EarthBound

This semi-obscure gem is more than worth playing, but not without flaws.

User Rating: 9.1 | Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu SNES

By GenPDP7 | Review Date: June 14, 2006

This is a strange, quirky game created by the Japanese writer Shigesato Itoi. The main reason this game is good is its extremely original, if not somewhat strange, storyline and writing style. The game is set on Earth, and centers around a young boy named Ness, who is called upon by beings from the future to stop an evil alien named Giygas, who is threatening the Earth with flying saucers, Starmen, etc., and making normal people and animals turn vicious and aggressive.

One of the most entertaining things about this game is the very strange dialogue- perhaps at least partly a result of questionable translation. Nonetheless, the result is a very fresh, odd, and often hilarious experience that will not be soon forgotten.

This game's soundtrack features the most original music I've ever heard in a video game, and adds to the overall strangeness of the atmosphere of the game. Composed by Keiichi Suzuki, it is filled with strange, droning chords and spacy sound effects. I couldn't be more pleased with the results.

One of the biggest weakpoints of this game is the graphics- they seem to be about 5 or 6 years behind their time (the game was released in '96). Really an overall sloppy job seems to have been done in this department, but it honestly doesn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the game too much.

Another problem in this game is the battle mechanics/screen- when you go into battle mode, the enemies appear in front of you in a first-person view- Ness and his friends are never visible in combat mode. For the background, rather than having anything whatsoever to do with your surroundings, a very dizzying tie-dye visual effect takes up the entire screen- definately the biggest drawback in this game. If you can get past the poorly designed battle screen, you'll really enjoy this game, however. Battles are not random, but enemies' movement is somehow dependant upon Ness's motion, making it frustratingly difficult at times to avoid battle. This also accounts for the overall difficulty of this game- it will definately take some work to beat.

Don't skip over this classic when you're assembling an SNES collection.

Other Helpful Reviews for Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu

• Rating:10

  Subpar graphics doesn't always mean a bad game.

  By qorktinik2 | Review Date: Oct 16, 2007 | SNES

  I first played this game 2 days before my junior year of high school and for the longest time, I had thought that RPGs had to be set in a medieval world with dragons and wizards and all that crap. Now I know better. Eart... Read Full Review

  8 of 8 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:9.5

  You don't play EarthBound, its more then a video game it's an experience – it's something you love.

  By widdowson91 | Review Date: Mar 28, 2011 | SNES

  If there's one thing that EarthBound is then it is certainly an underappreciated role-playing game. The game was released for the Super NES in 1995 but never really bathed in success outside of Japan – mainly because its... Read Full Review

  13 of 15 users found the following review helpful