EarthBound / Mother

Mother 1 (EarthBound Beginnings)

2015

EarthBound Beginnings is the first installment in the EarthBound / Mother series. It was developed by Ape Inc., Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products, and Pax Softnica, and was published by Nintendo for the Famicom on July 27, 1989. Though officially translated into English under the name EarthBound in 1990 complete with a variety of updates and new content, the planned release of the North American localization was ultimately cancelled due to Nintendo of America ending support for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Despite this, the updates made to the game for the English localization was included in the Japanese Mother 1+2 rerelease for Game Boy Advance in 2003. The English version was finally released on the Wii U Virtual Console on June 14th, 2015, 25 years after its intended release date.

Mother 3

2006

A turn-based JRPG and sequel to EarthBound (1994) in which a tragedy surrounding a family in the primitive yet joyful village of Tazmily incites the coming-of-age story of Lucas, the family's younger son, who goes on perilous adventures along with his friends in order to find his missing brother and stop a group of masked men from bringing about the end of the world.

Mother 2 (Earthbound)

1994

A turn-based JRPG and sequel to the then-Japan-only Earthbound Beginnings (1989) in which Ness, a young boy living in a land based on the USA, leaves home to go on an adventure through strange locations, get to know quirky characters, and defeat an unknowable alien threat called Giygas while facing up to the realities of growing up and becoming familiar with the real world.

Mother

1989

When included in the Mother 1+2 bundle, Mother (Earthbound Beginnings in the West) received an exclusive equippable item, the Easy Ring, available from the start, which makes the game more balanced (therefore easier than the original version).