I've just finished EarthBound again, and figured I would play through Mother / EarthBound Zero, which I haven't done in ages. Turns out there are like 500 ROM hacks all claiming to be the best experience. What's the best method to play this game?
What's the best way to play Mother?
Just play the Earthbound Beginnings "prototype", it's literally how the game would have been had it come out in the US, not more, no less.
Tried this but the Sandhop translation is extremely stilted. Is the Mato translation any better?
I much preferred Mato's translation. That said, I haven't played either in about 10 years, the last time I played it was in Japanese. The writing in Earthbound Beginnings very much has that NES-era localisation style where it seems clear they're having to work with a very restrictive character limit, and Mato's one on the GBA version doesn't feel like that.
I've played this game maybe 10 times or more. It's good vanilla but if you want a hack I'll recommend something like this one. The game should more or less look like it always did, but have the most fun balancing I ever played. Money actually has value and matters, it's just fun and should otherwise look vanilla and have the colorful translation you're looking for
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5193/
hey anon. no clue if you're still reading this but im hyper autistic about mother 1 so here's something.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5193/
This rom hack keeps the original "vision" of the Japanese game, using Mato's Mother 1+2 translation. Makes the game more accessible while not butchering the games difficulty like Mother 25th anniversary does. You also have the benefit of listening to the games original score instead of the butchered Mother 1+2 ost.
Most importantly it increases EXP & Money you get. This is balanced in a way so you aren't overleveled for the final few areas & aren't underleveled too. You MAY still have to grind a couple of times though, just to get your new party members (Minus Teddy) up to snuff with Ninten.
I have my own personalized rom that has a bunch of small QOL things without directly harming the games original intent and vision, but this is a pretty good place to start for people. Don't be afraid to use a guide too, anon. Games like this were made to sell guides. This was a common practice back then.
This is homosexual shit. Mother 25th anniversary is a fricking stain even if you remove the rebalances it's still homosexual shit do not play this anon please
I was planning to play this version, actually. It seemed like it took the best aspects of most rom hacks and got rid of the worst. I don't know how anyone can play the actual 25th Anniversary Hack on account of how ugly it is, and I couldn't stand to play the GBA version with headphones on.
what makes tomato's translation of the game superior to sandhop's? from what i played of earthbound beginnings, it seemed like he did a pretty good job, all the text is filled with the type of personality i'd expect (i actually laughed out loud a few times playing). plus, i hear tomato calls loid "lloyd," and that's just unacceptable. enlighten me anon
NTA and I also think the original translation is serviceable but I think Lloyd became the official spelling thanks to Brawl. Same with Anna.
i've played both as well as the original japanese version. tomato's translation is much more flavorful and retains the "fun" of the japanese text a lot better. the prototype is "fine" but the dialogue is a lot better in tomato's patch.
Did they fix the frick up of
lowering the encounter rate
but not upping the money you get therefore never being able to afford anything?
also anniversary looks ugly as shit
Dunno about translations but, I'd go for either the original Famicom version (uncensored sprites, original dungeon designs with more challenge, original ending at Mt. itoi)
Or the GBA port from 1+2, has weaker audio than the Famicom and cropped screen (but it's not really a problem imo), but pros are a run button (that doesnt make npc speed glitch like on EB Zero proto), and a new item called the EVE chip that allows you to teleport to Mt. itoi directly. Has the censored sprites from the proto but also its extended ending.
motherbound is a pretty good romhack, removes the censoring and has a translation close to tomato's
https://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/MOTHERBound-A-MOTHER-EarthBound-Beginnings-Hack
This is also really good too ^^^
Did a full playthrough about a year ago with this rom.
does the GBA version have any additional content over the NES?
The original American (intended release) on the Switch service is best. It has the canonical ending and an official translation.
Is there something wrong with the Switch version, since is the only one to mention it?
it's identical to the prototype mentioned
Can i buy it or is it a rental?
You have to buy Nintendo Switch Online which is like 20 bucks a year and then you can download the NES games app. If that's what you meant by rental then yes
It's some bytes different last I checked, probably to do with copy protection.
Honestly I could not remember, I think the official one is just fine. Mato one seems like it was just changing things for the sake of it. Make it more "EarthBound-y" I guess. Definitely the new stuff feels like it was tailor-made for the Sandhop version. For example, the last post-credits line in the extended ending. Sandhop version is, "Something has come up and..." which is vague but I take it as more like despite Ninten's successes, his father is still too busy for him, whicu is more meloncholy. Mato translation changes this line to the basic-b***h Japanesey "It may be too early to rest easy" or something like that, which directly tells us that Ninten's adventures aren't over just yet (even though they are).
>I take it as more like despite Ninten's successes, his father is still too busy for him, whicu is more meloncholy
If Ninten's dad still doesn't have time for him, why would he phone him in the middle of the night when he's sleeping to tell him that? Mato's version matches the Japanese version from Mother 1+2, and although the extended ending was first seen in the English prototype, I definitely think "Something has come up and..." was intended to be a sequel hook like the Japanese and Mato texts are. It doesn't make sense to be anything else.
>I definitely think "Something has come up and..." was intended to be a sequel hook
Speaking of that, what's with the Mother series and not resolving cliffhangers? I finished EarthBound again recently and remembered there's a sequel setup at the end of that one too that never went anywhere. Does Itoi just love baiting people like that?
The connection is the villains.
Mother introduces Gyiyg/Giygas/Giegue, Mother 2 has him "pass the torch" to Pokey/Porky, Mother 3 concludes that loose end.
Ninten and Ness probably spent the rest of their lives in peace.
>Ninten and Ness probably spent the rest of their lives in peace.
I'd hope so. I guess your explanation makes sense, it's just that those cliffhangers seem to imply that the protagonists of each game would be directly involved in the next, and they're not (Unless you believe that theory that Ninten is Buzz Buzz.)
Dr Andonuts definitely is Lloyd in my headcanon
and Ness is the hotdog guy
Honestly I can get behind the Ninten being Buzz Buzz theory, with Buzz Buzz being a vessel he uses for time travel. I don't really get the Lloyd is Doctor Andonuts one, unless some experiment rapidly increased his aging, and while Ness being the hot dog guy fits thematically it really makes no sense to me.
You can always take the cognitive dissonance route for Buzz Buzz
Or your own made up theory that you like.
>fangame slop
no
>cognitive dissonance route for Buzz Buzz
What happens to him in that game?
I don't quite remember
but he joins a gang of mooks (The Mook enemy, a Starman, a Mr. Saturn with a gun, and a UFO, with an insenct inside), that are looking for the Apple of Enlightment, and stop giegue from reaching it, then shit hit the fan and when Giegue gets out of control they are forced to send the insect back to the past him back to the timeline to relay the message to Ness.
>What's the best method to play this game?
double xp/money romhack combined with game genie code to disable random encounters at your leisure. theres no reason to waste 10 extra hours of your life mashing through random battles.
Hello there Patrick BAIT Man
>walk 2 steps
>random battle
>5 enemies
>each enemy spawns in individually and takes 3 seconds each
>mash thru battle
>mash thru victory screen
>walk 2 steps
>random battle
>5 enemies
>each enemy spawns in individually and takes 3 seconds each
>mash thru battle
>mash thru victory screen
I don't know what stupid zoomer edition version you played, because if you decide to turn off your brain different fights in the actual game, you're going to die, and quickly. Also claiming there there are fights every 2 steps is looking at the glass half full, because the game alternates between combat sequences during which you'll have several fights in a row, and exploration sequences during which the game will leave you be to walk around and explore for a while, just like Dragon Quest.
Just say you don't like the game instead of trying to spread lies about it.
>Just say you don't like the game instead of trying to spread lies about it.
i do like the game, which is why i shared my preferred way of playing it. you can bloviate as much as you want anon, its not going to change the fact that people who play games like this in 2024 dont want their time wasted. there is no "challenge" in a game like this. the method i provided gives you the exact same gameplay experience, only it saves you many hours of random battles. no one cares that you played the game "legit". its not 1989 anymore and im not a little japanese boy with no other famicom games so i dont need artificial padding in a game like this.
>no one cares that you played the game "legit"
no one cares that you played the game at all so why bother if youre just going to cheat? Just watch a playthrough on 2x speed on your phone.
>Just watch a playthrough on 2x speed on your phone.
no. id rather play the romhack with the game genie code. op asked how people prefer to pay the game. keep seething.
>op asked how people prefer to pay the game
He asked people, not you.
I liked the GBA Mother 1+2 Version for Tomato's translation, the Easy Ring, and keeping the original town names. The GBA's sound chip is a little fuzzier and you'll hear some more static, but the melodies still come through just fine.
I have yet to play it, but I went to what I heard is the best way: Get the Prototype ROM, use the romhack "Mother Restored", and it should be the best way.
That, or hope the fangame Mother Encore gets finished.
>That, or hope the fangame Mother Encore gets finished.
I actually do have hope for that, given they've actually released a demo and there's a lot more actual footage out than most fangames.
The hack that puts the Mother 1+2 translation in and uncensors it is probably the best. But honestly it’s a pretty rough game, I finished it as a teenager but I don’t think I’d have the patience today.
Not incredibly related, but anyone know why the extended ending was added in the american prototype and mother 1 +2?
They didn't work on it until the games were being manufactured
Because the US couldn't grasp the form of Itoi's brilliance to simply have a game end right on the spot with no fanfare or sappy Happily Ever After.
But how does this explain it being added to 1+2, a Japan-only release?
Sshh, let Ganker chuds jerk off over how much better japan is
I'm pretty sure the extended ending was also from Japan. It just wasn't included in the final game because of either time or ROM limit size or both. Something similar happened with Dragon Quest III and Dragon Warrior III (opening instead of ending).
All of the graphics changes were also made in Japan, this is true for all the video games from back then. Localization teams in America did the translations and made anotations on what nwwded changed, and then Japan did the changes + applied the translations to the code.
It's why all your game cartridges still say "made in Japan" instead of "made in USA"
yeah mother 1 was rushed out and they probably just didn't have time to put an ending in. the version of the eight melodies that plays fits the ending cutscene perfectly.
Nintendo simply ported the most recent version made, which ended up being the US version. They didn't care.
>EarthBound Beginnings Virtual Console ROM
>FF3/"Chicago" font to replcae the ugly original
yep, it's gaming time.
You forgot...
>Easy patch to bring it in line to modern RPGs.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/8498/
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/8497/
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/8052/
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4161/
Fixed.
https://starmen.net/mother1/easypatch/
Just play the original as is. Its really not that hard and the game isn't very long so the "frequent encounters" aren't really an issue either. You can beat the game at like level 25. Yall are some real fricking babies I don't know who started perpetuating that this game needs some sort of fix but its time to stop. Its a great game just play it and enjoy instead of fussing over things you don't need.
MOTHER SERIES TIER LIST
MOTHER 1 > EarthBound > MOTHER 3
Secret option:
Cognitive Dissonance in between 1 and 2
>Cognitive Dissonance in between 1 and 2
>dogshittive shittonance
no RPG Maker slop allowed, especially not garbage that uses only the crappy default shit.
>What's the best way to play Mother?
I played with your Mother last night.
simply play the fricking game
Having recently finished the vanilla prototype rom (first playthrough, no guides or emulation trickery), it's funny to me seeing how many people will avoid it like the plague. It's rough for sure, but I'm not even a huge RPG guy and I managed it.
Just play the original prototype, and be aware it's not a game meant to be rushed through. Take your sweet time with it.
A lot of people are really afraid of older RPGs because of the lack of hand holding.
Mother is not even the most punishing kind of RPG, there's no game over, you go back to the last save point and keep all your progress if you get beaten, only punishment is losing half your money, like Dragon Quest. But Mother even lets you save money on the bank so that's not even an issue either.
People just have an irrational fear of 8bit RPGs, despite them being purer and simpler, and faster too.
finally somebody said it. it's REALLY not that hard. the only time you really need to grind is at the beginning and when you get new party members
And Magicant is always there for precisely that reason.
Or you can keep Pippi with you a little longer and she fricks everything up early
>Mother
>Earthbound
>US version
>Japan version
>prototype
+ romhacks/restoration/retranslation
frick this shit how am I supposed to start with this series?
Start with EarthBound, then MOTHER 3 and only play 1 if you want.
Or you can do it 1, EB and 3.
1 is the best, anyway
Don't forget to check the vocal OST
>Start with EarthBound, then MOTHER 3 and only play 1 if you want.
>Or you can do it 1, EB and 3.
I followed the "start with earthbound, only play mother 1 at the end if you really want to" advice many years ago, and only discovered at the end that Mother 1 is great, and that playing it first would have made me enjoy 2 and 3 even more.
I think it's best to play 1, 2, then 3. However, if you think you might get filtered by an 8 bit RPG then you might as well start with Earthbound. I really don't think Mother 1 is tedious or difficult like some people say it is, but it's better to play 2 games out of 3 than to drop the series at Duncan's Factory in the first game.
>vocal OST
i'm so happy this exists. they didn't have to do it but it's a really good album despite how corny it gets.
Have you listened to the revisited version released some years ago? It's pretty good!
i actually got filtered by that one, too experimental. wisdom of the world is the best track btw
it's a complete pastiche of disney songs
Engrish
This
This may be one of the most unattractive people I have ever seen.
>Engrish
better than proper muttglish if I HAVE to be honest.
It's not bad.
I love Wisdom of the World in both, Fallin' Love and Flying Men.
But you can't just beat Catherine Warwick
>This may be one of the most unattractive people I have ever seen.
Gaddafi was actually pretty handsome in his younger years, he just aged horribly.
>Mother 1+2 GBA. Ignore the present in your room.
>Earthbound SNES
>Don't play Mother 3
simple
>Ignore the present in your room.
???
Not him, but Mato added the imaginatively-named "Easy Ring" (Baby Mode) in that present.
If memory serves, he wanted to add a lot more, too, like 16-bit-ifying the enemy sprites, but backtracked.
>Don't play Mother 3
Sick of this contrarian shit. Mother 3 is good and to this day I haven't heard a single good argument from you homosexuals as to why it isn't.
Oi that's Gaddafi
Too bad he was assassinated
I think he would have approved of our retrogaming emulation efforts
>Braaaaaap!!!
Take this, Western corporations!