 | Happy Steam Sale! Remember when I told you to play Earthbound way back when? Well, I’ve taken my own advice, because instead of playing all the brand new, fun games I’m buying during the sale, I’ve been playing Earthbound. Again. A game that celebrated the 20th anniversary of it’s American release last week. I’m either clearly an obsessed fangirl, or this game is just as good as it was twenty years ago. (Probably both.) |
Earthbound is that game that Ness is from, the plucky psychic boy with the baseball bat in the Smash Bros. games. Ness is the chosen one, destined to save the Earth from an unspeakable alien horror. However, on the way he must defeat drunk businessmen, exploding trees, and the neighborhood gang that hangs out at the arcade. It’s your typical RPG-- but set in 1990s America. You can even order a pizza!
The strange humor and lovable characters are probably why this game has a cultish, unexplainable fanbase that still baffles Nintendo. You befriend a knockoff Blues Brothers band, whose loud music comes in handy. You journey to the surreal world of the Mr. Saturns, who are as helpful as they are confusing. One of my favorite characters is a budding video game dungeon designer, who bends the fourth wall a little with his lovingly designed dungeons.
Unlike its tear-jerking sequel (which haunts me to this day), Earthbound is purely the heart-warming adventure of a boy and his best friends. It might show its age due to difficulty, which can really knock you down hard from time to time, but overall it is a timeless classic. One strategy hint: explosives. Lots and lots of explosives.
Lost my shirt in last night’s solitaire game,
The Dungeon Dame
The Dungeon Dame
