Earthbound (SNES)

[VideoGameCritic]

My nephew has been pestering me to play this on my SNES classic and I finally started in. Haven't gotten too far yet - mainly wandering around town talking to people. But I do like the style of the game, and the controls are well thought out.

This is a game some regard as the greatest of all time, so hopefully I'll have a review in another month or so.

[Robotrek]

A rare RPG review straight from the critic? Dogs and cats living harmony! Mass hysteria!

[Voor]

Yeah, I’m not an RPG guy, but I dipped my toe into Earthbound and found it to be very charming and enjoyable. I think I liked it because it’s not your typical fantasy RPG setting.

The AVGN video is really great if you don’t want to sit through the whole game. Believe it or not, there’s a very active speedrunning community for it too.

[Zack Burner]

Wow talk about perfect timing! I'm playing it too! I've beaten it a bunch of times before, but I always get pulled back to play it some more and more understand what I couldn't grasp the previous time. Some bosses are pretty difficult, so a little grinding can help. I love the quirkiness, the bizareness, sometimes spooky, and general goofy nature of this game, that it's easy to see why it earned cult status. I'm forever gratefuly it got chosen to be on the SNES Classic Edition. It's one of my favorite games!

[Alucard1191]

I wouldn't call it "greatest of all time" at all, but a good game? Absolutely. Funny dialogue, great setting, endearing characters. Are the parents divorced? Dad is never around, and he gives you money! lol. It really is a good game, though I would personally rank both Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger over it in the SNES RPG rankings. Though I'll admit to liking it more than Final Fantasy III(6) in my adulthood.

[Matchstick]

This is a game some regard as the greatest of all time...

Who, exactly? I want names

[C64_Critic]

Excellent choice, I commend your nephew for pestering you enough to get you on board. I never played it myself, but I know my kids played it all the way throught COUNTLESS times when they were younger, absolutely loved the game. I seem to remember thinking it was hella-expensive back then, probably over $50 (wallet-breaking for me at that point in my life, probably around 1999 or 2000), so I can only imagine what it goes for these days. This and Mario RPG are the two SNES games that I remember my kids playing over and over and over.

Ah, wonder no more! For an 'authentic' cart-only purchase it starts at $200. For CIB, which I believe is what I bought at the time, it goes for over $3k. Wow. I wonder if I still have it around in a box somewhere? Hehehehe.

[strat]

It's the GOAT among Dragon Quest (Warrior) -like jrpgs. Never too tedious or grind-heavy, battles are fast, enemy encounters can be seen on the field (though most of the time are practically unavoidable), rolling HP meter gives you a fighting chance even with devastating attacks, and lots of helpful items. Plus the surreal, modern setting. However, looking past the aesthetics and the HP meter (which really is the game's most innovative mechanic), it's still another DQ-clone. The contemporary reviews were lukewarm for a reason.

Even so, the game connects with me enough on a personal level to rip through it sometimes.

[strat]

Ah, wonder no more! For an 'authentic' cart-only purchase it starts at $200. For CIB, which I believe is what I bought at the time, it goes for over $3k. Wow. I wonder if I still have it around in a box somewhere? Hehehehe.

Fun fact, I rented Earthbound from Blockbuster before buying it (it was frequently rented out) and the player's guide had a sticker which said "if the book is lost you must purchase this game". Even they knew it was gonna be a collector's item.

[Voor]

So, when you bought the game NEW back in the day, it came with a players guide? Had that ever been done before? They must have anticipated that folks would struggle with it.