Comparing and Contrasting Mother 3 with Star Wars
We all know that the Mother series loves to include cultural references to popular music, games, movies, and any other form of media that ever was. The examples of this are countless- Super Mario being mentioned in Mother 1, Beatles music in Earthbound, the very Batman theme in Mother 3. And that's just the stuff that made the cut. Peaceful Rest Valley was once the Grateful Dead Valley, the Runaway Five were the Blues Brothers, and the Sky Runner was once the Sky Walker.
From this foundation of copyright-infringment, fans have developed a habit of finding cultural references within the Mother games and vice-versa. Starmen.net has entire topics devoted to cultural similarities, intentional or not, because finding the similarities is fun.
One common note made by fans is that of the likeness Mother 3 bears to the Star Wars series. In the interest of having fun and curing boredom, I have compiled the best facts I could find on both franchises and combined them into this article. Obviously there are a number of loose ends in the list, and I probably missed a similarity or two. But anyhow, let the comparisons begin!
For starters, we have our main characters: Lucas of Tazmily and Luke of Tatooine. Both begin their lives as simple farmers, growing up in isolated little towns on isolated little planets. Their stories begin when the Empire kills members of their families, and they both come to embark on quests to stop their individual Empires from destroying everything. Both are talented in mystical arts, being PSI and the Force, and both are unusually powerful and unique in their abilities. The other most notable users of magic pass away in both franchises, such as when the Jedi were massacred, and when the Magypsies disappeared.
About halfway through each of their stories, Luke and Lucas go to some type of bar and meet up with jack-of-all-trades type men, Duster and Han Solo, who have useful, albeit unusual, skills. Luke and Lucas also meet up with strong, tomboyish princesses who are also gifted with the ability to use magic, and whose adopted families die (Princess Leia's adoptive parents die with Alderaan, and all of the Magypsies, who raised Kumatora, disappear when their needles are pulled). Accompanying Luke and Lucas are also two furry creatures that can fire missiles and other assorted weaponry, and who are surprisingly intelligent although not human- Boney and Chewbacca. Both parties are aided by the spirits of the deceased (Hinawa and Obi-Wan), who become more powerful in death in both stories.
Each of these ragtag teams manages to struggle against the odds and take out major military installations, namely Thunder Tower and the Death Star, and are constantly taking out the faceless mooks of the Empires- the Storm Troopers and the Pigmasks. The two forces look similar, wearing full-body protective suits with masks, and they are all being manipulated by the Empire. The Clones were not always evil, and the Pigmasks often don't realize the full extent of their actions. In addition, the Empires make use of the free labor offered by their other, nonhuman troops, the Claymen and the Droids, both of whom fight well in battle in a pinch.
The Empire, in both cases, comes to control the masses about halfway through the story, as the Galactic Empire does between movies 3 and 4, and as the Pigmask Army does between chapters 3 and 4 of Mother 3. Both are led by old, feeble men who cannot physically fight like the heroes can and must depend on other means to defend themselves- the Force and the spider mech. Both aged prematurely due to their tampering with cosmic powers.
Both Empires employ powerful first officers- Darth Vader and the Masked Man. Each wears a face-concealing mask, carries a beam sword, has a mechanical right arm, and can use the same magical forces as the hero. Both began as brave young boys who wanted to do good, and who started turning evil after their mothers were killed. Each was involved in a near-fatal accident and became mechanically reconstructed, and neither faltered from the side of evil for a number of years.
Both have a familial relation with the main characters, a relation which goes unknown by the hero- and the audience- until late in the story. Both engage in one-on-one duels with the heroes, and easily trounce the heroes, who aren't sure they want to fight their own family members. Eventually the heroes convince them to switch sides, which they do just before passing away at the end of the story.
I can't say with any certainty that these similarities were intentional. Knowing the Mother series's track record, I wouldn't be surprised, though. In the meantime, though, I hope you enjoyed this whimsical article.
Sources: (because I couldn't have come up with a lot of the stuff on this list by myself)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/914622-mother-3/56004968
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope
http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Storage/3_GameHelp/36932/page/1
PERFECT 10! The score will say 1.10, but it's actually 10.
We all know that the Mother series loves to include cultural references to popular music, games, movies, and any other form of media that ever was. The examples of this are countless- Super Mario being mentioned in Mother 1, Beatles music in Earthbound, the very Batman theme in Mother 3. And that's just the stuff that made the cut. Peaceful Rest Valley was once the Grateful Dead Valley, the Runaway Five were the Blues Brothers, and the Sky Runner was once the Sky Walker.
From this foundation of copyright-infringment, fans have developed a habit of finding cultural references within the Mother games and vice-versa. Starmen.net has entire topics devoted to cultural similarities, intentional or not, because finding the similarities is fun.
One common note made by fans is that of the likeness Mother 3 bears to the Star Wars series. In the interest of having fun and curing boredom, I have compiled the best facts I could find on both franchises and combined them into this article. Obviously there are a number of loose ends in the list, and I probably missed a similarity or two. But anyhow, let the comparisons begin!
For starters, we have our main characters: Lucas of Tazmily and Luke of Tatooine. Both begin their lives as simple farmers, growing up in isolated little towns on isolated little planets. Their stories begin when the Empire kills members of their families, and they both come to embark on quests to stop their individual Empires from destroying everything. Both are talented in mystical arts, being PSI and the Force, and both are unusually powerful and unique in their abilities. The other most notable users of magic pass away in both franchises, such as when the Jedi were massacred, and when the Magypsies disappeared.
About halfway through each of their stories, Luke and Lucas go to some type of bar and meet up with jack-of-all-trades type men, Duster and Han Solo, who have useful, albeit unusual, skills. Luke and Lucas also meet up with strong, tomboyish princesses who are also gifted with the ability to use magic, and whose adopted families die (Princess Leia's adoptive parents die with Alderaan, and all of the Magypsies, who raised Kumatora, disappear when their needles are pulled). Accompanying Luke and Lucas are also two furry creatures that can fire missiles and other assorted weaponry, and who are surprisingly intelligent although not human- Boney and Chewbacca. Both parties are aided by the spirits of the deceased (Hinawa and Obi-Wan), who become more powerful in death in both stories.
Each of these ragtag teams manages to struggle against the odds and take out major military installations, namely Thunder Tower and the Death Star, and are constantly taking out the faceless mooks of the Empires- the Storm Troopers and the Pigmasks. The two forces look similar, wearing full-body protective suits with masks, and they are all being manipulated by the Empire. The Clones were not always evil, and the Pigmasks often don't realize the full extent of their actions. In addition, the Empires make use of the free labor offered by their other, nonhuman troops, the Claymen and the Droids, both of whom fight well in battle in a pinch.
The Empire, in both cases, comes to control the masses about halfway through the story, as the Galactic Empire does between movies 3 and 4, and as the Pigmask Army does between chapters 3 and 4 of Mother 3. Both are led by old, feeble men who cannot physically fight like the heroes can and must depend on other means to defend themselves- the Force and the spider mech. Both aged prematurely due to their tampering with cosmic powers.
Both Empires employ powerful first officers- Darth Vader and the Masked Man. Each wears a face-concealing mask, carries a beam sword, has a mechanical right arm, and can use the same magical forces as the hero. Both began as brave young boys who wanted to do good, and who started turning evil after their mothers were killed. Each was involved in a near-fatal accident and became mechanically reconstructed, and neither faltered from the side of evil for a number of years.
Both have a familial relation with the main characters, a relation which goes unknown by the hero- and the audience- until late in the story. Both engage in one-on-one duels with the heroes, and easily trounce the heroes, who aren't sure they want to fight their own family members. Eventually the heroes convince them to switch sides, which they do just before passing away at the end of the story.
I can't say with any certainty that these similarities were intentional. Knowing the Mother series's track record, I wouldn't be surprised, though. In the meantime, though, I hope you enjoyed this whimsical article.
Sources: (because I couldn't have come up with a lot of the stuff on this list by myself)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/914622-mother-3/56004968
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope
http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Storage/3_GameHelp/36932/page/1
PERFECT 10! The score will say 1.10, but it's actually 10.
