A lot of Western gamers have been sad for years over Nintendo's continued refusal to localize more games in the Mother/Earthbound series (the home of Smash Bros Brawl characters Ness and Lucas). But luckily we have the crazed, blindly devoted, and ever so hard working folks at Starmen.net to help us fill the Mother/Earthbound shaped hole that Nintendo of America has left in our hearts. The Starmen's latest effort, a freeware shmup titled Ego Orb in Space, downloads to your PC in seconds. From there the game will work your trigger finger to the bone by offering minutes, and I mean minutes, of fun, thrills, and light hearted destruction.

Sure the game is over too fast, but it's a work in progress. It's certainly not a bad start, more than worth the (free) price of admission. The music and graphics are smile inducing. Most of it's sprites are recycled from the Earthbound Beastiary's Sci-Fi section, with the exception being a cameo from one of Mother/Earthbound's more celebrated personalities. This may be the first time he's been spotted in space, despite his decidedly cosmic moniker.

More info on the game, such as screenshots, video, tutorial, and download link can be found here on the Starmen.net message boards.  

[Via Starmen.net]