EarthBound is the second game in the Mother trilogy (in Japan it’s known as Mother 2). However, while all three games in the series are tied together, they also work perfectly as standalone titles and can be enjoyed to the fullest extent without knowledge of the others. This is rather fortunate because, very sadly, Mother and Mother 3 have only been made available in Japan (though fan translations do exist.)

The game is an RPG which follows the story of Ness (a character who is probably mainly only known through Super Smash Bros. and it’s sequels to players in the UK, since it only came out here in 2012!) who is just a regular child living in Eagleland (a fictionalised version of America). His adventure starts when a meteorite smashes down one night only a short distance away from his home in the small town of Onett. When he goes to investigate it, he receives a message from the future which warns him that an evil force called Giygas threatens all life on Earth unless he does something to stop it. He is given a ‘Sound Stone’ and needs to travel across the world to find eight mystical melodies to record on the stone which will help him to become powerful enough to vanquish Giygas.

Other than having a normal modern day setting (which is already a lovely twist), this might sound a bit like a generic RPG storyline, but this is absolutely not the case. This game is very unique and wonderfully weird. On his quest Ness will, amongst other things: get caught up in a religious cult, survive a zombie apocalypse, experience corrupt police brutality and even visit Stonehenge (which excites me, since in reality, it’s not too far from my home). Another big appeal of this game is its large cast of oddball characters; virtually every single person you meet will have something bizarre to say to you. My personal favourite encounter is with a doctor who restores your health simply by whispering “be healthy” into each of your ears, or perhaps it’s the monkey who says “I wanna become a pig” when you talk to it… There are countless examples.

However, while the game can be very humorous at times, it also has the capacity to deal with very dark subjects and is even quite creepy at times. In fact, I would go so far as to say that one of the moments in this game is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever experienced in a game! I wish I could go into details, but I don’t want to spoil anything; a lot of these things work just because of how unexpected they are. I should also add that the soundtrack always perfectly complements the tone of what is happening; you have fun and jolly songs and also very creepy and eerie pieces, all of them a pleasure to listen to.

I only have two small criticisms; the first is that it never feels like you have enough storage space for your items, which occasionally got frustrating. The second is that the game’s battle system can feel a little slow sometimes, which is mainly only a problem with small enemies, but still, it could have been faster. Otherwise, I am very happy with this game and will always consider it a favourite.

Rating: 9.5/10

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I think this game has a bit of an unfair reputation for being not very good. People think “Why does this game have trains in it? Trains have nothing to do with Zelda! It must be bad” and “It looks like this game is just Phantom Hourglass again, it must be bad” and I don’t feel they give it a real chance.

First, I want to talk about the most controversial aspect: the trains. Personally, I love the trains. The game’s world is made up of several different areas which are all connected by a large railway system. This completely changes the way you travel across Hyrule and I find it quite refreshing. You use the touch screen to tap things you want to shoot with the train’s cannon or to pull a rope to blow the whistle (which you occasionally need to do). There are some little boss battles that you do while in the train and sometimes you need to use it to deliver goods or to give people lifts between different destinations. Something about driving these trains is hugely satisfying. The only problem with the trains is that they aren’t used often enough. I hope a future game will make further use of them.

Another new exciting feature is the addition of Zelda as a semi-playable companion with Link. Near the start of the game Zelda is essentially killed and is left as a ghost. As a ghost Zelda can possess big phantom enemies which are then required to solve certain puzzles. The whole game is controlled with the DS touch screen, however, and I feel this makes this mechanic a little needlessly difficult.

The game also makes use of the DS microphone and this is another way that I feel the game has been hindered by its need to use controls other than buttons. This time Link has a musical instrument again (a pan flute) and to play it, you move it around on the screen while blowing into the microphone. Usually, this is fine, but sometimes it just didn’t seem to work at all. Twice I actually started to feel lightheaded because I had to blow into the microphone so much (since it just wasn’t working.)

I also feel the game is let down by its dungeons and storyline, which both felt a bit ‘generic Zelda‘. Link is a regular guy training to be a train driver, when he gets caught up in the events that leave Zelda as a spirit, so he has to help collect certain items so he can help defeat the evil that caused this, and so on. The villain, by the way, felt to me like a poor stand in for Ganon. The dungeons, meanwhile, never felt like something new.

But don’t get me wrong, this is a good game. It moves the series forward in ways that I like a lot, but I feel that it was held back by its need to maintain certain staples of the Zelda series… Staples that are not necessarily bad, but which feel rather unoriginal here. It’s the good things, however, that I remember fondly; a more prominent role for Zelda (with some lovely interactions with Link) and an absolutely wonderful new train feature. Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.

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