One of the greatest and most unique games ever made.
User Rating: 9.5 | Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu SNES
One of the most quirky RPGs of all time, its also one of the absolute best. Like every game, it has it's flaws. The first are the graphics. The characters, enemies, and levels are all nicely designed, but just don't have the same quality as some other graphics on the SNES. However, the battle effects are pretty good, mostly the PSI attacks. The other flaw is it's rarity. If you want to pick it up nowadays, it's probably gonna cost 80+ bucks! But if you dig RPGs, it's worth every penny. The game's music is also rather memorable and catchy. Most of these tracks are STILL stuck in my head. Ranging from mellowed out to creepy, Earthbound has one of the best soundtracks on the SNES (though some of the in-battle music can get annoying). As for the gameplay, it's pretty standard. You run around in dungeons and the overworld fighting enemies, leveling up, buying stuff, and upgrading your equipment. Unlike most RPGs, the enemies appear on the map wandering around and usually chase you if they see you. This system can be time consuming when you're grinding, but also allows you to avoid battles more easily. When you're at a much higher level than the enemies on the map, they'll run away from you, which can be helpful. And it's final pro is that the game is just super-unique from other RPGs. Knights and sorcerers are replaced by psychic kids, swords are now baseball bats, arrows are now bottle rockets, magic is now PSI, and health restoring potions are now hamburgers. Though it can feel too difficult and too dependent on grinding at times, Earthbound is a phenomenal game that breaks the mold of traditional RPGs and is a must-have for Super Nintendo owners.
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