REVIEW: Earthbound 1994, 1995 SNES
	By: Nintendo Type: RPG Players: 1 Difficulty: Average

Earthbound's story is both engaging and unique. The basic idea is that you've got this boy who was chosen by a bee to save the world from a meteor and the kid who lives next door. Sound crazy? It is, that's the idea. He goes around the world chasing after his nutso neighbor and finds a couple allies along the way. Although the plot line borders on ridiculous at times, it really achieves what it set out to do, and that is parody other games of the RPG genre. How many bosses have you had say to you, "I'm going to send you both to hell! Well, no, maybe you'll go to heaven....." before you fight them. However, at times, it attempts to be serious and usually fails in doing such. The mood is pretty much set at comedy\parody and it has difficulty when it deviates from this. Moments which might normally be touching become more of an annoyance and interrupt the flow of the game.

Despite the cartoonish feel, the game had some elements of challenge. I spent a number of times just building up my strength before going on and a few bosses gave me trouble. However, it is not frustratingly challenging and you will soon find yourself moving on in the game. They even give you little shortcuts, like the worms that, if you catch them, will be easily defeated and will give lots of experience. If you find yourself struggling on a part, try a different approach.

The control is pretty straightforward and is rather like that of the classic RPG. The battles are menu based and the map screen is pretty much up\down\left\right. Unlike in many classic role-players, the monsters are visible on the map and you know when you're going to go into a battle. Unfortunately, there's rarely anything you can do about it because the monsters are so much faster than you. Quick fingers won't do much here.

The graphics, although not outstanding, are good and give a sort of cartoonish feel to the game, which goes along with the story. Monsters are usually more on the cute side and won't keep you plastered to your seat, but are still rather well done. The sound is made up a bunch of catchy little ditties and sound effects that really remind you that it is just a game. Enjoy yourself.

Innovation: This is where the game excels. Earthbound offers so many new ideas for the RPG which many people would find refreshing. For example, monsters that you could easily beat in one hit will no longer attack you. Instead, they will just run away. If you still choose to fight them, you won't even go into the battle screen, it'll just give you the points. This may not be a good way to build up experience, but it eliminates a lot of annoying random encounters. Not only did they have good new ideas, but they took old ideas and gave them new angles. For example, money is withdrawn from the bank rather than from monster's pockets, and saving a game is simply a phone call away. Also, instead of killing monsters, you bash their brains out until they "become tame" (rather humane, don't you think?).

Take a gander at this game, you'll really enjoy its unique angle. RPG fans especially, will appreciate the parody of other games in the genre and the new ideas it puts forth. I give it four stars. - Nick Bond 85%

[Key to the reviewing system]

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