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Over Rated Piece of Trash

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 15
Date: November 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have read nothing but great reviews for this game. Everybody claiming that this is the "best RPG ever made" and this game has "never-ending charm." All of these great reviews convinced me to buy this game, plus I needed a new game for my SNES. So I got the game, at a fairly steep price, and thought that I was in for a treat. The game was able to hold my interest for maybe 4 hours. Everything about this game is mediocre at best. The graphics are poor, even for a SNES game, but graphics don't make a good game bad, so I was able to look past that. The story is stupid to say the least, and all of the events in the game seem fragmented and disconencted. Aparently you are the only one that can stop this one monster from taking over the world. Wow, how original. I guess they tried to put a different spin on this trite concept by making the evil guy from outer space. Anyway you are supposed to seek out these 8 sanctuary spots, and record all of their sounds with some sound stone that a bee from outer space gives you. I guess the game does have some originality.
The battles in the game are boring. You see the enemies from a head-on view, and there is a text box displaying what happened, what damage was dealt, and so on. This is a very outdated way of doing combat in an RPG, but it can work if done right. Try any of the Dragon Warrior games for example. However, I can't quite put me finger on why it seems so boring in this game. Maybe the fact that your characters miss about 60% of the time is part of the reason. That just gets obnoxios after awhile. It is not like it adds any challenge to the game. Another dull thing about combat is that if you are much stronger than the enemy, which you usually are, you will not even go into combat. When you run into an enemy the screen will flash, and the enemies are automatically killed. I guess that saves time.
Speaking of obnoxioes, throughout the game this guy randomly pops up and takes your picture. I don't know why, maybe it is supposed to add humor to the game, but I thought that it really slows the game down. You are walking along when suddenly the game pauses, some dumb theme music starts to play, and this guy comes out of nowhere to snap a picture of you. Sometimes this could happen back-to-back. It just slows the game down, and it gets old.
So I got to the final boss of this boring game, and I never beat him. I don't care about the ending. I don't care what happens to the characters, I just wish I could get my money back. Maybe the game would be able to save itself if you could find it for $15, but be expected to pay up to $80 for it. I just don't why it seems that nobody agrees with me. I can not find a bad review for this game. Well now tere is one. If you want a good RPG for the SNES try Lufia.

No game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 48
Date: January 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I still have not gotten my game which was ordered on 12/24/01 and it is 1/05/02

Earthbound Rocks

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 12
Date: December 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Earthbound rocks. When I first played this game, I had finger blisters before I put it down. It has good graphics for a Super Nintendo. The gameplay was simple yet fun. I was only able to rent it from my video store but now I want to own it.

....a awesome classic for RPG lovers!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Of course everyone in Japan refers EB to Mother 2 one of the greatest games there it sold extremely well. That is why Ness is in Smash Bros. and Smash Bros. Melee the reason it sold not poorly but not great here was because of the odd storyline. Sorry just telling details of all of the above now to the game itself. This game has a great plot although it is kind of odd but I would give the plot a 4.75 out of five. The graphics for that time it wasn't that bad ummmm... i would give it a 4. The Sound has some very good music especially the boss battles and towns I'd say a very good 5. It's a little easy to catch on to how to use the controller I'll give it a 4.25.The last and final rating how much fun is it VERY FUN a awesome classic for RPG lovers! The rating for this is 5 stars. And overall a 4.75

A long game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: September 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Earthboud is a extemly long game. Anyway you start off in in bed and then you hear this crash. Your character(you get to name him) jumps out of bed and then you get control. There is a baseball bat in your room which is your first weapon. Once you go into the hall your sisters bedroom is the door on your right(you get to name her too). Your sister talks about the noise you heard. Once you finish talking to her go down stairs. Your Mom and dog will be there. Your Mother is worried and she tells you to be carful and to take the dog with you when you go outside. I do not want to tell you any more because this will spoil the game. Throughout the game new friends will join you and you will travel to differnt towns and fight all sorts of enemys. There are tons of weapons for you and your friends to get. The game is quite hard, but very fun. But you need the manul to figure out how to play. The game would be impossilble without it. Here are my final ratings for the game.

graphics B+ ( pretty good for super nintendo)
sound A( the music is weird but nice)
gameplay A(It's really fun until you get stuck)

overall A

The Game Behind The Cult

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Earthbound for the Super Nintendo may very well epitomize the term "cult classic" more than any other game ever made. It fits all the criteria: Oddball game design that most mainstream gamers will find too strange for their liking, lacking sales and critical disapproval at the time of it's release, a small-but-devoted following, hefty price tag, constant rumors about incredibly rare beta versions, sequels, etc., and most importantly, a really interesting game underneath.

Earthbound is a traditional 16-bit RPG dragged through an insane LSD and pop culture gutter. The swords and staves are replaced with frying pans and yo-yo's. The fantasy worlds of Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger are replaced with a modern-day world with a zany sense of humor. You fight against hippies, businessman, ants, mushrooms, and abstract art. You order "zombie paper" from a pizzeria to save a zombie infested town. And you recieve your opening mission statement from a...bee. Not only do these ideas keep the game fresh, they also are used to satirize many of the more overly serious aspects of RPGs.

The battle system is pretty basic, but it works well, with character-unique abilities, PSI powers, and a "roll-back" H.P. system that rewards players with fast fingers. The lack of random battles is also a welcome surprise. Be warned, though: the game is unusually tough, and is very unforgiving towards unprepared or impatient players. With a little practice, however, you'll be able to tackle the more threatening battles without getting too banged up.

There are a few flaws: Mainly, the items don't stack, meaning you're oftentimes running out of room to place things. Also, the diffuclty could be adjusted so that the normal enemies are easier and the bosses are harder, but it's not too much of a problem.

Anyone who is tired of "normal" video games should check this one out, but be prepared to search abit, or pay upwards of $75.

The Antidote to Boring RPG's

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Most RPG's work on the set plot that a fantastic world in another dimension is in crisis as a single megalomaniac is trying to take over the planet. In these games characters are endowed with certain powers and personalities that reflect them. Though these characters all go through crises, they all come together at the end and defeat the villain. Happy ending and credits roll....
But that is not what happens in Earthbound. During the 1990's in the USA , your hometown is besieged by aliens. You must go out and defeat them and their leader before it is too late. That premise is tried and true (except for the "happening in your hometown during this decade" part), but the rest is not. The four characters in the game are quickly given realistic weapons and fun spells to utilize in the course of combat. Thrown into the mix are some puns, satire, and challenging battles. These factors gel into what is a solid gaming experience that overturns years of stale conventions and provides a refreshing alternative to nine-tenths of all RPG's. (I only give it four stars because the graphics are slightly dated.) If this game had succeeded, the gaming landscape would be entirely different, Square and Enix would have been blown away like the dinosaurs. But it failed and now most RPG's are pasty eye-candy. That fact only serves to make this game all the more substantial.

Good game, classic

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I found this game very enjoyable. It takes me back to the good old days of retro-RPG's. Good times.

Nothing Can Touch This

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: July 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Back when RPG's were about nothing but knights, castles, and fantasy, Earthbound took everything that made an RPG and kicked it in the nuts.

Earthbound is just plain wierd. The graphics style is very cartoony, but really fits the game's comical style. From the characters you fight (New-Age Retro Hippie, Putrid Moldy Man, Unassuming Local Guy - ever hear of enemies like THAT in an RPG?), to your allies (Mr. Saturn, Dr. Andonuts, Everdred, Runaway Five), and to the events that take place (Magic Cake - HAHAHA!), this game will stick in your head for years.

The great thing about Earthbound is that not only is it filled with great quotes and characters, there are no random battles! You can see your enemies walking around, they can usually run faster than you though. If you are strong enough, they will run from you or the battle won't even start, you will just be declared the winner and get your experience points.

Earthbound's world is very unique, each town is very unique with their own problems to solve. One town is zombie infested (Threed) , another has a cult that paints everything blue (Happy Happy Village) and another has a bizarre alter-universe version of itself (Fourside/Moonside/Edisoom).

This game will keep you laughing the whole way through with it's hilarious enemies, odd events, strange characters and overall lightheartedness. There isn't a timer in the game, but I estimate that it was about 40 hours long and is surprisingly challenging. If you can't find it in stores or order it online, at least try to play it on an emulator. This is definately one of the top 5 RPG's ever made, if not the greatest. Even the newer games coming out can't compete with this, it's that good.

The SNES' finest for this genre.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: June 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'll say it now- for the SNES, you don't get any better than EarthBound as far as RPGs go. I got into the role playing genre back in 1994, starting with Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy III/VI. Then, I moved on to Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG. The thing is, all of those games with the exception of Mario RPG, aren't anywhere near as great as I remembered them being. But those are different reviews. One game from that golden age of RPGs stands the test of time to be the best I've ever played- EarthBound. I can say, in all honesty, I never would have expected a game where you fight enemies with baseball bats and bottle rockets, eat hamburgers and picnic lunches to recover HP, and battle characters like the Unassuming Local Guy, would have been so great. And this was back in 1995- I was only in fifth grade at the time. But I loved it. Now, 10 years later, the game's just as good, if not better. Its uniqueness and style is still there. Where modern RPGs are about nothing but cutscenes, character development (an important factor, but not when the characters are boring), and spell effects, EarthBound was about being fun and unique. In fact, there's no character development in EarthBound. Ness, the main hero, doesn't talk- something that a lot of RPGs at that time were starting to use as a standard. Yes, I'm going to ramble a lot in this review. I hold EarthBound very close. It's one of my top 5 games of all time.

The game starts out in the year 199X in the town of Onett. Ness is asleep, but is woken up by a loud crash outside his home. The police arrive on the scene. It's a meteor. The path to it is blocked, so Ness goes back home. His nosey neighbor- Pokey, bangs on the door once Ness goes back to sleep. Pokey's brother is missing, and was last seen on his way to the meteor. Ness suits up, takes his trusty dog, and goes to see what's going on. After finding Pokey's brother, Picky, they're all stopped by a bee. Buzz Buzz, a noble bee from the future tells them that his time is full of darkness. A being named Giygas has taken over, and can only be stopped by 3 boys and 1 girl. Ness, is one of them. They all head home, but are stopped by an alien- the Starman Jr. He's come to attempt to kill Buzz Buzz. The fight goes by easily, and Ness returns the boys home. Unfortunately, Pokey's mom mistakes Buzz Buzz for a dung beatle, and smashes his lights out. In his last breath, Buzz Buzz gives Ness a Sound Stone- something that records the melodies of specific locations he must visit in order to defeat Giygas. Sudden plot isn't it? So Ness makes his merry way accross the world, meeting new people and recording the melodies of the locations he visits. But it won't be easy. There are TONS of enemies to go around, and some pretty hard bosses. If you thought the cake in Mario RPG and Doom in FFVI were tough, you're going to cry when you take on the Clumsy Robot here.

As I've already said- this game is unique in every category. Right when you start a new file, you name your 4 main characters, dog, favorite food, and favorite thing. Where just about every other RPG has you name characters when you meet them, it's done right off the bat. Fights are done in first person mode like the Dragon Warrior games, but with colorful backgrounds sure to render anyone with epilepsy unconscious or hospitalized. Speaking of hospitals, that's where you go to recover your wounded comrades. No, no healing items for you until much later in the game. And you have to pay for them to get out. EarthBound uses dollars, not gold. And you don't earn it immediately after fights. It's done by a pretty smart system where you earn money depending on which enemies you defeat, but don't see how much until you call your dad. Yes, you have to find phones and call good ol' dad in order to save the game and find this out. But, you have your ATM Card, so you can get money on the go whenever you want. I've yet to see another RPG this modern. We need more like it. And there aren't potions, but food and drinks such as the bag of fries, double burger, can of juice, brain food lunch, cup of life water, and more. And what is there to recover your health status such as poison? Realistic things. Vials of serum in particular for poison, and wet towels for sunstroke. Hah, I just realized that all of this sounds like I'm making it up, but this is really how EarthBound is. There's tons I could talk about, but I'm sure you know enough by now after visiting a certain Starman site out there. And of course, we all love Mr. Saturn and the world of Magicant- of which you visit while Ness is unconscious later on in the game. Alice in Wonderland has NOTHING on this area.

The graphics are hard to justify. While they aren't as detailed as those found in FFVI or CT, they fit the game. Picture a Peanuts cartoon, and that's EarthBound. Go find some screenshots, and you'll see what I mean. The graphics are charming, and I wouldn't have it any other way. When EarthBound 64 screenshots and clips showed up back in mid-99, I was a little disappointed because the jump to 3D just didn't seem right. Anyway, the graphics here won't be impressing anyone, but they're still fun to look at. And some of the spell effects are pretty cool. While not as cool as FFVI's Ultima or CT's Triple Techs, Poo's final attacks look and sound devestating. As for the music, you haven't lived until you've heard some of the tracks from this game. A lot of the first things I learned to play on guitar years ago, were from this game. Be it the music playing when you ride the bus, Saturn Valley, Summers, or the Name Your Character screen, EVERY tune is awesome. And words can't do justice to the track playing as you fight Giygas. It starts out sounding like an old NES ditty, but goes right into heavy metal. Awesome.

EarthBound is one of those one-in-a-million games that won the hearts of a cult-like fanbase. And it's understandable, as there's yet to be a game like it for any system. I can remember everything each character says when you talk to them. Even those great ones that go "sometimes it's good to talk to someone twice just in case they have something else to say" and then go "great! You listened to me about talking to the same person twice!". There's a lot to do and quote here in EarthBound. Your life will never be the same after playing it. It's so weird that you can't help but add bits of it into your every day life.

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