Mother 1 + 2: Two Quirky RPGs on One Game Boy Advance Cartridge
On 20 June 2003, Nintendo packed the first two games of Shigesato Itoi's Mother series onto one Game Boy Advance cartridge in Japan. It is a neat way of seeing a series find its voice: the first game is a small Famicom adventure, and the second is the Super Famicom classic known in the West as EarthBound.
At a glance
- Based on: Mother (Famicom, 1989) and Mother 2 (Super Famicom, 1994)
- Created by: Shigesato Itoi (writer); Ape for Mother, Ape and HAL Laboratory for Mother 2; published by Nintendo
- Released: 20 June 2003 in Japan
- Genre: Role-playing games
- What sets it apart: both games together, here with fan-made English and Spanish builds
The two games inside
- Mother (1989) sold about 400,000 copies in Japan. On this cartridge it follows the changes from an unreleased English prototype, including an extended ending, rather than the original Famicom release.
- Mother 2 (1994) arrived in North America as EarthBound on 5 June 1995, selling about 440,000 copies worldwide. Reviewers later praised its writing.
Both are turn-based RPGs with random encounters, parody of the Dragon Quest formula and a rolling HP meter, and both share recurring figures like Mr. Saturn and Giygas.
On this edition
Mother 1 became officially available in English only in 2015, as EarthBound Beginnings on Wii U. This cartridge instead uses fan-translated builds, with English and Spanish options, so the whole pair is accessible in your language.