EarthBound

EarthBound is a 1994 role playing game for the Super Nintendo. It is known for its incredibly quirky, nonsensical humor and extensive fanbase. It has not been re-released in the US, allegedly due to its controversial depictions of drug abuse, homosexuality, multiculturalism, juvenile delinquency, and New Age topics such as psychic powers and Buddhism, as well as the anti-American opinions expressed in the game's sequel, Mother 3.

Plot

The story begins when a meteor falls in Onett, a small American town. Ness, the main character, heads outside with his dog to investigate. At the crash site, he learns from Buzz Buzz, a bee-like creature from the future, that he must collect eight melodies to defeat Giygas, an evil overlord who wages war against the earth.

The game then follows Ness and his friends as he travels from location to location, battling mushrooms, taxis, UFOs, and hippies. He rescues Paula, a magically-adept girl held captive by the KKK outside Tucson, and meets up with Jeff, a boy from an English boarding school, whose homosexual relationship with his roommate Tony was attacked by American conservative groups on the game's release. The group's fourth member is Poo, prince of the Asian country of Dalaam, who is continually preoccupied with Brainfood Lunches.

The game's principle antagonists are the Starmen, Giygas' warriors, also sent back from the future, who make continual mischief by stealing important items, including Poo's Sword of Kings, the Suporma (a device created by the child genius Orange Kid), and the Shyness Book from the Onett library (needed to communicate with the Tenda village). Allied with the Starmen is Pokey Minch, Ness' overweight neighbor, who goes from playing tricks on Ness to becoming Giygas' right-hand man. He continually attempts to thwart the party by drugging them with spiked coffee in the city of Fourside, and magic cake in the Summers resort.

Characters

• Ness: The silent protagonist who wields a baseball bat.
• Paula: A psychically-adept girl who wields frying pans.
• Jeff: An inventor from Winters who creates useful machines from junk.
• Poo: Prince of the eastern kingdom of Dalaam who can only wield of the Sword of Kings.
• Pokey: Ness' next door neighbor and the game's primary antagonist.