If you’re a fan of console RPGs, you’re probably a fan of Earthbound. And chances are, if you like Earthbound (known as Mother 2 in Japan) you probably tried the original NES Mother game to see how much alike they were. And you might have been turned off, like I was, by the extreme difficulty of the game. If that was you, you’re in luck, since a new re-balanced version of the game has hit the Rom Hacking community today.
The hack isn’t just about re-balancing enemies, either, as its creators point out in the following description:
Mother: 25th Anniversary Edition aims to make Mother much more enjoyable for both Earthbound fans and those playing it for the first time.
All enemy graphics, NPC sprites and tiles are to be redrawn from scratch so that they’re more faithful to the clay models. The goofy enemies are goofier, and the creepy enemies are creepier. A shiny new font and title screen was added, too!
The overworld has been tweaked to be far less bleak and repetitive, so it’s harder to get lost. There is more scenery, areas are more colorful, and confusing areas like Duncan’s factory have been simplified. On the other hand, tiny areas like the graveyard and Crystal Cavern have been lengthened.
There are also a lot of changes under the hood. Enemies will yield slightly more Exp and the encounter rate has been readjusted. The “Dangerous Foe” battle theme is used less often and party members will be met at a higher level. DragonDePlatino’s goal in creating this hack was to create a game easier than the original but still very challenging.
And last but not least, this hack uses Tomato’s official Mother 1 + 2 translation, adapted for the NES. Over 1400 lines of text have been altered to create connections with the rest of the series, improve clarity and shortening reading time. This hack will also feature much quicker battle text courtesy of vince94. Battles progress almost twice as quickly now!
Speaking as a fan of the series (I managed to beat Earthbound and Mother 3, but never the original) this is very welcome news. You can read more about the project at its official page.
