EarthBound And EarthBound Beginnings Are Coming To Nintendo Switch Today

EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings--first released as Mother in Japan--are coming to Nintendo Switch. Revealed during today's Nintendo Direct, both games appear to be faithful ports of the critically-acclaimed titles, and will be available for for Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers later today.

This news follows years of fans longing for the EarthBound series to make its way on to modern consoles--as well as some cryptic tweets from Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi. Earlier today, Itoi took to Twitter to tease the upcoming announcement, writing "7am, huh? Amazing. Maybe it'll be snowing" in response to Nintendo's tweet about the Direct showcase.

In EarthBound, you play as Ness, a young boy who--alongside his pals Paula, Jeff, and Poo--must fulfill "an age-old prophecy to stop the wicked Giygas." In EarthBound Beginnings (which should be noted is technically the first title in the series), you play as Ninten, as 12-year-old boy who must traverse America and collect eight melodies in order to ward off an evil race of mind-controlling aliens. Throughout their adventures, both boys utilize their psychic powers and friendships to help save the day.

For those unfamiliar with the EarthBound series, the iconic-yet-elusive trilogy first released in Japan back in 1989 under the name Mother. The second game in the series, Mother 2, was the first to hit North America, albeit under the name EarthBound. Since then, only one additional Mother title has been released: Mother 3. While the 2006 Game Boy Advance title was never localized for North America, fan translations and Ness' appearance in Super Smash Bros. helped keep love for the series alive in the North America, and made Mother 3 an admittedly niche but adored game in the states.

With the announcement of these games coming to Switch, it seems possible that a port of Mother 3 could be coming as well. If so, it would mark the first time all games were available on one Nintendo platform.