Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Mother 3 thoughts

Well, I've read the reviews, I've played through the first chapter and a bit of the second chapter and all I can say is "Wow". While I'm taking it slow and waiting for an English release (I don't understand Japanese) the game is already sucking me in. I feel like Mother 3 is a true sequel. Some people in Japan seem to dislike Flint and the other characters, and at first, I too was very skeptical, but I have definitely fallen in love with every aspect of the game. Even not understanding the language of the game, it's very easy to follow what's going on with the story.
Like I said above, it's a true sequel. It's not Mother 2.5 or EarthBound 1.5... It's truely it's very own game. I agree with the 1up review that the game has become more sophisticated. I feel like the series has matured with it's own gaming audience. Most of us EB players were aprox. 9-11 years old when the game was released, and now we are all 19-22. More mature, more sophisticated, more intelligent.
I'm becomming more and more optimistic about the US release of Mother 3, and possibly Mother 1+2 (Hopefully to be sold under the title "Mother 1+2=3 - EarthBound" in a box set :P) because of the reviews, many people are saying that if Nintendo of America passes this game up it'd be a big mistake. I fully agree with this, and say that if Nintendo doesn't release these games in America, they may as well pack up and leave now, because their company will dissapoint thousands of gamers and fans.
So I ordered Mother 3 and the T-shirt aswell, from Shigesato Itoi's website. The red one of course, but I wanted the Franklin Badge one too. I just couldn't see myself spending $60 on two shirts, even for my favorite game series of all time (and quite possibly my favorite "THINGS" ever).. And I seriously doubt I'll be able to find the shirt in my size on eBay.
I'll definitely be posting pictures of me - playing Mother 3, on my GB Player with my GB Player Hori controller that looks just like a SNES controller, in my Mother 3 t-shirt. Ohhh don't doubt me. I have to save this for posterity. This is a landmark in my life and I realize that it's only a game and it's a little sad that I'm so obcessed with it but anyone that has been waiting patiently for 11 years would be the same exact way.

It's kind of annoying that the people around me don't understand the meaningfulness of this game for me. The only people that can understand are my boyfriend, my sister, my father and of course all the other SM.net people out there.

I haven't even actually told my dad about the game yet. I'm almost considering sending him a GameBoy Advance and Mother 2 and Mother 3 in the mail so he can play them. You see.... the series is so meaningful for me mainly because of one reason. I'll tell you why!

Well, when I was about 9 years old I was with my dad at the local Blockbuster looking for games to rent just like we did every week (My dad had a broken foot and was disabled and I was very sick) We spent a lot of time together back then. My dad was my very best friend. I loved him so much back then. He was my idol! We did everything together (before my stepmother came into the picture) Yes yes... I was daddy's little girl. Well, anyhow, I saw the ginormous EarthBound box at the top of the shelves and said "Daddy I wanna rent that one!!!!!" So we rented that one. What was cool was that they even rented out the Strat guide with it. The perfect addition to the perfect game. We took it home, played it, and became instantly obcessed. Well, we were very poor at that time.
Soon after that, I nearly lost my dad to another woman (years later I would lose that battle) and she wouldn't let us buy the game, even though we had been saving. (yes, saving, like i said, POOR) So the lady made me work outside in our lot all summer long with her, pulling weeds, tilling the soil, planting plants, even trees, placing landscape perfectly. I worked my ass off.... for one thing and one thing alone. The last chance to connect with my father before I lost him forever. To buy EarthBound.
Now the game was still $59.99 at Wal-Mart at the time, so one day in mid-August she took me to the store and finally bought the game, totally suprised me with it. I cried I was so happy. That night, my dad and I began to play the game. He nearly lived in my room for those 2 weeks it took us to beat the game the first time... Many nights sleeping in the same bed, with the game still on. It's my favorite memory of my father, just before he went off the deep end. He loved the game as much as I did, and even shed a tear during the end of the game.
That was the last video game I ever played with my father again. That was 10 years ago.

I now live in a different state than my dad, with a different parent. I see him maybe once a year if that, and barely talk to him. We are completely different people. But we still hold one strong bond together... EarthBound.

This is why I vow to send him the games and a GameBoy Advance. Even if there isn't an OFFICIAL English release, I will download the ROMs and transfer them to flash carts. I will make my very own boxes for the games with my own artwork drawn over them (another bond we shared, art) and hopefully we can bond again over the games, even miles and miles away. I'm hoping that Mother 3 will ressurect my relationship with my father. That would be the greatest gift that Shigesato Itoi could give to me, and if it's possible I'd like to thank him if this game can bring my father and I back together.

Well, that's all for now! Thanks for reading. :)