Earthbound & Earthbound Beginnings Review - Are They Worth It?

I had tried Earthbound ages ago but didn't give it a proper try, until now that it got added to NSO, and this time I got mega hooked, finished the game in a single week. Let me tell you it doesn't just stand the test of time, but in fact if it came out today it would still be considered one of the best JRPGs ever made. That says it all. Take it from someone that really had no attachment to this IP.

The rewind feature is amazing for games like this. At an earlier point in my life I’d have thought it was cheating, but now as a parent of three young kids who has very limited time to play games, it takes a lot of the tedium out of games like this.

I'm hoping the release of both of these on the Switch is foreshadowing that we'll finally get an official translation and release of Mother 3.

First of all thank you Nintendo Life for this incredible overview of the series! I feel like Earthbound Beginnings/Mother 1 gets a lot of flak compared to it's successors, sure it's not as refined as the other two, it can be really frustrating at times, but it has a simplistic charm which I find to be quite delightful, it has a very feel-good 80's vibe if you know what I mean. Plus the whole Giygas backstory the game has going for it is really cool, and the melancholy behind Maria's character is something I'm quite fond of, I might go as far to say that it's setting is my favorite in the series. It is true that the game doesn't quite live up to it's predecessors, but I believe that's due to all the limitations it has going against it, being on NES hardware and all. It's a fun ride if you can get behind all the clunkiness it has. My dream is for this game to get a remake that fleshes out its characters and story more, with a more engaging combat system, so that can live up to the other installments in the series. Earthbound/Mother 2 is really awesome but you've probably heard enough about it's awesomeness by now, so go play these incredible games already!! (Or don't, I'm not your Mom)

i just finished beginnings after they came to NSO. using save states and rewinding was a god send and made it a much better experience for sure. it's already my most played NES game now lol (32 hours)

EarthBound Beginnings aka Mother is a very impressive NES game. I played it on my Wii U last summer. Loved it a bunch would recommend using a guide though, It has some oldfashioned aspects like one will quickly see with the backpack inventory for that you need to often leave things with Ninten's sister. Plus some of the 'dungeons' in this one can be quite confusing without drawing/having a map. The music is an absolute treat. I absolutely loved the whymsical nature of following a boy and the friends he makes on their adventures as well as the stories regarding the kids' sudden appearing psychic powers and how beginning from a puppet various people, Anmials and other things start to act oddly caused by some Alien lifeform that seems to be related to Ninten's grandparents and get only more interesting as you find out more. Give that one a chance if you didn't before! I honestly admit, I had a great time with each game but would actually say that I prefer Mother over Mother 2 slightly. Could be because I didn't play that many other NES RPGs taht left me with that kinda impact as this one yet and when going into the SNES game afterwards, some aspects didn't grab me the same way even though it's definitely really good (thinking about it, I feel like the whole part of having savestates is very much contributing against most RPG frustration parts anyways and the way you approach things in the games might also leave you with different impressions). Hope to play "Mother 3" as well at some point anyways.

Earthbound beginnings was a pleasant surprise to play. I’m almost done as well. Tip: use Repel rings and buy lots of bread I’ll be playing Earthbound again once I’m done too! Never beat It but I shall on the switch

"charming simplicity" Bruh this is all we had back then

"Zion had an asthma attack" "suffered 30 damage".

Earthbound is a postmodern masterpiece; it's not a game, it's art.

Every true gamer should experience Earthbound at least once. Enjoy your first playthrough, it's a lifetime experience ❤️

I completed Mother 3 years ago and it was one of the most emotional and loving games I’ve ever played. I then went and played Earthbound on 3ds and loved it, with spurts of fantastic storytelling. I’m currently playing Beginnings and I’m honestly loving it as a combo of Earthbound and early JRPSs like Dragon Quest 1 and Final Fantasy 1.

I'm one of the dozen or so people who actually bought Earthbound when it released in the US. It's been stuck with me ever since that summer; the music, the atmosphere, the overall incredible tone of real life seen from a off center perspective.

EarthBound is a really great game! So quirky, but still fairly relatable! My only issue is the speed. The game is too slow at times and that’s too bad. That doesn’t mean the game is bad though! I loved the game so much that I bought it both on New 3DS and Wii U!

I remember buying Earthbound when it was rereleased on Wii U and never even made it past Onett, and when I heard it was coming to Switch Online I audibly said "Alright, this time its for real." I just made it to Threed and loved every minute of the game so far.

You don't know how much I agree with this review especially with the narrative and the storytelling. As weird and quirky the story is, playing it as an adult gives you a different perspective. I never got to play this as a kid and I grew up with turn based RPGs but eventually outgrew the turn based system and eventually bored out by it and embraced a more fast paced and action oriented RPGs and other genres as I grew up. I gave Earthbound a try after it got announced and released on NSO. I never turned off the SNES app on the switch ever since I played it until I finished it. I eventually get bored even with the new games that I play and even sometimes leads me to rushing it just for the sake of finishing it to get my money's worth, but, Earthbound just does the opposite and this is a 2 decade old game. It got me hooked and kept me hanging on what's about to happen next whenever I put my switch down that I'm eager to finish my work and meal to play Earthbound. It's a beautifully written game and it has got a certain charm that most of the modern games fail to do nowadays. Only a few does. I love it from start to finish and I'm thankful to myself I gave it a chance.

I'm playing Earthbound for the first time and having a lot of fun. I agree that it's grindy, but the characters are just so good, the game is beautiful and the dialogue is so funny. It's a very charming game and i'm definitely playing until the end, and going to play Earthbound Beginnings right afterwards.

Me and my best friend used to "speedrun" Earthbound back in the 90's as kids. Not because we were attempting to pioneer jrpg speed running, but because we would rent this game (or Mario RPG) and try to finally beat it before returning it to the store and praying we can get our save file back next weekend. Last time I played Earthbound as an adult, it felt like I was possessed; the muscle memory was deep and intense.

I've played Earthbound back when it first came out on the Nintendo 3DS and it was a nice storyline with how the characters and the ways of it coming out on the SNES at the time in the 90's like yeah it would've been nice to play that game growing up back then and knowing about the game at the time but never had that game for SNES growing up to now with me already beating the game for the Nintendo 3DS but now that it's on the Nintendo Switch I just absolutely wanna go and start with Earthbound Beginnings and then play Earthbound again in line to how the story goes in the series of the franchise because essentially the storyline starts with Earthbound Beginnings being the first in the series rather then just playing Earthbound or in Japan Mother and Mother 2 is that storyline of how it's meant to play it and have a better understanding of what Mother really means for these incredibly good storylines that will make you feel a burst of emotions happy, sad, confused and down right shocked when it all comes down to dealing with where to go in the game and then the final boss for both of these series of games and it makes sense so definitely give these games a try if you have a Nintendo Switch with online and if not you're definitely missing out on two wonderful games for the series and I really hope Nintendo eventually decides to put Mother 3 or Earthbound Endings possibly in America I don't know but it has a nice ring to it maybe Earthbound 3 to the Nintendo Switch as well. 😂🤣🤷🏼‍♂️💯

I have never played Earthbound before, and only knew about it through Smash. One thing that always captivated me though was the Earthbound Music. Smash Bros has given us so many great music tracks from the Earthbound/Mother Series, and whenever I hear the original versions of some of those songs (in videos like this) it always makes me really happy!