EarthBound - A Groundbreaker
Once upon a time back in 1995, I went to the local Blockbuster to check out the games section. By this time, the 16-bit platforms were nearing the end of their reign over the gaming marketplace and the 32-bit systems were starting to take over. I was looking for a new game to play that I had never tried before and noticed a bigger than average game box, seemingly out of place, with huge letters on it spelling out "Earthbound".
I immediately picked it up and looked at the back. "Eck! The graphics are horrible. Why would anyone play this game? It looks like an old Nintendo game." This thought immediately crossed my mind being part of my adolescent bias towards graphical prowess. I craved better-looking graphics. I still don't know why I rented it despite the fact that I had already written it off because of it’s use of out-dated graphics.
I went home and plugged it into my SNES nonetheless. The opening game logos passed me by and then some strange, static-laden, image of an alien- invaded town appeared. My interests were peaked. After frantically pressing random buttons and simultaneously lowering the volume, the letters Earthbound strolled leisurely across the screen while playing a very catchy opening theme. So far, so good. I was starting to get into the game a bit more than I ever expected.
After playing the game for several hours on end, and enjoying every second of it, a friend of mine called to see what I was up to. I told him that I was playing this new game called Earthbound and that he should come over to check it out. I knew that he liked playing role-playing games as much as I did because he had completed Final Fantasy II before I did. My younger brother normally liked the side scrolling platformer type games, along with the racing games so I didn’t even bother trying to show him the game. Although, after watching me play for an hour or so, he wanted to play.
My brother and I cleared a save slot for him to use and he started going through the opening dialogs. He thought it was extremely cool to be able to put in unique names for all of your heroes and even the ability to name your dog and your favorite food. Even though we didn’t know exactly how our favorite food would make a difference in the game, after a few more hours of play, we discovered that Ness’ mother makes the food for you when you come and rest at your house.
This kind of interaction and uniqueness that Earthbound introduced really made an impact on all who gave the game a chance. My friend finally came over and I showed him where I had cleared a save slot for him to use. The first thing out of his mouth was that the graphics sucked. After walking through Ness’ house and then outside to investigate the meteorite crash, my friend noticed that this game is different from other RPGs in a few ways.
“How come I don’t have a sword?” he asked. “Why isn’t there a castle or a drawbridge anywhere?” he then asked. I responded to each question in kind, acting as if I was an expert at the game, even though I knew little of the game at that point. As common sense would imply, the game is not based in a medieval fantasyland nor do the heroes have old fashion swords and shield as would be found in any other RPG at the time. Earthbound broke barriers where other games were held back. If it weren’t for Earthbound, would we have modern RPGs today? Would any game have a hint of humor if it wasn’t for Earthbound’s wit and charm?
Once upon a time back in 1995, I went to the local Blockbuster to check out the games section. By this time, the 16-bit platforms were nearing the end of their reign over the gaming marketplace and the 32-bit systems were starting to take over. I was looking for a new game to play that I had never tried before and noticed a bigger than average game box, seemingly out of place, with huge letters on it spelling out "Earthbound".
I immediately picked it up and looked at the back. "Eck! The graphics are horrible. Why would anyone play this game? It looks like an old Nintendo game." This thought immediately crossed my mind being part of my adolescent bias towards graphical prowess. I craved better-looking graphics. I still don't know why I rented it despite the fact that I had already written it off because of it’s use of out-dated graphics.
I went home and plugged it into my SNES nonetheless. The opening game logos passed me by and then some strange, static-laden, image of an alien- invaded town appeared. My interests were peaked. After frantically pressing random buttons and simultaneously lowering the volume, the letters Earthbound strolled leisurely across the screen while playing a very catchy opening theme. So far, so good. I was starting to get into the game a bit more than I ever expected.
After playing the game for several hours on end, and enjoying every second of it, a friend of mine called to see what I was up to. I told him that I was playing this new game called Earthbound and that he should come over to check it out. I knew that he liked playing role-playing games as much as I did because he had completed Final Fantasy II before I did. My younger brother normally liked the side scrolling platformer type games, along with the racing games so I didn’t even bother trying to show him the game. Although, after watching me play for an hour or so, he wanted to play.
My brother and I cleared a save slot for him to use and he started going through the opening dialogs. He thought it was extremely cool to be able to put in unique names for all of your heroes and even the ability to name your dog and your favorite food. Even though we didn’t know exactly how our favorite food would make a difference in the game, after a few more hours of play, we discovered that Ness’ mother makes the food for you when you come and rest at your house.
This kind of interaction and uniqueness that Earthbound introduced really made an impact on all who gave the game a chance. My friend finally came over and I showed him where I had cleared a save slot for him to use. The first thing out of his mouth was that the graphics sucked. After walking through Ness’ house and then outside to investigate the meteorite crash, my friend noticed that this game is different from other RPGs in a few ways.
“How come I don’t have a sword?” he asked. “Why isn’t there a castle or a drawbridge anywhere?” he then asked. I responded to each question in kind, acting as if I was an expert at the game, even though I knew little of the game at that point. As common sense would imply, the game is not based in a medieval fantasyland nor do the heroes have old fashion swords and shield as would be found in any other RPG at the time. Earthbound broke barriers where other games were held back. If it weren’t for Earthbound, would we have modern RPGs today? Would any game have a hint of humor if it wasn’t for Earthbound’s wit and charm?
