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• Mother 3's Soundtrack Disassembled

  The Game Boy Advance never had much of a problem matching up to the SNES graphically. As for audio, well, that was another matter. GBA remakes of SNES classics like Final Fantasy IV and especially Final Fantasy VI tried really hard to ship the games' epic soundtracks. The end result got an A for Effort, but it was like listening to a favourite singer belt out a classic song with a wad of cotton stuffed in each cheek. Something about the whole affair felt off. I can recall only two instances where I was genuinely impressed by the soundtrack in a GBA game: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Mother 3. You wouldn't accept a flimsy soundtrack from a Castlevania game (least of all one that has the stones to feature a subtitle with “Aria” in it), but Mother 3's soundtrack is an integral part of the title's gameplay because the player performs “combos” by tapping the attack button in tune to the game's battle themes. These combos make all the difference between an easy battle and a difficult one, not to mention the difference between taking an active part in the fight or sitting on the sidelines, dejected and bored, possibly with rainwater streaming down your face. Mother 3 has a pretty huge roster of battle themes, but it's no sweat. Once you memorise the rhythm for a song, you have it in a lock for the rest of the game, right? Sixteen-hit combo city! ”WRONG!” Harmonix employee Dan Bruno recently analysed Mother 3's soundtrack down to the last note—no, really, he has sheet music written out—and lays out the staggering amount of work that went into Mother 3's battle tunes. Read More... Posted Feb 10 2009, 11:28 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: mother 3, game music, harmonix, gba, game boy advance, nadia oxford, castlevania aria of sorrow

• Mother 3 a Shred More Likely to Hit US

  Siliconera reports that Mother 3 developer Brownie Brown is interested in putting the game on the DS: While it’s way too late for Nintendo of America to backtrack and release Mother 3 as a Game Boy Advance game they could port it to the Nintendo DS. “If we were asked to make one [a DS version of Mother 3], then we would definitely like for fans abroad to play the game,” Kameoka-san said. Read More... Posted Jan 21 2009, 02:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wii, ds, cole stryker, mother 3, gba, brownie brown

• Underrated: Scurge – Hive

  Back in 2006 a video game starring a female bounty hunter battling against hordes of mutant alien scum was released. Our heroine was armed with a weapon that could fire different types of energy bolts to take advantage of enemy weaknesses and battled against all manner of life sucking alien foes. No, I'm not talking about Metroid, but rather a cool little title that pays very obvious homage to that most venerable of game series. And yet, for all that Scurge is thematically identical to Metroid: Fusion and Prime 3 Corruption in particular, it doesn't actually play like a Metroid title at all. Read More... Posted Jan 19 2009, 10:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: metroid, amber ahlborn, ds, gba, shooter, underrated, scurge hive

• Hey, RPG Hero: Go Home and Be a Family Man

  So on Saturday I indulged in my weekly Mother 3 play session-- ("Oh God, she's talking about Mother 3 again, you sneak up behind her with this piano wire while I slip this cyanide into Mackey's coffee.") Please let me live. I don't know when I'm going to be so motivated to pick a game's brain ever again. Mother 3 is unlike any RPG I've ever played--and for the simplest reasons. This, more than anything, is what fascinates me about the game. Shigesato Itoi realises that the easiest way to get people to love your characters is to treat them like human beings. For some reason, woefully few of his fellow RPG designers have picked that up. It's rare to find an RPG cast that everyone can relate to on a human level. Mother 3's world-saving brigade casts ground-shaking magic and racks up experience points and throws giant staples at enemies like any other JRPG (okay, the staples, not so much), but Itoi wants us to feel close to them. So he draws us in by being realstic about the one thing that unites even Superman with the common Earthling: family. Here there be spoilers. (Oh and don't feed Mackey any cyanide. Thank you. His parents appreciate your restraint.) Read More... Posted Nov 24 2008, 07:35 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: rpg, earthbound, mother 3, gba, jrpg, nadia oxford, shigesato itoi, famly

• Mother 3 Makes Me Feel Human Again

  Nadia's recent post got me thinking (and sniffling) about a game I've been playing--and a game I hope you're not sick of hearing about yet--Mother 3. The Japanese advertising campaign for Mother 3 declared the long-awaited sequel to be "strange, funny, and heartrending." While I haven't exactly been shedding tears over Mother 3, I can at least say that it's remarkably sad; and shockingly, scenario writer Shigesato Itoi has made his game "heartrending" in a completely sincere way. Forget about melodramatic depictions of flower girls being impaled; the tiny sprites of Mother 3 have been able to convey more emotion than any other game in recent memory. Spoilers for Chapters 1-3 coming up. This Japanese Mother 3 commercial should provide a nice buffer: Spoilers after the cut... Read More... Posted Oct 22 2008, 01:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, gba, bob mackey, shigesato itoi, emotions

• THE MOTHER 3 TRANSLATION IS OUT

  I have to apologize for posting about the Mother 3 translation project twice in one week, but this post contains actual news, as opposed to just speculation. Today--right now--you can finally grab the Mother 3 translation patch; though how you choose to use it is entirely up to you (Note: it cannot possibly be used for evil). Here's the newest trailer, in case you still need convincing: I can't think of a better way to end this post than with project lead Tomato's comments about this project finally wrapping up: After more than 13 years of waiting, the sequel to EarthBound is now in English! I hope fans of the series, new and old, will find MOTHER 3 to be just as unique and interesting as its predecessors. We tried our very best to make a worthy translation, and I think we came close to hitting that mark. With any luck, the translation will seem just as "strange, funny, and heartrending" as the original Japanese version. MOTHER 3 is filled with secrets and rarities. Characters say new things after even the tiniest of events. Take your time to explore the game's intriguing world - you won't be disappointed! And when you're done, be sure to come back here, because we've prepared many more goodies for fans to check out and enjoy post-game! Enjoy your time in the world of MOTHER 3! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to waste a significant portion of my Friday. Go and grab the patch HERE if you didn't do so immediately. Read More... Posted Oct 17 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, translation, gba, bob mackey, rom hacks

• Me VS. Blue Hedgehog

  Just yesterday Bob Mackey posted about his experiences with Sonic the Hedgehog. Naturally, this put me in mind of my own rather odd relationship with Sega's troubled mascot. Back in the days of the 16 bit wars I was deep in the Nintendo trenches, so anything that came from Sega was of the devil. Sonic was an enemy general to be assaulted on any playground where gamers collided in verbal combat. Okay, enough with the war analogies. After growing up and leaving my blind brand loyalties behind, I decided to try and like the guy. After all, with such a large fan following, Sonic games had to be pretty good right? Read More... Posted Sep 25 2008, 10:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: wii, gamecube, amber ahlborn, ds, sonic the hedgehog, sonic unleashed, sonic and the secret rings, gba, sonic chronicles

• The Mother 3 Translation: We're Not Worthy!

  Ever since Nadia Oxford started writing about the Earthbound soundtrack, something keeps popping up in my mind that I've been trying to supress out of sheer impatience: the unofficial translation of Mother 3--for you non-Earthbound fanatics, that's essentially Earthbound 2.  From all of my lurking in Earthbound fandom for over ten years, I can tell you that the translation couldn't be in better hands; it's being guided by a fellow with the hacker alias "Tomato" who--along with a few other folks--basically orgazined the online Earthbound fanhorde just as the Internet started taking off. Back in 2006, I assumed that the translation patch for Earthbound would be out days after the game's release in Japan; but I had no idea how hard Tomato's team (one of a few who took a crack at the game) was working, or about the unhackable quality of Mother 3's code.  If you check out their to-do list, you can see just how far the translation team has come in the last two years--all that's left to do is testing.  Here's a video from Tomato himself showcasing some of the work they've done on the game so far.  Note how faithful it is to the spirit of Earthbound's awesome localization: Read More... Posted Aug 26 2008, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, translation, gba, bob mackey

• Play It Again, Sam

  How many times have you bought the same game? I don't mean full on remakes like Metroid: Zero Mission or sports games sequels where they dusted off the old engine and updated the roster. I mean how many games did you repurchase because it was a special edition with some new features, or it was released for a different home system, or it was the hand held version? Read More... Posted Aug 08 2008, 11:00 AM by Amber Ahlborn with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: metroid, remake, wii, snes, amber ahlborn, chrono trigger, ps2, ds, okami, super mario advance, gba, special edition