Strange. Funny. Heartrending.
Let's start off with gameplay, since I want to get this section out of the way. The core gameplay pretty much hasn't changed at all since Earthbound, despite the 13 year gap. Taken heavily from Dragon Quest, you fight enemeies in a first person perspective, using special attacks dubbed PSI abilities to lend you a hand in battle. As you level up or hit certain points in the game, more PSI abilities will become available to you. They can be used by Lucas, a young boy who in battle is pretty much the hero class from Dragon Quest, and Kumatora, a princess that acts as a fragile black mage. Other non-PSI using party members include Boney, a dog who has the ability to see an opponents weaknesses, and Duster, who has various status inflicting "thief tools." The biggest new feature is an optional action command system, where pressing the A button to the rythym of the background music will permit the attacker to do combos. It's fun and adds a new layer to battling, but due to the lag on the emulator, I didn't really get a chance to experiment with it much. Overall, even though the system is largely unchanged from Earthbound, it is greatly improved.
On the brightside, the battles require a much bigger use of strategy, and Earthbounds problem was that battling mostly consisted of attack spam and grinding. The difficulty curve in Mother 3 is a lot more fair than it was in Earthbound, too, though even this game had it's fair share of "That One Boss" scenarios.
Visually, Mother 3 uses a really simple graphic style. It barely makes any use of the hardware, and the sprites have little to no shading. It stays true to previous Mother games artistically, and actually fits the game rather well. The simple designs are appealing, and the strong use of atmosphere and color more than makes up for any flaws in it. The only time it actually bothed me was in cutscenes. The story-oriented parts of the game have a lot of character movement and emotion, and sprites trying to convey this came off as a little underwhelming. It's mostly nitpicking, and more due to the hardware rather than a fault in the graphic style.
Before I move on to story, let's talk about the soundtrack. The OST for Mother 3 is absolutely phenomenal, and it's rare to see games make such great use of the pitiful Gameboy Advance sound chip. There's tons of variety in the battle music, with most enemies having personal songs, which was rather refreshing after hearing the same battle music all the time in Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy and Goldensun. Many of the songs actually create leitmotifs, too, as they're remixed over and over again depending upon if the situation is suppossed to be funny, dark, creepy or heartwarming. It's a great use of the music, and with the tunes being as catchy as they are, I had the songs stuck in my head all day. Some of the best pieces from the soundtrack are 16 melodies, His Highness' Theme, and Natural Killer Cyborg so take a listen to these if you want to hear it for yourself.
About time we moved on to story and writing, which is easily the most important aspect of this game. Mother 3 is often called "the closest gaming has ever gotten to novels," and I'm definitely going to agree with that statement. To put it as crudely as possible, you play as Lucas and his companions on a quest around the nowhere islands, in an attempt to stop the corrupt Pig Mask Army, the strange peddler Fassad, and the Myserious Masked Man as they run all the animals into monstrous chimeras, change the way of life in Tazmily Village, and eventually try to awaken a deadly dragon from its sleep. The entire game is an emotional rollercoaster, having you laugh one second, and bringing you to tears the next. This mood whiplash is used the best I've ever seen in a videogame, and even the slogan of the game puts emphasis on it.
The story itself is a bit cliche, though the maturity it shows when dealing with urbanization, corruption, sibling rivalry, death and growing up is unbelievable for a game with a humourous tone, and the fantastic directing truly makes the plot shine. Lucas' character development in particular is very believable and well handled, showing a boys growth fro a coddled crybaby to a courageous hero. The dialouge and writing itself can range from tear jerking to downright hilarious, and the writers are WELL aware of this, playing with it to no end. I want to go more into this, but I follow a strict "no spoilers in reviews" code, and theres no goddamn way I can explain the plot in this game without providing at dozen major spoilers, which include things that happen in the first 30 minutes of game time. I'll just end the section saying that the depth and maturity this game shows, along with the atmosphere and Grade A writing, make it an experience that you need to personally see to believe. Especially when this game is a sequel to EARTHBOUND of all things, a game known for having no sense or direction.
Despite its minor flaws, I'd give Mother 3 a solid 10/10. The great art direction and music, the addicting gameplay and ESPECIALLY the storyline make up entirely for its lack of innovation and "eh" replay value. I've never been brought to tears by a videogame before, nor have I ever laughed out loud from one. Mother 3 brought me to do both in the same cutscene.