Simply put, Mother 3 is a shining example of the absolute best the video game industry has to offer.
Mother 3 takes place on a small set of islands known as the "Nowhere Islands". These islands are inhabited by a close-knit community of people that could be called ideal. The people of this society help each other out of the goodness of their own hearts, offering goods and services to each other for free and co-operating for the good of all within their distinctly old-fashioned community. Among these people is the game's protagonist, Lucas, and his family, who live very comfortable lives together. However, Lucas' ideal existence comes to an abrupt and painful end one day when a strange group of invaders appear in the area, harming people and driving animals to insanity. Eventually, these invaders turn the ideal society that Lucas has known for his entire life into one much like our own, in which people have become much more materialistic and selfish. Though Lucas sees the appeal of such an existence and even enjoys many aspects of it himself, he decides that he must fight against it, for the sake of protecting and preserving his cherished beliefs, and with the hope of regaining the life he once treasured. Mother 3 has a story that contains humor, heartbreak, oddness, and just about everything in between, and the result is an rich, satisfying experience that is very much capable of having a powerful emotional impact on the player with it's plethora of brilliantly presented scenarios and plotlines. Supporting all of this is one of the finest soundtracks to have ever graced the industry. Mother 3's soundtrack is not just well composed; it serves to support the story almost perfectly with it's remarkably fitting music, most notably of all during some of the more emotionally charged portions of the game.
Though Mother 3's superb story is without a doubt the most appealing part of the game, the gameplay will likely still be enjoyable to any fan of the Role-Playing genre. Though the basic concept of Mother 3's gameplay is somewhat ordinary, it includes several additions and tweaks that make it both unique and enjoyable. Mother 3 improves over Mother 2 by using a shop system that doesn't require the player to scroll through a good deal of text, unlike it's predecessor, and it makes item management less of a hassle by separating story important items from ordinary ones. Mother 3 also introduces the dash function, which, as it's name suggests, allows the player party to move more quickly. This is not only useful for getting around, as it's also helps the player to avoid encounters with the game's enemies if he or she does not desire to fight against them. Mother 3's gameplay does not set itself apart from only that of the series' previous games, however. The game has various interesting boss fights and dungeon or level concepts, which oftentimes require taking a different approach to the challenge than what one might expect. Mother 3 also has an interesting battle system. Though it may appear to be a rather ordinary battle system, with players selecting the moves their characters will make before watching the action unfold on the screen, it has two unique features that make it feel "fresh". The first of these is that when player characters receive damage their life force (represented by a variable called "HP") drains away gradually instead of fading in an instant as it does in many games of this kind, and that if the battle ends or the character is healed before this draining is completed, they will not retain full injuries, even if they would have been rendered unconscious by the damage (this occurs when the character's HP variable reaches zero). This is implemented into several of the game's more unique enemy and boss fights in a variety of interesting ways. The second element that makes fighting in Mother 3 unique is referred to as "rhythm battling". When a player character attacks an opponent physically, they can unleash a combo of as many as sixteen hits if the player taps the "A" button in time to a musical beat (which can be heard when an enemy is put to sleep). This is quite difficult to master, and the rhythm used to chain hits is different for every one of the game's many battle themes, making it an enjoyable diversion for anyone who wishes to master it, but the player can get through the game without making use of it without too much trouble, so its presence never feels unfortunate.
Another part of Mother 3 that players will likely notice and enjoy is that the game has plenty of charm. Mother 3 is a somewhat strange game, featuring oddball characters (the most notable of which being the androgynous "Magypsy" people and a variety of strange signs, concepts, and conversations that are oftentimes very humorous or entertaining, to the point where some of the most enjoyable parts of the game are spent interacting with characters or signs, or by experiencing these plots. Every one of the game's many bits of text are wonderful in their own ways, and every one of the game's characters - even the most irrelevant of them, so distinctly human that players will likely find themselves going out of their way to interact with every one of them, something that few games can claim to be capable of. In fact, most of Mother 3's generic or irrelevant characters will have something different to say to you if you approach them again later in the game's story, which adds immensely to this feeling. Additionally, Mother 3 is presented with a somewhat retro feeling graphical style that is very easy on the eyes, and features plenty of artistry in it's variety of events, with perhaps the most noticeable of the game's artistic touches being the "Chimera" enemies, a variety of animals that have been combined with each other and/or mechanical parts, such as a cross between an Elephant and and Ostrich known as an "Ostrellaphant" or a Rhinoceros with a rocket for a body, called a "Rhinocerocket". Each of these has a clever combination of the names of their separate parts as it's name, and a similar statement could be made toward their appearances (the Ostrellaphant, for example, has the head of an Elephant where the Ostrich's torso would be located, with the trunk of the Elephant forming part of the creature's neck). This also extends to sound. Running on different materials makes different noises, characters attacks make interesting sounds (such as Lucas' attacks making an acoustic guitar sound) and all manner of abilities and effects have wonderfully fitting and in some cases creative sounds supporting them.
The tagline used to advertise Mother 3 called the game "Strange, funny, and heartrending", and the game absolutely lives up to this claim. Mother 3 may not be the most replayable game around, but it is an experience like no other. Every facet of the game, from it's story to it's graphical presentation, exudes quality, wit, and charm, and the game's plot is so absorbing and so emotionally charged that it can be called something that everyone should experience. If any one game could be said to exemplify how much potential the video game industry has to offer, both tapped and untapped, then that game is Mother 3.