Developer/Publisher: Ape, HAL Laboratory/Nintendo Released: June 1995

Played on: Wii U (also available on SNES)

I didn’t play Earthbound when it was originally released, in fact I don’t think it was even released here in Australia, but the buzz and cult following around the game has been prevalent for years. Having checked it out briefly via PC emulation many years ago, I was pretty pumped for the imminent Virtual Console release on Wii U, but at the same time wasn’t sure exactly what I was excited about.

Earthbound mechanically is a fairly standard 1990’s RPG, you control a group of adventurers, lots of random encounters leading to turn based battles, levelling up and cumbersome inventory management. It is competent in this respect, although certainly suffers from the need to grind for a few hours to get past certain areas. Around 8 hours into my gaming experience I gave up for a while, the grind was too repetitive and my regular losses were unsatisfying. However the appealing world (more on that in a bit) sucked me back in, and after some perstistence I was levelling up and finally making progress. Playing on the Wii U gamepad helped a lot, endless repetitive turn based battles were not so bad while watching the West Wing on the TV and playing on the gamepad. The Virtual Console restore points, allowing you to save and restore at ANY point in the game, made it much more pleasurable also, easy to pick up and put down when convenient. I spent around 35 hours in the game all up, and most of that was probably on the gamepad while watching something else on TV.

The world creation and writing is where Earthbound sets itself apart. Our four heroes are tasked with, of course, saving the world from evil aliens called Giygas, and they need to collect scattered magical objects to do that, and none of that stuff really makes sense. Earthbound is entirely aware of the RPG tropes it repeats, and parodies them throughout the game with references to gaming littered throughout the game’s text, and pitting our heroes against some of the most absurd enemies in RPG history (Spiteful Crow, Territorial Oak, Mini Barf.)

Earthbound depicts an initially charming modern America, but as our four young heroes journey farther from home, a more bizarre and unsettling America emerges. This Japanese parody of American culture holds up surprisingly well today, tending more towards absurd exaggeration than specific satire. Filled with peculiar, disturbing and compelling dialogue, the world of Earthbound is a delight to uncover and treats the player with a number of surprises and laugh-out-loud moments.

At the heart of Earthbound is the story of 4 young heroes with wildly irresponsible parents who think it’s OK for their kids to be out adventuring while the streets are filled with mad people. The protagonists are pretty adorable and hard to fault. At times your character will miss his parents, and his ability to fight will be handicapped until he calls home and talks to his mum again. As insane as the game gets as it progresses, it remains consistently charming, and by the end you truly want to make sure the heroes make it through.

Verdict: A standard RPG, elevated by a uniquely realised satirical American setting with memorable characters and dialogue.

Should Bradley play this: Probably not.