earthbound game review
Test: EarthBound"Aliens are invading Earth! The knowledge apple predicted their leader's defeat against four children. The only way to stop them is therefore to go back 10 years to the past and find these elected officials. I, Buzz Buzz, will therefore travel back in time to save the planet from certain destruction. As long as they don't follow me ... "The starting pitch seems absurd to you? This is just the beginning. Welcome to EarthBound!
While playing Super Smash Bros, many players have wondered about the origins of Ness, this curious character with the look of playmobil. Does it really come from a Nintendo game? Why have we never heard of it? If EarthBound does indeed come from the HAL Laboratory and Ape studios, both affiliated with the mustachioed plumber firm, it has never seen the light of day in Europe. His predecessor, Mother, had almost gone out to the United States under the name of Earth Bound, but was canceled at the last moment. Mother 2 was luckier since in 1995 EarthBound finally arrived in the United States. However, due to insufficient sales due to a completely messy promotion campaign (the American slogan was “This game stinks!”) And to the competition of mythical RPGs released at the same time, the title never saw the light of day in Europe. However, EarthBound is an exceptional game that deserves your full attention.
The scenario takes up the idea of departure from the previous episode. The aliens return to Earth and Ness, Jeff, Paula and Poo, are the only ones who can stop them. Buzz Buzz, a kind of robot bee from a future devastated by Giygas, the alien leader, meets Ness and convinces him to save the world. We also find the totally quirky parody humor specific to the series that makes us laugh from the first minutes of the game. The main characters don't speak much, Ness doesn't have a single line of dialogue, but we still attaches a lot to it. The emphasis is rather on the additional characters encountered throughout the game like the Runaway Five music group, the disgusting Belch, or Brick Road, the dungeon fan. There are also a lot of insignificant citizens, as in all RPGs, and if we feel compelled to go and talk to each of them to gather clues, we also take a lot of fun there because they often tell offbeat anecdotes fun. EarthBound is full of details and cultural references, notably to the Blues Brothers and the Beatles. It is a real pleasure to explore Eagleland, Foggyland and Chommo, as these environments are full of colors and details.
The graphic style may not appeal to everyone because it is quite simplified and gives the impression of evolving in a toy universe. However, this does not mean that the sets and characters have not received enough care, on the contrary, because the graphic designers have done a prodigious job. The environments benefit from numerous details without suffering from congestion, which allows perfect readability. The decorations of the battles amply deserve to be paid tribute to them since it is not at all a transposition of the environment but animated psychedelic backgrounds. The idea is original and makes very well, we feel the influence of the 60's. According to the creator of the game, there are even more than 200 different, just that! The music is not outdone since the composers who had worked on Mother return. They offer us a grand and varied soundtrack that does not have to be ashamed when faced with the music of the great competing RPGs of the time. The style evokes the 60s and 70s, especially blues, rock and a bit of electronic music. We also note a few times from the previous game, such as the fighting theme that accompanies here the clashes against the guards of the sanctuaries, the big ugly bosses, and it's great. And unlike other series, we do not undergo the same music with each fight since there are 5 themes to accompany the brawls against classic monsters and almost as much for bosses. A little variety never hurts, quite the contrary.
EarthBound is like a classic RPG, with battles, collectibles, many quests needed for progression, training, etc. The enemies are visible on the ground, which avoids the nasty surprises that were too common in Mother. There are also 3 ways to start a fight depending on how you come into contact with the enemy. From the front, the fight begins normally, by approaching the enemy from the back, we gain a turn in advance, and if it is he who takes the heroes by surprise, we lose a turn. After a certain level, very weak enemies flee systematically and it is enough to touch them to kill them and gain experience without even the combat having taken place, which represents an appreciable saving of time. Otherwise, the clashes are turn-based and each character can attack, defend, use an object, or try to flee. Ness, Paula and Poo can also use PSI, a power reminiscent of classic fire, ice, healing and other protective shields. Jeff is a technology expert and can use explosive objects to cause heavy damage to enemies or defense objects like the defense shower. Paula can pray, a strange command with random effects, and Poo can turn into an enemy, which is ultimately of little interest.
To interact with the environment, just press a key to open a menu allowing the use of objects, observing a decorative element, talking to someone, equipping an object, using a PSI power or checking its status. . The developers have also thought of granting the L button the shortcut key function to perform the “observe” and “speak” command, depending on the subject discussed. This avoids opening the menu and selecting the appropriate command, it's really handy. The trick also works on the cash machine which stores the winnings of the fights. Moreover, for the sake of realism, it is not directly the fights that fill the bank account of Ness but his father who makes transfers. Indeed, what kind of monster walks around with a wallet? Ness's father is also used to back up when we phone him and luckily we find phones quite frequently. Objects become easier to manage than in the previous episode since each character now has 14 locations. On the other hand, 4 of them must be occupied by weapons and other protections (even equipped) and more still find themselves encumbered by key objects which it is never possible to get rid of. Fortunately, the developers have thought of everything since we can call Escargo Express, a super storage company whose highly trained couriers are able to find Ness wherever he goes, except in places that are really too shady.
Finally, one of the only complaints that we could make to EarthBound would be to not last long enough. A game like that, we would like to be able to spend hundreds of hours on it, but it only takes 30 to 40 hours to overcome it. Some "normal" enemies are very strong, especially towards the end and when they attack in a group, it hurts a lot. Since one does not want to spoil attack objects and precious PSI points against them, either one desperately tries to flee, or one kills them with attacks with a bat or a frying pan but in any case, the damage cashed causes serious survival problems. On the other hand, against bosses, we give so much to our heart's content, without any restraint, that they disappear in a few turns. On this subject, we can nitpick on a not always perfect balancing of the difficulty of the fights. That said, with a well-managed inventory and a correct level, it is possible to finish each dungeon without too much problem, especially as the backgrounds hide some regenerating objects and the enemies also sometimes leave them behind.
From start to finish, EarthBound shows us all the colors. We sometimes swim in the big anything as the delirium tends to the extreme. The atmosphere that emanates from this game is unique, with its parody scenario of science fiction films of series Z, its retro 70s side and its playful design. Despite his absurd humor and colorful graphics, he also conveys a critical message from society, mainly American society and mass consumption. Child heroes are often mistaken for idiots by adults, adults who lie and cause a lot of hassle around them as Ness and her friends transmit a message of peace and love. We also notice that no enemy dies during the game. Indeed, when a fight ends, we can read "Wild dog calms down", or "Hippie regains reason", but never "So-and-so died in a pool of blood. " However, EarthBound is not only aimed at young audiences but also at large children because its content has two levels of reading, it is also what makes EarthBound so rich and so universal.
If RPGs had been more popular in 1995 in the United States, EarthBound could have met the success it so deserved. It is a fantastic game, which goes off the beaten track, and which still fascinates more and more fans today. Unfortunately it did not find its audience when it was released and today it has become so rare that the many players who want to discover it have to spend indecent amounts to lay their hands on it. Do not hope to find it one day on virtual console because the different rights problems to which it is subject will prevent it, perhaps forever, from coming out of Japan. The lawyers working for Nintendo indeed fear legal attacks on the part of the holders of the music rights of which a few seconds were used without authorization or were parodied in the game. Other elements like the red cross of the hospitals or the costumes Blacks of the Runaway Five, too similar to the Blues Brothers, had already been the subject of censorship when switching from Mother 2 to EarthBound. We would have liked Nintendo to take more risks to introduce this memorable game to new generations of players and also to poor Europeans who have never had the right to an official release.
The notes
Graphics 17/20
The simplified side of the graphics will not please everyone but the developers have no regrets about their choice since they create an atypical and attractive atmosphere. The colors make the game look like tart candy and we want more! Special mention to enemies, whose design reveals the designers' boundless imagination.
Gameplay 18/20
The commands are no problem, the developers have even thought of including a shortcut to be able to execute the most common commands by pressing L. Some passages will annoy more than one because the challenge is slightly raised but some weak enemies offer many experience points after their defeat, which eliminates the need to spend hours training. We still have to find these enemies ...
Lifespan 17/20
30 to 40 hours of play are required to reach the final boss. The game is so rich in details and events that we don't see the time passing and that we can't help, once the end boss is defeated, to say "Already? " The absence of side quests is also regrettable.
Soundtrack 17/20
The music is pleasant and the sound effects successful. More than 120 different musics accompany the game, which ensures an excellent musical variety, both in the combat and exploration phases.
Scenario 18/20
The basic scenario is only a parody of invading films and a pretext for a well-barred adventure. The quest for Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo is punctuated by side stories, each more interesting than the last. So it's not so much the desire to discover the end of the story that drives us to move forward as the pleasure of meeting atypical characters and wacky situations. As such, the transition to Moonside is particularly stunning.
After an awesome but still imperfect first episode, EarthBound manages to correct almost all of its elder brother's blunders. The proposed adventure is a prodigious wealth and the characters are all very endearing, even the most insignificant NPCs. No other game has such an atmosphere, a clever mix of S.F. and quirky humor with a touch of cyanide. Prepare to fall in love with EarthBound.
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