Planet Earth. Not a bad spot.
I can see my house from here.

EarthBound is a game for the Super Nintendo (SNES) that was released in North America in 1994. It was a "lite" roleplaying game (as those released for consoles tend to be) that deviated from the norm of being a typical fantasy or typical science-fiction genre/ setting.

Instead, EarthBound took place in a modern setting, with the lead character being a young boy. This was a game where you would eat cookies to regain hit points, use medication to aleviate ailments, and have to head back home when you missed your mother. The game had many more quirks and a delightful sense of humour, that in the opinion of many, has been unmatched to this day. Its general uniqueness has had many players coming back for more over the years, and even petitionning relentlessly for a sequel to be released.

Before EarthBound was ever released in North America, it counterpart, Mother 2, was released in Japan. Mother 2 was, of course, the sequel to Mother, which had been released for the Famicom (the Japanese equivalent to the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES). Mother was never brought to North America, however... At least not officially. In a story legendary to the fans of the series, a mysterious, translated prototype cartridge was somehow leaked from Nintendo (Nintendo had been considering bringing the game to North America before they gave up on the idea) and transformed into a ROM, playable on a personal computer (no, I have no idea where you can find it, so look for yourself and don't ask me where to find one !), under the title "EarthBound Zero".

The EarthBound community wanted more, however. After a near-release of "Mother 3" for the Nintendo 64 (it never was released or completed), things looked grim (this, despite the fact that the game's lead character, "Ness" appeared in both of Nintendo's Smash Bros. Games). Still, EarthBound fans pettitioned for another EarthBound game. Their hopes may have been answered in 2003, when it was announced that Mother 1+2 would be released for the Game Boy Advance, and that a Mother 3 game was in the works. Whether any of these games will eventually be ported to English versions, though, is anyone's guess, as Nintendo has not confirmed any North American releases for these games yet.

As of now, the EarthBound story continues...

But how does my EarthBound Fangame fit into the picture? Click here to find out !

And for more information about the EarthBound/ Mother series, head on over to Starmen.net, probably the primary English-language resource for all that is EarthBound. You'll find a wealth of information there, including news, the history of the games, walkthroughs, screenshots, and perhaps most importantly, a dedicated community.

For more information, click on the links on the left side of the page.