EarthBound wasn’t a huge success when the game was released to the Super Nintendo. In particular, the game did poorly in the United States because of a bad marketing campaign where they literally said “This game stinks.” It didn’t even review that well, with a common criticism being it was too behind the times. The year EarthBound came out, 1994, featured cutting edge games like Super Metroid, Final Fantasy VI, and Donkey Kong Country. In comparison, a game with pixel graphics, combat with limited animations, and a contemporary setting just didn’t compare.
EarthBound is also a timeless classic, oozes charm, and is a game that anyone who calls themself an RPG fan should at least attempt to play. While most of the criticisms levied against EarthBound at the time of its release weren’t exactly wrong, in retrospect, it feels like they were missing what the game was actually going for. As time has gone on, there’s been newfound respect for EarthBound. It ranked second on our ranking of the top-100 games on the Super Nintendo and has received a cult classic status.
Is EarthBound really that good, or is it a game that people felt was unjustly criticized and swung too far aggressively in the other direction? That debate can be had forever, and we don’t feel like contributing to it, but instead, we want to make the case for why it’s considered timeless, why you should play it, and how you can play it.
Every video game gets old and develops flaws that would be considered unforgivable by today’s standards. Cutting edge mechanics become commonplace, graphics improve, and video games continue to evolve. This doesn’t make old games bad — far from it — but they can be harder to go back to as a result. EarthBound escapes this aging process by being a game less about its mechanics and more about the experience of playing the game. It’s easier to look past its age and flaws because that’s not really what we’re here for.
Playing EarthBound is about going on an adventure as a little boy with three friends destined to save the world. Your attacks are named after your favorite thing and food. Its contemporary setting helps everything feel very grounded, with the player using weapons like baseball bats, yo-yos, and bottle rockets. Enemies include possessed cars, magical tents, and corrupt police officers. EarthBound is a game that you play because the writing is just that funny — there is a moment early in the game where someone from the future is sent back to the past to assist you along your journey, but they take the form of a buzzing bee, which happens to scare another character, so they swat this supposed hero of the future to death. A random cameraman takes pictures of you throughout your journey, seemingly out of nowhere. You are a child saving the world from an alien invasion.
The game does, of course, have flaws. The storage system is way too small. The main character will randomly get homesick during fights and not perform attacks. The story, while memorable, is not exactly a driving force for playing the game. This game is just as flawed as its contemporaries, but what’s special about EarthBound is how it overcomes those flaws through its charm.
The way the game has aged really doesn’t matter when the game is about the experience. Those graphics don’t matter when you spend the entire journey with a smile on your face. Everyone should get the opportunity to experience a game like EarthBound, and fortunately, there are many ways to do that.
On Wednesday, Nintendo had a Direct where it announced that EarthBound would be available to Nintendo Switch Online members through their collection of Super Nintendo games on the console. Anyone that doesn’t have a Switch, or a Nintendo Switch Online membership, does have other options, but they aren’t nearly as easy. They can always go find a cart of the Super Nintendo game itself, but the price and quality on the cartridges can vary. The game used to be available on the Wii U e-shop, but Nintendo has essentially discontinued the service. The only way to really play the game on the Wii U at this point would be to find a console that already has the game downloaded to it.