EarthBound Beginnings, a classic eight-bit role-playing game, which was originally released as Mother in Japan on the Famicom (the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan) back in 1989, is now available in the U.S. and Europe on the Wii U Virtual Console after 25 years, according to an official statement from Nintendo in the latest Nintendo World Championships.
EarthBound Beginnings is an unusual game that tells the story of a young kid named Ninten in a small town. Equipped with psychic powers, the boy will eventually combat aliens and other weird creatures as he explores and tries to solve the mystery of his missing parents.
Just two years ago, EarthBound or Mother 2 was released on the Wii U Virtual Console to the delight of fans after being originally localized in the U.S. in 1994 for the Super Nintendo gaming console. The Mother franchise's publisher released Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance in 2006, and even though this last installment was not localized for U.S. gamers, there is now a chance that it may become a reality after Nintendo released the game's prequel.
To the credit of its most passionate fans, one group has even developed Mother 4, which of course is not an official game by Nintendo, which has promised to release the free fan-made version this June. In the past, Nintendo closed its eyes on the EarthBound community, letting fans do whatever they want as long as nobody is earning illegal money. Now, it seems like it has noticed the U.S. fans and has launched a localized release of the franchise.
According to the official trailer , EarthBound Beginnings, the brainchild of Japanese game designer Shigesato Itoi, can be played on the Wii U Virtual Console in its classic Nintendo Entertainment System graphics and gameplay form. It turns out that the Game Boy Advance emulation feature of the Virtual Console is its best feature yet. Luckily, for its new gaming audience, they will get to experience the game from the very start. However, it has not been confirmed if Nintendo has patched the difficulty curve of this official version, so gamers prepare!
The game is available for purchase on the Wii U eShop for $6.99 while EarthBound is selling at $9.99.
Photo: Bryan Ochalla | Flickr
