EarthBound (universe)

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The EarthBound universe (also know as the Mother universe) refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from Nintendo's obscure cult-classic Super Nintendo game EarthBound, which itself was the second game in a three-game Japanese RPG series titled Mother and is the game starring Ness. The series was created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo.

Franchise description

In 1989 there was released for the Famicom in Japan an RPG named Mother, which constituted an unorthodox take on the genre thematically; whereas most RPGs depict knights and wizards in pseudo-medieval settings such as Final Fantasy, the game is set in a suburban area in America in 1988. It depicts a young, psychically gifted boy named Ninten as a silent red-capped protagonist who must journey across the planet to save it from an evil race of mind-controlling extraterrestrials. Along the way he is joined by a pink-dressed psychic girl named Ana, a bespectacled and gadget-minded boy named Lloyd, and a street gang leader named Teddy who is skilled in fighting abilities, and together the four meet many unusual characters and visit strange settings before ultimately confronting the leader of the aliens, the entity Giygas. The game was a smash hit in Japan, and Nintendo of America fully localized and translated it for a planned U.S. release under the name EarthBound, but the game was ultimately deemed unprofitable for a US release because the Super Nintendo was already released and the NES was becoming outdated, so it was cancelled due to marketing.

The distant sequel to the game, Mother 2, did see an American release, however, and it received the name EarthBound in its forerunner's place. It takes place sometime after the first game and depicts Giygas returning to defeat humanity, and the rest of the full cast of characters are new but extremely similar to the characters of the first game, enough that they may be considered spiritual counterparts. The main character is a young, psychically gifted boy named Ness as a silent red-capped protagonist who must journey across the world starting in the continent of Eagleland to confront Giygas as he was instructed to by an alien named Buzz Buzz. Starting from his hometown of Onett and traveling through cities such as Fourside, Ness is joined by a pink-dressed psychic girl named Paula, a bespectacled and gadget-minded boy named Jeff, and an oriental prince and martial arts master named Poo. The game was immensely successful in Japan, but it did not sell well in the U.S. because it was released at a time when graphically superior and highly-hyped RPG titles for the Super NES such as Final Fantasy 6 (released as "3") and Chrono Trigger were being released as well. However, the game has since developed one of the strongest cult followings in North America, a community which is still thriving even today.

While EarthBound became a cult classic in the years after its release, it was still undeniably obscure in the gaming community by 1999. To the intrigue of the community worldwide, Masahiro Sakurai decided to include Ness as a secret playable character in 1999's Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64, and Ness and additional EarthBound properties were featured in its 2001 sequel Super Smash Bros. Melee. This inclusion in the popular fighting-game series may have driven EarthBound's strong cult following in the United States many years after its old release. In addition, during this time Nintendo was developing the series' third and final installment for N64, but this would have been released near the end of the system's lifespan, so this wound up being cancelled. In Japan in 2003, a compilation of the two existing games, Mother 1 + 2, was released for Game Boy Advance.

After a multi-year hiatus, in Japan in 2006 the third and apparently final installment in the series was finally released. Mother 3 for Game Boy Advance is indeed EarthBound 64 retooled for the handheld, and it was released to critical praise and success as before. It is a multi-chaptered story with far darker and more emotional elements than the previous game, but of course it still retains many humorous and bizarre elements that are common to the series. The various playable characters are made to be main characters of different chapters, unlike in previous games when a foursome of children would be consistently controlled throughout. The game revolves around a boy named Lucas and the trials and tribulations of him and his family and friends as they fight against the threat of a mysterious group called the "Pig Army" at his home of Nowhere Island. The game was never released outside of Japan, but EarthBound's cult fanbase as well as many others certainly hope it will.

The series is known for spectacularly defying the thematic conventions of most other Role-Playing Games in that games take place in postmodern settings, weapons consist of baseball bats, frying pans, yo-yos, and toy guns, in-game currency is measured in American dollars, and the fact that the series is among the most bizarre, psychedelic, self-referential, and satirical game franchises ever created. With enemies ranging from evil hippies, scalding cups of coffee, and runaway pooches, dialogue and situations serving as social commentary on modern life (that sometimes breaks the fourth wall), and a race of strange little creatures called Mr. Saturn whose in-game text dialogue is presented as kindergarten scrawl, the series, at least EarthBound in particular, is known for its offhandedness. The only thing seemingly down-to-earth about it is that its battle screen is based on the old battle screen layout of Japanese Dragon Quest RPGs.

In Super Smash Bros.

EarthBound is one of the "bonus franchises" in the original Smash Bros., for it contributes one unlockable character and absolutely nothing else - no stages and items based on EarthBound repose in the game.

Character

• Ness: A boy living in the town of Onett, Ness is gifted with psychic powers. He is chosen by a little alien named Buzz Buzz to save the world from Giygas, a malevolent entity which is causing the citizens and animals of his town and others to become hostile. To do this, he must first travel to eight sanctuaries and record the eight melodies there in his Sound Stone (given to him by Buzz Buzz), then he must combine those melodies and make the "Sound Stone melody", which will give him the power of the Earth necessary to defeat Giygas at the end of the game. (The second half of the melody comprise Ness' fanfare in the Smash series.) As a Smash fighter, Ness is high tier and holds the most unusual move in the game, the remote-controlled PK Thunder.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

EarthBound is a franchise whose representation in the Smash series is quite expanded upon in Melee, with one character, two new stages, a new item, and many new trophies.

Character

Ness is still the only playable EarthBound character in the game, but with a new PK Flash chargeable explosion attack as his new B move. He suffers a similar fate to Kirby in that the game's redesign and the redesign of all the characters causes him to drop from the highest tier to the lowest.

Stages

Melee is the first game to introduce stages for the EarthBound series.

• Eagleland: Onett: The quaint suburban hometown of Ness, its citizens and animals become hostile under Giygas' otherwise invisible influence. The red spherical meteor on the hilltop in the background is the alien Buzz Buzz's spacecraft, and when Ness investigates it he is instructed by Buzz Buzz to go on a quest to save Onett and the world from Giygas' influence. This stage takes place on and around houses and a drug store whose balconies serve as battling platforms. The road in front of the characters on the ground has speeding cars on it, and cars zooming past characters on the ground will inflict heavy damage and knockback to the characters.
• Eagleland: Fourside: The Los Angeles-inspired urban metropolis in EarthBound manifests as a battle-on-skyscrapers-in-the-nighttime stage for Melee, and it can be said that this is the spiritual successor to the Saffron City Pokémon stage from the first Smash Bros. The layout of the stage allows for bottomless pits in between buildings, so this is the most conceivable stage where the Wall jump technique held by Young Link and Samus can be used to save oneself from a fall. In addition, from time to time a UFO piloted by a henchman of Giygas called a Starman (not to be confused with the Mario powerup of the same name) will materialize above the city and serve as an extremely slippery platform. This stage is banned by Tournament legal standards.

Item

Melee is the first game to introduce an item for the series as well:

• Mr. Saturn: A race of odd little creatures with big noses, whiskers, and the ability to talk, Mr. Saturns are encountered as friendly NPCs by Ness in EarthBound. They make their home in an area of Eagleland called Saturn Valley, and when they speak the text in the game is presented as hard-to-read kindergarten scrawl, and they often mix the words "boing", "ding", and "zoom" into their speech for unknown reasons. As a Melee item, a Mr. Saturn is an intentional "dud" item. It walks around on its own, and it can be picked up and hurled at opponents for minor damage, but it can be reused this way because it does not disappear after one use. In addition, several bonuses are available based on the usage of these creatures.

Full Trophy List

• Ness' three game trophies
• Paula
• Jeff
• Poo
• Mr. Saturn
• Starman
• UFO

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Characters

As of now no Characters have been confirmed

Stage

As of now no Stages have been confirmed

Item

A Franklin Badge has been confirmed as a Item in Brawl.