For many fans,Earthboundis one of the most memorable and underrated JRPGs ever created. Sporting an extremely vivid and visual aesthetic, memorable characters, and a complex battle system,Earthboundhas a lot to offer players, especially those who have yet to experience it. Although, apparentlyEarthboundwas supposed to have an installment released on the Nintendo 64.
While theMotherseries has been around since the days of the original Famicom, it’s not as popular compared to some of the more well known Nintendo series, likeMarioor the now35 year oldThe Legend of Zeldafranchise. However, that’s not to say that the series is exempt from fans or demand for a return of the series. In fact, a recent development actually shows that Nintendo had big plans for theMotherseries once 3D gaming started to catch on.
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A Twitter user by the name of Zen recently won an auction for a Nintendo company report, which contained a CD-ROM that was related toEarthbound 64orMother 3, as it was formerly known. The disc contained 25 seconds of aNintendo 64port ofMother 3, which Zen later posted to YouTube. The footage is as bizarre and surreal as the finalized version ofMother 3released on the Super Famicom.
For longtime fans of theMotherseries, this is an exciting look at what could have been. It’s hard to imagine thatMother 3could have not only released on the N64, but also could have potentially released to a North American audience, given how much success the Nintendo 64 received overseas. It also could have brought theMotherseries into mainstream popularity.
Considering how the only connection mainstream audiences have to theMotherseries is by way of Ness andLucas' appearances inSuper Smash Bros., it makes sense that Nintendo hasn’t brought theMotherseries back in any capacity. From a financial perspective, it wouldn’t make much sense for Nintendo to invest time in developing a game that the company doesn’t think would perform as favorably compared to its more successful franchises.
Then again, there has been a fairly clear demand for newEarthboundorMothergames. The fact that celebrities likeTerry Crews have demanded localization forMother 3goes to show that fans still want to experience these games. Not to mention that plenty of players would likely be interested in playing the games that Ness and Lucas are from. The same thing happened when Shulk fromXenoblade Chronicleswas announced forSuper Smash Bros.All of a sudden, there as a high demand forXenoblade Chroniclesto come to other systems. Though, whether the same can be said ofMother 3orEarthboundremains to be seen.
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