EarthBound

EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother 2, is a role-playing game developed by Ape and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan in 1994 and in North America in 1995. Conceived and written by Shigesato Itoi, it sets aside the swords-and-dragons conventions of the genre for a contemporary, cartoon version of the United States, following a young boy named Ness and his friends as they travel from town to town to stop the cosmic threat Giygas. Its systems include a rolling health counter that ticks down after a hit, giving players a chance to act before a character falls, and enemies drawn from everyday life, from stray dogs to walking piles of money. The soundtrack blends surf rock, lounge, and pop pastiche, and the tone is warm, funny, and quietly strange rather than grim. Though a modest seller at launch in the West, it became a beloved cult classic, its reputation growing for decades through fan communities and later re-releases. Its road-trip structure and sun-drenched Americana, including a resort town literally named Summers, make it one of the most summer-feeling games on the Super Nintendo. Its influence on a later generation of independent role-playing games, in both tone and modern-day setting, has been profound and lasting.