Why Earthbound Was Great
Almost everyone who has ever picked up a copy of Earthbound and started playing it has enjoyed the experience. There are some who shoo off the game simply because of its childish graphics, but they are missing the greater parts of the game. This article will briefly explain why Earthbound is great.
Earthbound provided a fresh and original plot for gamers. At the time, RPGs consisted mainly of knights with swords going on a quest to defeat an evil king or rescue a princess. We had Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and many other medieval RPGs. Earthbound is in a modern setting. The heroes are not knights; they are children. Their weapons consist of everything from household objects to baseball bats to machinery. (Poo is an exception; he can be equipped with a Sword of Kings.) Their quest was to save the universe, a quest much more important than that of rescuing a princess. This is a reason why Earthbound is great.
In traditional RPGs, almost every NPC said something that was vital to playing the game. It got very boring to just talk to the NPCs, since they would always say things along the lines of 'Did you know that you can ______ if you press the _____ button?'. In Earthbound, this is exactly the opposite. You can actually enjoy interacting with the people. NPCs in Earthbound ask you what type of nuts you like, comment about your clothing, and even sometimes invite you to tea. This is another reason why Earthbound is great.
Earthbound is also very quirky and humorous. You would never think that you would find a New Age Retro Hippie or a Manly Fish to battle in any other game. The Mr. Saturns can be very funny at times, what with their excessive "Boing!"s, unusual font, and broken English. Even temporary party members can provide some quick chuckles ("Pokey played dead!"). This is another reason why Earthbound is great.
And then we have the music. The music in Earthbound is original and addicting. It captures the very essence of the place you are in, and it fits perfectly. It never seems to get annoying, no matter how many times you listen to it. Even if you play for only a few hours, the music will inevitably be stuck in your head for a long time. It's that addicting. The sound effects can be annoying at times (PK Rocking Omega @_@), but the music more than makes up for it.
Thus ends my brief explanation of why Earthbound was great.
Almost everyone who has ever picked up a copy of Earthbound and started playing it has enjoyed the experience. There are some who shoo off the game simply because of its childish graphics, but they are missing the greater parts of the game. This article will briefly explain why Earthbound is great.
Earthbound provided a fresh and original plot for gamers. At the time, RPGs consisted mainly of knights with swords going on a quest to defeat an evil king or rescue a princess. We had Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and many other medieval RPGs. Earthbound is in a modern setting. The heroes are not knights; they are children. Their weapons consist of everything from household objects to baseball bats to machinery. (Poo is an exception; he can be equipped with a Sword of Kings.) Their quest was to save the universe, a quest much more important than that of rescuing a princess. This is a reason why Earthbound is great.
In traditional RPGs, almost every NPC said something that was vital to playing the game. It got very boring to just talk to the NPCs, since they would always say things along the lines of 'Did you know that you can ______ if you press the _____ button?'. In Earthbound, this is exactly the opposite. You can actually enjoy interacting with the people. NPCs in Earthbound ask you what type of nuts you like, comment about your clothing, and even sometimes invite you to tea. This is another reason why Earthbound is great.
Earthbound is also very quirky and humorous. You would never think that you would find a New Age Retro Hippie or a Manly Fish to battle in any other game. The Mr. Saturns can be very funny at times, what with their excessive "Boing!"s, unusual font, and broken English. Even temporary party members can provide some quick chuckles ("Pokey played dead!"). This is another reason why Earthbound is great.
And then we have the music. The music in Earthbound is original and addicting. It captures the very essence of the place you are in, and it fits perfectly. It never seems to get annoying, no matter how many times you listen to it. Even if you play for only a few hours, the music will inevitably be stuck in your head for a long time. It's that addicting. The sound effects can be annoying at times (PK Rocking Omega @_@), but the music more than makes up for it.
Thus ends my brief explanation of why Earthbound was great.
