Although it got positive feedback from critics, EarthBound (Mother 2 in Japan) is a game that I veiw as being underrated. First of all, to me, EarthBound represents when Nintendo started to localize games PERFECTLY (mainly talking about the game script). The script is still one of my favorite RPG scripts of all time. This is the only RPG I will play where I go out of my way to talk to most of the NPCs every single time I play through the game. The difficulty is perfectly balanced, too. It may appear to be a difficult game at first, or a game where you have to level grind in order to have some sense of control. However, some of the most intense and "close call" RPG battles I have ever been in came from this beautiful game.

I guess what drove people away from it were it's graphics. They were very simple, but very few people got that it was stylistic choise of the game designers. This game was released around the time where SNES classic RPGs such as FFVI and Chrono Trigger marched out of the gate with stunning visuals at the time, so gamers didn't go for the basic, cartoon-like graphics that EarthBound presented.

Not only does it piss me off becuase so many gamers passed on the game due to the fact that EarthBound wasn't a visual powerhouse, but it irks me that Nintendo is afraid to release ANYTHING EarthBound related in America because EarthBound didn't live up to Nintendo's sales projections. That and Nintendo threw a HUGE advertsing campaign at the US though Nintendo Power. Hell, the game CAME WITH THE STRATEGY GUIDE.

Mother 3 came out in Japan sometime in April for the GBA, and there is no word of it coming to America at all (and after reading the review in PLAY magazine, I am REALLY ****ING PISSED that it probably won't be making it here). Mother 1+2--a compilation of the unrelased-in-America NES original and EarthBound in all its glory--for the GBA didn't make it over here, either.

My only hope is a rumor that there is some sort of EarthBound compilation coming to the DS as seen in EGM. Will this mean they are giving us Mother 1+2 with touch screen functionality? Maybe Mother 3 will head over here on the DS instead of the GBA for unforseen reason? Or will Nintendo decide to take a huge gamble on the EarthBound series in America by releasing all three games on one tiny DS cart? If something like that happened, I would be unbelievably happy.