EarthBound Arrives on Nintendo Switch

The following review was originally published as an entry in my old school paper.

- A review by Aidan Drotzur

Cult hit video game EarthBound has just recently arrived on the Nintendo Switch online service! But what is EarthBound and who should play it? Considered by many to be one of the best Nintendo franchises, EarthBound is a 1995 video game originally released for the Nintendo Super Famicom as Mother 2 in 1994. It is a sequel to the Turn Based Role Playing Video Game EarthBound: Beginnings, originally Released in 1989 in Japan as Mother, and 2012 as EarthBound: Beginnings. The plot of the game involves protagonist Ness awakening one morning to find a meteorite has crashed just outside of his house after going to investigate he finds a rhinoceros beetle who tells him he’s destined to go on a quest with a group of friends to save the world from the evil alien Giygas, a villain returning from EarthBound: Beginnings. He then sets forth on an epic quest with a bunch of zany events happening along the way. The gameplay consists of the traditional turn based role playing game (TBRPG) style which may be hard to understand to anyone who’s never played a TBRPG before. If you’re a fan of the genre the gameplay comes with a high recommendation; it even includes some quality of life improvements such as a rolling health meter mechanic or the option to equip a weapon right after buying it. Now the rolling health meter is a simple mechanic, it means that instead of your health depleting instantly it slowly ticks down, if you took a big hit you get a lot of time to heal. Who should this game be recommended for? It’s probably best enjoyed by fans of the Turn Based RPG, and Comedy genres. The game is Rated T by ESRB for Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Suggestive Themes, Crude Humor however it is a children's game and could possibly be enjoyed by anyone.