In anticipation of Halo 3, I thought it might be a hoot to look back on other highly anticipated gaming 3's from the past, and the effect they had on that paticular game series and the world of gaming in general. On Tuesday we looked at Mega Man 3, a game that taught Capcom that if they half ass a sequel to a popular series every year or so, they will make big money until people get totally sick of them. Wenesday it was Street Fighter 3, a game that taught Capcom that putting tons of time, money and talent into a game wont mean sqwat if they already have three other games out that meet the exact same needs of the player audience. Friday it was Grand Theft Auto 3, the game that made ultra violent sandbox games the flavor of the half decade. Yesterday it was Metroid 3, with special focus on why and game with semi-realistic graphics, a masked protagonist, and the sensibility of an American Sci-Fi movie is going to have trouble selling in Japan, be it from Nintendo od Microsoft.

Today, we look at the anti-Halo 3. A game that perhaps has an even more rabid fan base, but on opposite ends of the Earth. A game that many of us outside Japan have waited over ten years for, and are still waiting. That game is the one, the only, Mother 3.

A little background info

The Mother series is the brain child of a man named Shigesato Itoi.



He is a very difficult man to describe, as there is really no other celebrity like him on the planet. You could say he is sort of a Japanese equivelant to American film maker Wes Anderson crossed with Paris Hilton, but at the same time not at all. He is with out a doubt a Japanese celebrity, first made famous for his essays on spirtituality and life in general, but then sort of remained famous by just being himself. He'll occasionally judge on the Iron Chef, do some more writing, or do some voice acting for animation. He actually did some acting in the classic Japanese film My Neighbor Totoro, directed by the now internationally famous director Hayao Miyazaki. In that film Itoi voiced both a young girl and that young girl's father. He even has a IMDB page. Can you name any other video game designers, or any celebrity for that matter, who you could even begin to compare this guy to?

He is a man who didn't have to make video games. He could do anything he wanted, continue to write, act, whatever. But after he had already made a name for himself, he chose to design a game. He did so out of genuine love of the Dragon Quest series. That game was called Mother, named partially after Mother Earth, and also after a John Lennon song.

Mother was an turned based RPG in the spirit of Dragon Quest, but the similaries ended there. Unlike any other console RPG at the time, it took place in modern day Earth. It was packed with American culture references, jokes, and weirdness. The game never came to the states, although it was fully localized and ready to go. No one knows for sure why the game was scrapped, but the general consensus is Nintendo thought we wouldn't get it.

The game's sequel, Mother 2 was superior to it's predecessor in every way. Graphics, music, story, gameplay, all took a huge boost, yet remained true to the style of the orinigal. Like the original, Mother 2 takes place in a twisted version of an American suburb, with many jabs at US culture that I didn't even realise were there until recently. The games world is filled with street gangs, hamburger joints, crazed religous cults, and many other standards of American culture that we just take for granted, but for Japan are considered totally other worldly. For the Japanese game didn't need dragons or aliens be an exciting fantasy, it just needed to be American.



The games protaginst, Ness, is probably most well known for his appearances in the Smash Bros games, as those games have sold 10 times what Mother 2 has world wide. He is basicly the ideal American boy, adventurous and ambitious, but always loyal to his friends, family, and planet. The games villian, Pokey, represents the dark side of America. One could say he is the Eric Cartman of the video game world. Fat, selfish, ugly, ready to sacrifice his friends, family, and planet for his own power hungry ambitions. He starts as Ness' next door neighbor, then joins a cult, eventually becomes a CEO of a major company, and at the end of the game nearly destroys the planet, all at the age of ten. He is a villian like no other in the gaming world, and is just a small part of what makes Mother 2 so unique.




When the game was brought to the States under the name "Earthbound", it cost $70 and was advertised with slogan "This game stinks". Suprisingly, [sarcasm]it didn't sell very well[/sarcasm]. But those who did take a chance on this game were lucky to find one of the most funny (equal parts smart and completely juivinile), unpredictable, cute, gross, and touchingly bizarre games in history.

There is so much more I could say about both Mother and Earthbound/Mother 2, but it's already been said so many times on Starmen.net and countless times other sites. It's been proclaimed the first "post modern" video game series more time than the as of today unreleased Halo 3 has been called a "blockbuster". And as much a some people love blockbusters, their devotion can't be compared to the rabid, cultish loyality games like Earthbound/Mother 2 can inspire. Fans have made kart racing games, countless fan hacks, and live action moive tributes. As much as Halo 3 has been "pre-hyped", Earthbound/Mother 2 has been "post-hyped", with fan produced promotions of the game running to this day.



Which brings us to today's subject...


Mother 3



Mother 3 finally came out for the GBA in Japan in 2006, and pretty much blew everyone away with the direction it took. This was no continuation of Earthbound/Mother 2, but instead was a bold new story filled with death, drama, pain, fear, and sorrow, some how all intermingled with the series signature humor and cute charm.

Minor game Spoilers ahead.




Where the Earthbound/Mother 2 starred children, Mother 3 starts you controlling a fatherly cowboy named Flint, best known in the us for his fan made dream appearance in Super Smash Bros Brawl. After events that lead Flint to suffers losses and commit acts unbeliavably human for a video game, he loses his will to fight, and the events of the game pass from the persepctice of a crippled theif, a gender bending punk rock girl psychic, a tortured monkey, and eventually Flint's son Lucas, who sets out on a journey to redeem his family and save the world. Pokey agian reprises his role as villian, but instead of as a child, he appears as a thousant year old man whose life is dedicated towards revenge and control. He masterminds a plot to pervert and destroy the innocence of the games world, transforming it from a place of reminiscent of 1800's era America devoid of modern technology, to something like a cross between Star War's evil empire and Orwell's world of 1984.

End Spoilers.

The game gives you all the things that you could want in a Earthbound sequel. The graphics stay true to the original but are markedly more colorful and detailed, the battle system is expanded with a rhythm based combo system that keeps the turned based action from becoming stale, and the world itself feels astoundingly new yet wholely familiar.



Most importantly though, Mother 3 actually takes itself seriously. Earthbound/Mother 2 had serious moments, but for the most part seemed to be take pride in being light and silly. Like the Dragon Quest games than inspired it, Earthbound/Mother 2 was more focused on exploration, adventure, and level grinding than it was character development or story. Mother 3 takes an entire different route, as thought Itoi was aware that we had grown up since we first played Earthbound/Mother 2. With Mother 3, we were ready for a real story. And what a unpredictable, strange, and beautiful story it is.



This lady probably says it best. "It's heartrending"


Mother 3 outside Japan, where things stand now.

Mother 3 was supposed to be released outside Japan on at least three occasions last ten years. First as a N64 game, then as a game for the N64 disk system, and then as a GBA game in Europe. None every materialised. The game remains land locked in Japan.

Like with the recently released in Europe Tingle RPG (and very much unlike the Metroid and Halo series), Mother 3 may be too appealing the the Japanese for it's own good. It features multiple allusions to characters being gay, no cross culturally appealing "anime" style characters, and multiple oddities that Nintendo of America must assume we just wouldn't understand. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the failure of Earthbound in the US with it's high price and ass backwards add campain are no gauge for how well Earthbound 2/Mother 3 would do in the states. Since the 90's the "quirky" game market has truly flourished in the US. Persona 3, Animal Crossing, Chibi Robo, Disgaea, and Katamari Damacy were all hits on one level or another here, and all share a similar brand of weirdness as Mother 3.

Yet, no release date is on the horizon. The Starmen.net guys toil away every day at their fan translation patch, but who knows if and when that will ever see the light of day.

Just imagine how insanely angry people would be if Halo 3 were announced for the 360, then was announced for 360 elite only huge hard drive model, then was canceled, then was downgraded but still awesomely announced for the PSP, but then never came out in America. Imagine how pissed people would be, and you get an idea of how I feel about the situation with Mother 3.

Not releasing Vib Ribbon in the States was a disaster. Not releasing Tobal 2 in the States was a travesty. But not releasing Mother 3 in the States? That's Jihad level shit right there.

Nintendo of America..




Keep this up and your going to drive me to play dem Haloes.

EDIT: The real hope I had for Mother 3 to come ot the States came from the reigning king of gaming post modernism, Suda 51. His company Grasshopper Interactive made the very Earthbound-ish DS game Contact. I'm sure Suda would love to publish Mother 3 in the states. But would NoA ever let him? Probably not.