Quality Quirks
"Earthbound has lame graphics!" they say. "There aren't any cool summon spells or 9-way combo blitzes!" Get over it. It takes some guts to make a game like the great EB.
In the same way that independent music or art is often more interesting than the mass-market stuff (and sometimes better), games that break from the mainstream frequently make for some awesome sleeper hits. Big shots like Miyamoto or Sakaguchi often aren't willing to risk off-the-wall bosses with Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot Martial Arts or psychedelic cities with antagonistic art, yet oddities such as these are probably some of the best points in a game.
Ultima swords and self-loathing punks with haircuts aren't as easy to relate to as a suburban teen kickin' tail with a baseball bat. It may seem strange, but talking contact lenses and moles that all claim to be No. 3 can be more interesting than watching some minute-long movie of some mythical monster opening a can upon some other P.O.'ed bad-hair dude.
Ah, but what about the sub-standard, pixellated, six-frames-per-character graphics? Think about that for a sec. You're claiming that killer 'shrooms, sentient puke, giant-carrot-snowman landscapes, and the embodiment of pure evil aren't portrayed realistically enough. Now to quote Tomato: "Idiot."
So, then, Earthbound isn't about killer graphics and revolution combat systems (although as a Christian, I've gotta like prayer being the most powerful weapon in the game). Keep your stat-regulating insanity, 'cause EB's got style. It presents just enough to get the point across, and lets you handle the rest. Next time someone scoffs at a "wimpy little 16-bit RPG," tell 'em that Earthbound doesn't have everything, but it's got more than enough where it counts.
"Earthbound has lame graphics!" they say. "There aren't any cool summon spells or 9-way combo blitzes!" Get over it. It takes some guts to make a game like the great EB.
In the same way that independent music or art is often more interesting than the mass-market stuff (and sometimes better), games that break from the mainstream frequently make for some awesome sleeper hits. Big shots like Miyamoto or Sakaguchi often aren't willing to risk off-the-wall bosses with Mambo-Tango-Foxtrot Martial Arts or psychedelic cities with antagonistic art, yet oddities such as these are probably some of the best points in a game.
Ultima swords and self-loathing punks with haircuts aren't as easy to relate to as a suburban teen kickin' tail with a baseball bat. It may seem strange, but talking contact lenses and moles that all claim to be No. 3 can be more interesting than watching some minute-long movie of some mythical monster opening a can upon some other P.O.'ed bad-hair dude.
Ah, but what about the sub-standard, pixellated, six-frames-per-character graphics? Think about that for a sec. You're claiming that killer 'shrooms, sentient puke, giant-carrot-snowman landscapes, and the embodiment of pure evil aren't portrayed realistically enough. Now to quote Tomato: "Idiot."
So, then, Earthbound isn't about killer graphics and revolution combat systems (although as a Christian, I've gotta like prayer being the most powerful weapon in the game). Keep your stat-regulating insanity, 'cause EB's got style. It presents just enough to get the point across, and lets you handle the rest. Next time someone scoffs at a "wimpy little 16-bit RPG," tell 'em that Earthbound doesn't have everything, but it's got more than enough where it counts.
