who want to usurp world domination. Despite the success of the series, only the most successful part, Mother 2 , has been released outside of Japan under the name EarthBound . This was the only part of the series that appeared in Europe in 2013. Nevertheless, the games are known there as well, as various elements of Mother are in the " Super Smash Bros. “Series were inserted.

Mother / EarthBound Beginnings

EarthBound Beginnings
Studio	Ape, Inc. Pax Softnica Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products
Publisher	Nintendo
Erstveröffent- lichung	Famicom July 27, 1989 Wii U Virtual Console June 14, 2015
platform	Famicom , Wii U Virtual Console
genre	role playing game
Subject	Science fiction , humor
Game mode	Single player
control	Famicom controller
medium	Famicom module
Age rating	USK PEGI

The game was originally planned for a US release under the name Earth Bound . In September 1991 soundtrack CDs were already being pressed and game advisors were being printed. But since role-playing games were only selling moderately at that time and the Super Nintendo was in the starting blocks by then, the game did not appear. A prototype of an almost completely translated version was sold on eBay for around $ 5,000 around 2004 and was published a little later as ROM on the Internet under the names Earth Bound and EarthBound Zero .

An official western release took place on June 15, 2015 under the title EarthBound Beginnings for the virtual console of the Wii U.

history

The game begins around 1900. A young, newly married couple (George and Maria) disappear without leaving a clue. Two years later, George reappears for strange studies. Maria, however, was never seen again.

In 1980, in the fictional small town of Podunk, an American boy - who is nameless, but is designated by Nintendo with the placeholder Ninten ( ニ ン テ ン ) - witnesses a paranormal phenomenon. All items, u. a. Lamps attack him and his sisters. After successfully defending himself against the attacks and the spectacle is over, the phone rings during a discussion. It is Nintens father who tells him that his great-grandfather did strange research (PSI) and that a poltergeist was probably responsible for the event. PSI is also the source of Ninten's psychological gifts. When Ninten finds his grandfather's diary and his father explains the situation to him - the world is being attacked by aliens and only Ninten can prevent this - he is teleported to Queen Mary in Magicant. She asks him to find the 8 melodies and play them for them. Back in Podunk, Ninten is on his way. A little later, Ninten meets Lloyd, a boy who is bullied at school, and together they go to the town of Snowman. Ana is waiting for her there, who tells Ninten that she had already seen him in a dream and also joins the group in the hope of finding her missing mother.

After finding most of the melodies, the group is attacked on their journey in a karaoke bar by Teddy, the leader of a local gang. After losing to Ninten, Teddy joins the group to avenge his parents, who were killed on Holy Loly Mountain. Lloyd stays behind. Just before they reach Holy Loly Mountain, Ana takes Ninten aside and asks him to stay with her. When Ana Ninten confesses her love and the two dance together, they are attacked by a robot and have no chance. At the last moment, Lloyd appears with a tank, destroys the robot and accidentally meets Teddy, who is unable to travel any further and is replaced by Lloyd (in the Japanese game, Teddy is fatally wounded).

When they are crossing Holy Loly Lake in a boat, they are pulled through a whirlpool underwater and end up in a laboratory. There they meet a robot that pretends to have been built by George to protect Ninten. The laboratory is flooded and Ninten and his friends continue on their way. Eve, the robot, accompanies the children and helps them fight. Shortly afterwards, the group is attacked by another robot. In this fight Eve sacrifices himself and Ninten learns a melody. Shortly afterwards, the children come across a tombstone on the top of the mountain. It is the tombstone of George, whose soul speaks to Ninten and teaches him the final tune. The children are then teleported back to Magicant and Ninten plays the 8 melodies to Queen Mary on his ocarina.

This reveals that she is actually Maria, George's wife, and she sang this melody to an alien named Giygas (in other translations Giegue (also called Gyiyg in Japanese)). She raised this alien like her own child after she and George were kidnapped. While George devoted himself to the studies of PSI without permission and escaped to Earth, Maria stayed behind. The escape of George was viewed by Giygas as treason and therefore wanted revenge on humanity. Since Magicant is only a mirage of their memories, Magicant disappears shortly after the unveiling and the group is teleported back to George's tombstone. Behind this is a cave that was previously closed, but is now open. There our heroes find a room full of trapped people. Among these are the parents of the children from Youngtown (a town in the game where only children live since their parents have disappeared) and Ana's missing mother. To free them, the aliens' mother ship must be destroyed. Shortly afterwards, Ninten, Ana and Lloyd meet said mother ship in which Giygas is. Giygas explains that while he is very grateful that Nintens great-grandparents raised him, the information George was studying could be used to deceive Giygas' race. He blames Ninten for the fact that the aliens' plans have been thwarted and offers Ninten to spare them if he joins him. Since the attempt to get Ninten on his side fails, Giygas tries to wipe out the group. By singing all eight melodies in full, Giygas is overwhelmed by his emotions and flees with the spaceship just before he vows to come back (see Earthbound ). Ninten, Ana and Lloyd look towards the camera, and the game ends. In the English prototype (or EarthBound Beginnings) and in Mother 1 + 2 it is shown what happens to the main characters. Among other things, Ana meets her mother again, her parents return to Youngtown, Ana receives a letter from Ninten and Lloyd is now viewed as a hero. Ninten returns home and goes to sleep. Then there is a cast and the credits. After the credits you see a man, probably Nintens father, who indicates that something new has come up.

Game world

Mother 1 is set in an America of the 80s, with fictional locations such as Mother's Day ( マ ザ ー ズ デ イ , Mazāzu Dei ) and fantasy or science fiction elements such as dragons, UFOs, zombies, robots and PSI forces. The game begins in the house of Ninten near Mother's Day and ends with the final battle on the summit of Holy Loly Mountain ( ホ ー リ ー ロ ー リ ー マ ウ ン テ ン , Hōrī Rōrī Maunten ).

Gameplay

You steer Ninten with the control pad, the other team members follow him. If you press B while running, you run. However, this is only possible in the English prototype and in Mother 1 and 2. Pressing A opens a menu where you can talk to people, interact with different things, use PSI powers, view the status and use items. Each of the characters has HP, PP and EXP as well as other values ​​that are required in combat (see below): The HP (hitpoints) show how wounded the character is: the less HP he / she has, the sooner he / she should be healed with an object or PSI. If the HP of a character drops to zero, the character is defeated and is incapable of fighting until he / she is brought to a hospital or healed with a certain action. In hotels and other specific places you can recharge all HP of all characters (as long as they are not defeated). The PP (Psychic Points) show how often you can still access PSI powers. Each PSI power consumes a certain number of PP when used. If a character does not have enough PP left for a PSI power, he can no longer use this until he refills his PP with an object or at certain locations in the game (e.g. in a hotel). The EXP (Experience) shows when a character reaches his next level up (see below). EXP is gained by defeating opponents. How much EXP you get from an opponent depends in most cases on how strong an opponent is (the stronger the opponent, the more EXP). The number of EXP required for a level up increases with each level up. So you can z. B. At the end of the game, you can hardly level up with opponents from the beginning of the game. The EXP of the opponents is divided among all characters. If a character is defeated, he receives no EXP until he is healed again. When a character reaches a level up, his stats increase (i.e. HP, PP, attack power, defense, speed, etc.). How high a character's level is is represented by a number. Every character starts at level 1. With every level up this number increases by 1. Fights: If you are walking around in certain places, it can happen that you are attacked by an opponent. Now a battle screen opens and the player has various actions available. He can attack normally (the damage that is caused depends on the character's attack value. This can be increased manually by equipping weapons), looking at the enemy (this allows you to see the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy), defending himself (This means you suffer less damage from enemy attacks. Otherwise, the damage taken depends on the opponent's attack power and your own defense (the other way around with your own attacks). The defense value can also be increased by equipping certain items), use PSI powers ( With these you can heal yourself, temporarily raise or lower your opponent's status values, attack and much more. Only Ninten and Ana can use PSI powers. They learn these when they have reached a certain level and then win a random fight or flee from one ), flee (the higher the speed value, the more likely it is to escape from the enemy), use objects (these can be used by the Damage opponents, increase or charge one's own values ​​or do other things. Objects can be bought in shops or found on the way in the form of gifts), set to "auto" (this means that all characters fight the fight alone and you no longer have control over the actions of the characters. You can use this function turn it off again by pressing B) and sing (this is only possible as soon as Ninten has found all 8 melodies and is only necessary in the fight against Gyiyg). After an action has been selected for each, these are carried out automatically. Any opponent can also take an action. The order in which the characters take their actions depends on the speed value. Example: If an opponent has the highest speed value, he may act first. This is followed by Ninten because it has the second highest speed value, etc. The aim of a fight is to bring the HP of each opponent to zero. If every character in your team is defeated, you lose the fight and are teleported to the last phone (see below) or memory point. However, the progress is not deleted, you are only in the place where you last saved, with the difference that Nintens team members are defeated and he himself no longer has PP. You save by calling Ninten's father on a telephone. If you now switch off the console, you can continue from there at any time. Even after a game over, you will be teleported back to the phone you last used or to a specific location in the game.

Mother 2 / EarthBound

EarthBound
Original title	MOTHER2 ギ ー グ の 逆襲
transcription	Mother 2: Gīgu no Gyakushū
Studio	Ape Pax Softnica HAL Laboratory
Publisher	Nintendo
Erstveröffent- lichung	Super Nintendo August 27, 1994 June 1, 1995 Wii U Virtual Console April 27, 2013 July 18, 2013 New 3DS Virtual Console March 4, 2016 March 24, 2016
platform	Super Nintendo , Virtual Console
genre	role playing game
Subject	Science fiction , humor
Game mode	Single player
control	SNES controller
medium	SNES module
Age rating	USK PEGI
PEGI content rating

history

The story begins near the fictional small town Onett ( オ ネ ッ ト , Onetto ) in the 1990s. The young main character Ness ( ネ ス , Nesu ) is asleep when a meteorite hits the mountain near his house and the local police cordon off the area.

Porky Minch ( ポ ー キ ー ・ ミ ン チ , Pōkī Minchi ; Pokey Minch in EarthBound), the pesky neighbor boy, asks Ness to find his missing brother Picky ( ピ ッ キ ー , Pikkī ), who was determined to investigate the meteor. As part of this search, the two meet a bee-like being called Bunbūn ( ブ ン ブ ー ン ; Buzz Buzz in EarthBound) who comes with the meteorite from the future and identifies Ness as the chosen one to stop an alien invader Giygas (Giegue, Gyiyg, ギ ー グ , Gīgu ) before Buzz Buzz is killed by Porky's mother (she thought he was a stink bug). Porky has little interest in being part of the prophecy and stays home. Ness is supposed to visit eight special sanctuaries on his journey in order to record the melodies there with his previously received "Sound Stone". Ness is also warned that Giyga's influence could negatively affect animals and humans.

In Onett itself, after an argument with a gang of thugs, the Sharks, and their leader Frank, Ness gains access to the cave of the Giant Step, an oversized footprint on a plateau. After defeating a giant ant, Ness receives the first melody. When leaving the area, he is intercepted by the police and asked to go to the local guard. A victorious argument with the police chief brings Ness permission to leave Onett for Twoson. During a stop at preschool, Ness learns that Paula, the PSI-gifted daughter of the leading couple, has been kidnapped. While visiting the public park and fighting the strange Everdred, Ness learns where Paula is being held: in the middle of the Peaceful Rest Valley. After Ness goes there, he learns that a certain "happy-happy cult", led by Mr. Carpainter, has kidnapped Paula and wants to color the world blue with her help. Ness frees Paula and converts Mr. Carpainter, who had been brainwashed by a statue and dissolves the happy-happy cult.

Ness and Paula help a band, the Runaway Five, get rid of their debts. They thank them by driving Ness and Paula to the next town, Threed. Once there, it turns out that the city is haunted by zombies. Said zombies kidnap Ness and Paula and lock them up. Paula calls Jeff with her telephatic powers and asks him to free the two of them. With the Skyrunner, an invention of his father, the inventor Dr. Andonuts, he gets to Threed and frees them. After that, the trio stop the zombies and move on.

After the march through the desert the group arrives at Fourside, a big city. After helping the Runaway Five out of a gag deal, she visits the local department store when the power goes out and Paula is kidnapped again. On the top floor, Ness and Jeff meet an alien who was sent to stop Ness. Since Paula is not in the department store, they leave the department store and meet Everdred, lying on the street, who claims that Mr. Monotoli stole an evil statue (Mani-Mani statue) from him (which he himself had previously stolen) and is hiding in the café next door. While exploring the café, the group ends up in Moonside, a fluorescent place where the opposite of what is meant is always said. After finding and destroying the Mani-Mani statue, Ness & Co. land in a room in the department store. You make your way through the Monotoli skyscraper and after a fight against a robot that is deactivated by the Runaway Five, you can face Mr. Monotoli. He tells them about the voices he received through the Mani-Mani statue and a place called Summers. However, the helicopter offered for this trip is stolen by Porky. Paula, who was with Mr. Monotoli, joins the group. In Threed, the Skyrunner that Jeff had previously destroyed was repaired and the group flies back to Winters to Dr. Andonuts. He builds them an "improved" version of the Skyrunners, with which the party arrives in Summers.

Meanwhile, in a distant kingdom, Prince Poo is able to teleport himself through meditation and shortly afterwards joins the group because it is his fate. Little by little, Ness collects more melodies and ends up in Tenda Village after a long journey. The residents are very shy, and an effective book to put aside their shyness is on loan to one of the geniuses (Apple Kid) from Twoson. A chain of tricky circumstances finally leaves the group at Stonehenge near Dr. Whip andonuts. Under this is a huge alien facility, where Ness' group after an exhausting fight and the like. a. Apple Kid, Dr. Andonuts and Tony can free. You hand the book over to the tendas, who are no longer shy and can open the way.

The further path leads the 4 into the lost underworld, which is so huge that the group is only represented in a tiny way. In the only village, the player learns about the Fire Springs, which are home to the last melody. There is also the opportunity to visit the “Cave of the Past”, which will be important later. At the end of the Fire Springs, Ness learns the eighth tune and collapses after being in a flashback and the like. a. has seen his parents take care of him as a baby and he reveals his first latent PSI skills.

Ness is now on her own and is in Magicant, an illusion projected from his own thoughts. Only dressed in pajamas (naked with a red cap in the Japanese version), he encounters strange images of people he met on his journey, and after each conversation the complete colors of the surroundings change. At the end of the long way through the Sea of ​​Eden, he successfully fights his nightmare (in the form of the Evil-Mani-Mani statue) and now has full access to the powers of the 8 sanctuaries without the evil in his heart. His own voice tells him to go to Saturn Valley (a place that was previously reached in the game). He wakes up, much stronger than before, and together the group travels back to Saturn Valley.

We learn that Giygas is already attacking, but from a time 10 years earlier. Actually, with the help of Dr. Andonuts' Phase Distorters go back in time, but this one was stolen. The group teleports into the Cave of the Past, where the souls of Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo now have to be transferred into robot shells, as time travel is extremely damaging to the body. From there you travel back 10 years with the Phase Distorter II. In the inhospitable world full of aliens and monsters, you finally find Giygas at the end of a cave, who is held back by a machine, and also on Porky, who is visibly aged in a Spidermech. After Porky's mech has been badly damaged, it switches off Giygas' machine, who then attacks in an uncontrolled manner. The fight is interrupted by Porky when he tries to humiliate Ness again. From this point on, Giygas is no longer vulnerable to normal attacks, so it is up to Paula, through prayer, to pool the strengths of all people whom the group helped to bundle and destroy Giygas. After the first attempts have caused moderate damage and a further attempt fails, Paula desperately asks that someone answer the prayers. After a few cryptic letters, the name of the player becomes visible, whose prayer then gives Giygas the coup de grace.

After Giygas is defeated, the souls of the group are transferred back to the bodies of the present. Paula asks Ness to bring her home and not to forget her. However, there is an alternate ending if you bring her to Ness' house. After Ness talks to his mother and looks at the photos of the game (taken in the most unusual places), there is a knock on the door in the middle of the following night. It's Picky who delivers a scornful letter from Porky ("Come on, catch me") and the game ends.

Game world

Mother 2 is set in several fictional countries, such as the state EagleLand ( イ ー グ ル ラ ン ド , Īgururando ; Eagleland in EarthBound) (a tribute to the United States of America), the strange place Moonside ( ム ー ン サ イ ド , Mūnsaido ), where everything runs around, or the eastern kingdom of Ramma ( ラ ン マ ; Dalaam in EarthBound). You start in Onett, a small town in EagleLand, and travel to many places before finally placing Giygas in the Cave of the Past (in EarthBound).

The first 4 places (Onett, Twoson, Threed and Fourside) and Tenda Village are extensions of the English numbers.

Gameplay

Not much has changed compared to the first part and the basic principle remains the same. However, the opponents can now also be seen on the upper world and you can therefore consciously avoid them. If an opponent touches you from behind, he receives an initial attack. If you touch an enemy from behind yourself, you get an initial attack yourself. This allows you to defeat weak opponents directly without having to fight them. In addition, there are now skills that only certain characters can perform: Only Paula can pray, which causes a random action and is necessary to defeat Giygas. Jeff can fix broken objects and recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents and Poo can transform into certain opponents and thus copy their skills. The HP and PP are now displayed as a kind of speedometer, which rotates slowly in the event of an enemy hit. This means that you can still win even with a fatal hit if you end the fight before the speedometer stops at 0.

Mother 1 + 2

On June 20, 2003, a new edition of the first two parts for the Game Boy Advance was released in Japan .

Mother 3

Mother 3
Studio	HAL Laboratory Brownie Brown
Publisher	Nintendo
Erstveröffent- lichung	April 20, 2006
platform	Game Boy Advance
genre	role playing game
Subject	Science fiction , humor
Game mode	Single player
control	Control pad , buttons
medium	GBA module
Age rating	USK

EarthBound 64

Mother 3 was originally scheduled for the SNES. However, since the N64 was already in the starting blocks, the game should then appear for this under the name EarthBound 64. The project was later moved to the N64DD. Since the N64DD was anything but a success, the project was moved back to the normal N64. However, the game was too much for the N64 and development was canceled. During the development of Mother 1 + 2, Shigesato Itoi had the idea to publish the third part of the series for the GBA, which then happened in 2006.

prehistory

The story revolves around Hinawa, who, with her sons, the twins Claus and Lucas, visits their father Alec, who lives in the mountains. While Claus is a bright, brave boy, Lucas is more reserved and shy. As she writes a letter to her husband Flint, she hears a melody being played by a flying object (invisible to the player). The history is kept very brief and brings the player closer to the controls. The village of Tazmily has no currency, everyone has a job and pursues this activity. There are no crimes, no worries or problems.

action

In Chapter 1, the player takes on the role of Flint, the man from Hinawa. Flint stayed behind in Tazmily. Late at night the forest is set on fire by the pig masks (in the original Pigmasks) and Thomas, the only fireman, wakes Flint. Together they first save Lighter and then his son Fuel from the flames of the house, which was apparently set on fire by fire-breathing flies. The onset of rain puts out the fire, but since this is the first rain in a while, the villagers are restless, especially since Hinawa has not yet returned with her sons. So the whole village sets out to look for Hinawa. After all, it is Isaac the lumberjack who confesses to Flint that he spotted Hinawa collecting mushrooms hours earlier. The roar of a Dragos and the scream of a woman made him very insecure, which is why he initially withheld this information from Flint. Shortly thereafter, Jonel reports that he discovered a piece of clothing near a Drago plateau. Flint is all the more concerned about the help of Duster, a disabled thief, since Dragos are actually very peaceful creatures. With Duster's help, the two reach the plateau and discover that the rags actually belong to Hinawa's dress. Then they discover the pig masks that attack a mechanically armed caribou. After a successful fight they discover the notebook of the pig masks and reveal their plans - to carry out cybernetic modifications or even complete replacement of body parts on living creatures - so-called chimeras. Upon returning to the village, Tessie reveals that they have found Lucas and Claus and that they are warming up around the campfire with the others. The brief joy is interrupted by Bronson, who informs Flint that they have found Hinawa - pierced by a dragon tooth. Then Flint freaks out and lashes out until he is knocked out by Lighter. After a short dream sequence, Flint wakes up in prison, where he is visited first by Bronson and then by Claus. The latter hands him an apple with a file so that he can break out and attend Hinawa's funeral. At the funeral, Alec forces Lucas to reveal information about Claus. He armed himself with a knife and went into the mountains to kill the Drago who killed Hinawa. Lucas is ashamed that he didn't stop him and disappears. A little later, Alec and Flint meet in Alec's house and from there go to Aeolia. Aeolia belongs to a race called "Magypsy", sexless human-like creatures with features of both sexes and magical abilities. The 6 (out of 7. One is not present) Magypsies tell that Claus visited them and that they gave him an ability to help him in battle. Alec and Flint then rush into the mountains, where, in addition to the pig masks, they also find a baby drago who is playing with one of Claus' shoes. Shortly afterwards, they are attacked by a dragochimera who has apparently lost a tooth. Then Flint kills the Dragochimera with his own tooth, which he received from Bronson (from which one can conclude that this Drago had killed Hinawa). You return to Tazmily and the camera pans a little behind the plateau where the player sees the apparently dead Claus.

In Chapter 2, the player's control changes to Duster, who is stopped by his father Wess to get an important item from the northern Osohe Castle. On the way he meets a strange trader (Fassad) and his monkey (Salsa). He also meets Butch, who was offered "money" by the said dealer in exchange for his pigs. After being attacked by some zombies, he ends up in Osohe Castle. During his stay, he discovers a strange girl (Kumatora) who loses her follower, whom Duster takes. After conquering a larger ghost, he finds a glowing spittoon. Believing this is the item he needs, he returns to Wess. He destroys the spittoon in anger and accompanies him on the second trip to the castle after seeing the glowing trailer. In the castle, both are now attacked by pig masks. Their golem is destroyed, however, whereupon the masked men flee. Shortly thereafter, both of them are almost killed by a block of ice and finally meet Kumatora, the princess of Osohe Castle. They help her out of a bear trap and the three of them look for it and finally they find the object, the so-called "Egg of Light" (also known as the Hummingbird Egg). However, they are attacked again by the pig masks. Kumatora finally reaches for the egg and triggers a trap door, which drops the group into a pool with a giant snake. As soon as they have conquered them, they are washed out of the castle. Duster has disappeared, so Kumatora and Wess walk through the village and are accused by Butch Duster of stealing his money. Kumatora then scares Butch, and only with Flint's intervention do the residents wait for Duster to return.

The third chapter shows the events some time before. Salsa, the monkey, is blackmailed by Fassad (in the original Yokuba) and then has to work for him. Fassad, a high-ranking banana-eating member of the pig army, kidnapped Salsa's girlfriend and put a shock collar on him. You land in the Death Desert, a dangerous desert full of dangerous animals. After killing a cactus wolf, Fassad opens the tunnel to the Tazmily cemetery. They arrive in Tazmily the night after Hinawa's death and briefly meet Duster and then overhear Butch. Fassad takes Butch's money, which was hidden in the well, and lodges himself in the local inn. He now also learns that there is currently no currency in Tazmily. The next day, Fassad speaks to the villagers that the world outside the village is collapsing and that it is only a matter of time before the next disaster happens. Believing his propaganda, almost all of the villagers from Salsa have so-called "happy boxes" delivered. Fassad receives news of the failed attempt to get the Egg of Light and forces Salsa to flush the group (Duster, Wess and Kumatora) out of the pool. However, the egg is also lost in the process. The next day, Fassad continues with his speeches, while Salsa is telepathically contacted by a girl from the crowd. During the night, Kumatora and Wess help remove the collar and destroy the remote control. Fassad wakes up and forces the group to flee into the forest. The group is surrounded by soldiers and tanks, but at the same moment in the facade ordering the arrest, Lucas appears on a Drago and drives away the pig army.

The fourth chapter leaps in time over 3 years. Tazmily has now become a city, there is a currency (Dragon Points / DP), all buildings have Happy Boxes, everything looks more modern and not very tranquil. Buildings without Happy Boxes are destroyed by lightning strikes, and the regime is very totalitarian (for example, Wess was thrown into a home for protesting a speech by Fassad). The people pay homage to "King P" and the pig masks rule the country. However, there is still a small group of people who are skeptical of all of this. The player now takes control of Lucas, who is still mourning the death of his mother. Lucas learns that a member of the band DCMC looks similar to the missing Duster and is assigned by Wess to check whether it is a Duster. The band plays regularly at Club Titiboo near the golem factory. However, the club is only open to factory workers. Since the train is not running, Lucas travels through the tunnels on foot with his dog Boney and on the way meets Ionia, one of the Magypsies. Ionia teaches him the use of PSI and is surprised that Lucas can perform PK Love, one of the most powerful forms of PSI, as it is difficult to learn and only a small handful of people have ever learned. After Lucas has disguised himself as an employee and Boney as humans, the two are granted entry on the recommendation of the waitress Violet (she claims that Lucas is the legendary Prince Poo, see Earthbound ). Violet reveals himself as Kumatora and pulls Lucas and Boney into a changing room after the concert. She explains that Lucky is actually the amnesiac Duster, but due to security precautions she has no way of contacting him. Lucas and Boney infiltrate the changing room of the DCMC via the attic. Lucky explains that he was able to hide the Egg of Light in a discarded golem in the Unknown Valley, but still remembers nothing. After a short discussion, Lucas, Kumatora, Duster and Boney set out to get the egg back.

Chapter 5 leads the group into the valley, but before they can take the egg, lightning hits the golem and the golem runs away with the egg towards the highway. In their pursuit, the group is stopped by some pig masks, which Lucas take to be their leader and clothe both him (completely in black) and the other 3 (in pig mask costumes). You see the golem on a garbage truck and the chase continues with the help of a "pork bean". After they hold the egg in their hands shortly thereafter, Duster gets his memories back. However, they are brought to the Lightning Tower by the pig masks. On their way up, the group learns its only purpose - to destroy dwellings without happy boxes, as well as Lucas' home. At the top of the tower, they finally run into Fassad's arms, who recognizes Lucas. On their further escape, the group ends up in a strange playroom owned by King P with items from the 1990s and a jukebox (which only plays the melody of the shops from Mother). Once at the top, they are surprised by Fassad, who destroys the main generator of the tower and wants to make it collapse. During his own escape into the flying ship of the pig masks, however, Fassad slips on his own banana peel and falls into the depths. The group holds on to the ship, but is shaken off and also falls into the depths. This is observed by the real leader of the pig army, the "Masked Man".

Chapter 6 is kept very short. Lucas walks through a sunflower field and has a few memories of the past. He meets Boney and finally sees his mother in front of him. He runs up to her, jumps off a cliff, and the chapter ends.

The seventh chapter, however, is by far the longest. It begins with Lucas and Boney waking up in a haystack that Alec and Flint put there exactly because Hinawa is said to have told them this in a dream. Shortly afterwards, Lucas and Boney find Ionia (one of the Magypsies), who is tied up and gagged on a bridge. Together they make their way to Aeolia when the sky suddenly changes color and Aeolia realizes that she is dissolving. Someone pulled the magic needle that she is the guardian of. Ionia explains that the 7 needles hide a tremendous power that is revealed when all 7 needles are pulled. Only selected people can pull the needles when "the time" has come and Lucas should urgently pull the other needles, even if this results in the "death" of the Magypsies. At the location of the distant needle in the back yard of Osoho Castle, Lucas learns where to find the next needle. At the cemetery, on instructions from Flint, Nippolyte presented him with the “Courage Badge”. After sneaking into the chimera laboratory, Lucas learns of the escape of two monkeys (Salsa and his girlfriend) as well as the outbreak of the unsurpassed chimera, an invincible but also uncontrollable monster that is now running amok in the laboratory. On their search for salsa, Lucas and Boney finally discover Doctor Andonuts (see Earthbound ). He explains that he was forced to do this work and that the unsurpassed chimera has a weak point in the form of a switch on the back. When they are surrounded by the chimera shortly afterwards, it is Salsa who recognized Lucas and pressed the switch on the chimera, thus saving the group. (If the player tries to fight the chimera normally, this results in immediate game over). However, the yellow bird on the chimera 's head reactivates the beast that escapes from the laboratory. Salsa shows Lucas the way to the Magypsy Doria, who Kumatora also has with her. Doria now explains how the needles work. These can only be drawn by people who can use PK Love. The heart of the one is reflected on the dark dragon who resides under the Nowhere Islands (the entire game world from Mother 3). Depending on the situation, the consequences are either positive or disastrous. However, when someone without a heart pulls these needles, it is not known what will happen. Lucas pulls the second needle, Doria disappears and Lucas continues the journey together with Boney and Kumatora. On Snowcap Mountain they are talking to Lydia, one of the Magypsies, when they hear the tune of the pig masks. They rush behind the house only to see the Masked Man pull the third needle. Just before he / she disappears, Lydia feels that the Masked Man has no heart. Lydia reminds Lucas that he has to pull the needles and dissolves like Aeolia and Doria before. While the group travels back to Tazmily (it flies straight to the cemetery in a refrigerator, also opening the tunnel into the desert), many of the local residents travel to a big city in order to lead a better life. Traveling through the tunnel, the group takes a different path and ends up in Saturn Valley, where they conquer the pig masks there and meet Duster. As a thank you, the Mr. Saturns show the way to Fire Mountain, where the fourth needle is. Before they can pull this, they are surprised by Fassad, who survived the fall from the tower, but consists partly of mechanical parts and can only emit musical tones (similar to those that sound when visiting a magypsy), which can be made with the help of a flying one Translated by the translator. After pulling the needle, Phrygia, the fourth Magypsy, disappears. On the return to Saturn Valley, the exit of the village is destroyed by a soldier. While a Mr. Saturn is polishing Lucas' Courage Badge, another gives the group coffee (just like in Earthbound, everything is reviewed here once). After a short flight and a fall, the group continues their journey into the ocean on Tanetane Island, where they are completely exhausted and have to eat strange mushrooms and then suffer from hallucinations. After a strange trip across the island, they meet Mixolydia, who ends the hallucinations and lets the group spend the night. Your needle is guarded by the barrier trio, which the group must first defeat. However, the Masked Man appears shortly afterwards, forces the group to their knees with a lightning strike and pulls the fifth needle. On the way to the sixth needle they meet a disguised Mr. Saturn, who gives Lucas the Courage Badge back. This turns out to be a Franklin Badge (see Earthbound). At the Chupichupyoi Temple they meet the Masked Man; This time his lightning strike has no effect and a fight ensues, from which Lucas' group emerges victorious and forces him and the pig masks to retreat. Just before the sixth needle is pulled, Ionia appears and explains that whoever has pulled the most needles will awaken the dragon. After its dissolution, Lucas receives an invitation to New Pork City from King Porky himself. Chapter 7 ends.

In chapter 8 you can see all the residents of Tazmily living in the big city and a large statue of King P, who is actually none other than Porky (Pokey) Minch, the former neighbor of Ness (see Earthbound ). Porky has taken control of the Nowhere Islands and founded the Pigmask Army. On their tour of the city, the group ends up in a theater, where Boney runs away to chase a stink bug. Searching for Boney through the sewers, they end up in a row of abandoned apartments, where they meet leather - the silent bell ringer from Tazmily. This reveals that he is by no means mute, but is the only one who knows the truth about the entire world.

Accordingly, the people of the Nowhere Islands are the remnants of a much larger population of people who destroyed the world. This small group steered a white ship across the ocean and eventually landed on the Nowhere Islands, where they coexisted with the kite. But since they feared that this would not work, 7 special people sealed the dragon with the needles until they absolutely needed its strength. Fearing another apocalypse, they used the Egg of Light to extract their memories and lead a peaceful life. Because of its height, leather was chosen to keep secrets (leather is roughly four times the size of other people). Already a sage on the White Ship, Kumatora was placed in Ionia's care and given the role of Princess of Osohe Castle. With the help of the Phase Distorter I, Porky finally succeeded in this world and learned all the secrets from the seventh Magypsy, Locria. With the help of the Phase Distorter I he brought people from all eras into this world, brainwashed them and made them work for him as a pig mask army to make the world his personal toy. Since Porky didn't pull the needles, but wanted to use the dragon's power for himself, he also has the Masked Man under his control.

On the way to the Empire Pork Building, the group conquers one last time Fassad, which is finally fed up with Porky's game and dies after the fight. In the building itself, the group learns that Porky is on the 100th floor. The group found Locria's dwelling on one floor, with banana peels everywhere. A mouse informs them that the other Magypsies have found Locria disturbing. This makes it clear that Locria and Fassad are the same person. On the way, the group finds tanks similar to those on Holy Loly Mountain (Mother 1) and Stonehenge Base (Mother 2). On the 99th floor there are various items that are reminiscent of Ness, and on the 100th floor they meet the real Porky Minch after a fight against mechanical Porkys. By carelessly traveling through time, he is visibly aged and sick, but also immortal. He mocks the residents of Tazmily who are now present and sends Luca's group to a cave below the building. On their way to the last needle, they are stopped by Flint, who has a suspicion about the Masked Man. A little later this assumption comes true, because the masked man is actually Claus! Before Lucas can reach the needle, Pokey shows up and mentions how much he'd like the idea of ​​everything but him perishing and attacking his Spidermech. When he loses the fight, he locks himself in the Absolutely Safe Capsule, which ends the fight. This capsule was developed by Dr. Andonuts built for him. The capsule is indestructible, but it cannot be opened either from the inside or the outside. As the group reaches the needle, Lucas and Claus fight, who knock Duster, Kumatora and Boney out of action with the lightning strike. Lucas refuses to seriously fight his brother. This is much stronger and is about to win the fight when the voice of Hinawa sounds, most of which is talking to Claus. The latter wants to wipe out Lucas for good, but hits Flint who throws himself in between with his strong attack. Flint tries to speak to Claus, but he knocks him out. Lucas now furiously attacks Claus, but Hinawa's voice continues to prevent him from fighting properly. Ultimately, Hinawa manages to bring back Claus' memories of the day he was named. Overwhelmed by all emotions and memories, Claus wants to wipe out Lucas with one last flash. However, this is reflected by the Franklin Badge on Claus and this is fatally wounded. Claus then dies in Lucas' arms, and Lucas pulls the last needle to wake the dragon.

The dragon conjures up a second apocalypse and destroys the entire Pigmask Army. The screen goes dark and the message "The End ...?" Appears. If you move the directional pad, you can talk to the characters and discover Pokey in its capsule. So all the characters somehow survived. After that, the credits start running. At the end you see the now wooden logo of Mother 3 to signal that all influence of the chimeras and pig masks has disappeared.

Game mechanics

The new thing about Mother 3 is that you can do so-called rhythm combos in fights. Almost every monster has its own battle music, to which you can press the A button in time and strike up to 16 times in a row. There are many different variations, e.g. B. 15/8 time and music that is getting faster and faster. If you hold down the B Button and then release it, the characters will sprint until you press B again or ram something (this can easily knock weak enemies away). You can save here for all variations of frogs (Save Frogs), while in the previous one you had to go to phones (or phone-imitating birds). Here, too, as in Mother 2, the life points are displayed as a kind of speedometer, which slowly decrease when hit. If you defeat the enemy or heal any number of life points, the reduction is canceled and fatal injuries can also be prevented. The mechanics of the game are not very different from the predecessor.

Game world

Mother 3 is set in a possible future. Almost the whole earth has been destroyed, only a group of islands is left. There are many different futuristic elements such as flying cars and the ability to reconstruct people who have been nearly fatally injured. There are also characters and things from Mother 2, such as Dosei-san ( ど せ い さ ん ; Mr. Saturn in EarthBound and western titles in the Super Smash Bros. series). In addition, shortly before the end of the game, you come across a room from which various things from Mother 2 can be seen. Probably Porky (see above) brought them with him.

The game begins in the village of Tazmilly ( タ ツ マ イ リ 村 , Tatsumairi-mura ) and ends with the final fight against Porky and the masked man under the Empire Pork Building.

Mother 4

In 2014 it was confirmed that there would be an offshoot of the Mother range in 2016 . This is created by fans, so it is not an official game in the series. The main character will be a boy named Travis. How he relates to the other main characters from previous games is not yet clear. The expected date could not be kept and the game was postponed. After several fan projects had to be discontinued due to copyright infringement vis-à-vis Nintendo, the Mother 4 development team decided in March 2017 to completely revise the game and, as a precaution, to remove all references to the original Mother games. In January 2020 it was announced that the project would be continued under the new name Oddity . However, there is no specific publication date yet.

Similarities

The games in the Mother series are set in the same world, even if it has changed from game to game. Some examples:

• The boss of the first mother is called Giygas (In Japanese Gyiyg). In Mother 2, the opening credits read “ Gyiyg strikes back! "(Or" The war against Giygas! "In Earthbound, the US version of the game), which indicates that he must have threatened the world before.
• In the course of the plot of Mother 2, numerous famous personalities, such as Albert Einstein , Werner Heisenberg and Benjamin Franklin, are mentioned, people who lived in "our" world. The plot of Mother 2 takes place in the real world (even if it has been expanded to include some fictional locations).
• The boss from Mother 3 is Porky, the former neighbor of Ness from Mother 2, which means that these two parts clearly have a coherent storyline.
• The Franklin Badge and Mr. Saturns appear in Mother 2 and 3. In Mother 1 and 2 you can u. a. fight crows and hippies; with the latter, even the music has remained the same. In the 1st, 2nd and 3rd part there are u. a. Fight Mr. Batty
• In Mother 3 there is a hall with objects from Mother 1 and 2, as well as the background music for pieces of music from the predecessors such as B. the 8 melodies from the first and the second part.

Innovations

What sets the Mother series apart from other games is the fact that it turns away from the paths of traditional role-playing games and presents itself in a completely out of the way and unorthodox way. At the time when the first Mother appeared, role-playing games were mostly set in a medieval world, in which knights fought against evil dragons, magicians or kings and used magic and swords for this.

In Mother 1, however, two little boys (Ninten, Lloyd), a girl (Ana) and the leader of a gang of outlawed youths (Teddy) set out to drive away the evil alien Gyiyg, who is terrorizing and threatening the earth. To reach Gyiyg, they have to deal with monsters such as stray dogs , hippies , mad cars , abstract art or fish . For defense, they use PSI powers and weapons such as baseball bats, frying pans, laser guns and butter knives.

In Mother 2, Ness u. a. Ride a bike, order pizza, put up a sales sign to sell your items, teleport yourself, ride the bus and do many other weird things that were never before in video games. The opponents are here next to aliens and UFOs u. a. crazy ducks, grumpy goats, bears, annoying old party men, strange women (Extra Cranky Lady), fire hydrants, dinosaurs and starmen. In addition to baseball bats, weapons also include frying pans, yo-yos, slingshots and bottle rockets.

In Mother 3 the plot is very linear; Compared to the predecessor, there are not many possible deviations from the main story (except in Chapter 7) and you can only skip some opponents for the time being and come back much stronger at a later point in time. The opponents were mostly recreated and are mostly crosses of two animals or one animal with an object (rhinoceros socket, cactus wolf, dog fish etc.).

Mother elements in other games

Ness also occurs in all offshoots of the Super Smash Bros. -Series and became known in Europe. In the third part of the SSB series (Smash Bros. Brawl / Wii) and as DLC in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U, Lucas, the hero from Mother 3 , also appears. The Mr. Saturns can be used and thrown as objects since the 2nd part of Smash Bros. (Melee), the Franklin Badges have been used since the third part (Brawl) to reflect enemy projectiles. Pokey appears in the story mode of the third part as a boss opponent in his Spidermech and all characters can be found as such since the introduction of unlockable trophies (from Melee). Some areas in the Mother series, including Magicant, Onett, Fourside, and New Pork City, appear as stages in the Smash Bros. series.

reception

The game received only mediocre ratings when it was released in the USA, but in the years that followed it built a large fan scene and is now a cult game.

Soundtrack

An official soundtrack has also been released for Mother, in which many of the pieces in the game have been reissued and provided with text.

Web links

• Mother series at MobyGames (English)
• Mother 1 + 2 at Nintendo (Japanese)
• Mother 3 at Nintendo (Japanese)
• Retro V: The Game Behind Ness: Earthbound
• Retro V: The story of Lucas: Mother 3
• The emergence of Earth Bound Zero / Mother 1 (English)
• Largest fan site about Mother (English)
• Fansite which Mother has 3 translated into English (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.videogameszone.de/Earthbound-Beginnings-WiiU-260586/News/Trailer-blas-Wii-U-Ableger-fuer-Virtual-Console-1161842/ Message from Videogameszone, accessed on June 15, 2015
2. ↑ ス ト ー リ ー . Nintendō, accessed February 16, 2013 (Japanese). 
3. ↑ Story of Mother - Video Game ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Earthbound Wiki. Retrieved November 17, 2014. 
4. ↑ Kotaku.com . Website about the cult of the game and analysis of the ending sequence. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
5. ↑ r / mother4 - Today's Announcement. Retrieved January 23, 2020 (American English). 
6. ↑ Mother 4-Inspired Fan Project Renamed to Oddity but It Still Looks Like a Worthy Successor - IGN. Retrieved January 23, 2020 (English).