Mother 1 is the first game in the series (shocker, I know). Released in 1989, it is a pretty rough-around-the-edges baseline for what is to come.
Story: The story is simple enough to follow, but you can end up getting lost at multiple points due to NPCs not giving clear directions. the story also doesn't come into play until a short while into the game, so you can be stuck not knowing where to go next. It also lacks development for the main characters (they pretty much just join you because the plot tells them to), but apart from that the story holds up decently well.
8/10
Spriting: The spriting is limited by the technology of its time, being an NES game. the sprites are simple (a bit too simple for my taste) but they make the game work decently well (although it does get annoying to see the same tree and grass sprites repeated dozens of times over). Doesn't entirely hold up well.
3.5/10
Music: This is where the game really shines. Composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, the Mother 1 OST is incredibly good for the limitations of the NES. Songs like Mt. Itoi, The Paradise Line, and Wisdom of the World still sound amazing today, although the constant use of the same instruments does get annoying after a little bit. The same 2 or 3 themes play in the majority of the areas/events throughout almost all of the game, which can get annoying after a while, but the soundtrack is definitely one of the defining aspects of the game.
7.5/10
Battle System: This is definitely the worst point of the game. Instead of using overworld enemies like the next 2 games, Mother 1 uses random encounters, which can be done right, but not in this game because the random encounter rate is stupidly high. You can get out of a battle, walk 2 steps, and get in another battle, which will probably happen to you quite often if you plan to play this game. The battle menu system also lacks the rolling hit point counter of Mother 2 and 3, which will be talked about on the page about Earthbound. Certain PSI powers also work very differently in Mother 1, like PK Freeze Ω, which damages all enemies in Mother 1 but not in the other two games. The next two games really work on improving the system of Mother 1, which means that not all is lost for the battle systems of the series.
3/10
Overall Rating: 5.5/10
Story: The story is simple enough to follow, but you can end up getting lost at multiple points due to NPCs not giving clear directions. the story also doesn't come into play until a short while into the game, so you can be stuck not knowing where to go next. It also lacks development for the main characters (they pretty much just join you because the plot tells them to), but apart from that the story holds up decently well.
8/10
Spriting: The spriting is limited by the technology of its time, being an NES game. the sprites are simple (a bit too simple for my taste) but they make the game work decently well (although it does get annoying to see the same tree and grass sprites repeated dozens of times over). Doesn't entirely hold up well.
3.5/10
Music: This is where the game really shines. Composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, the Mother 1 OST is incredibly good for the limitations of the NES. Songs like Mt. Itoi, The Paradise Line, and Wisdom of the World still sound amazing today, although the constant use of the same instruments does get annoying after a little bit. The same 2 or 3 themes play in the majority of the areas/events throughout almost all of the game, which can get annoying after a while, but the soundtrack is definitely one of the defining aspects of the game.
7.5/10
Battle System: This is definitely the worst point of the game. Instead of using overworld enemies like the next 2 games, Mother 1 uses random encounters, which can be done right, but not in this game because the random encounter rate is stupidly high. You can get out of a battle, walk 2 steps, and get in another battle, which will probably happen to you quite often if you plan to play this game. The battle menu system also lacks the rolling hit point counter of Mother 2 and 3, which will be talked about on the page about Earthbound. Certain PSI powers also work very differently in Mother 1, like PK Freeze Ω, which damages all enemies in Mother 1 but not in the other two games. The next two games really work on improving the system of Mother 1, which means that not all is lost for the battle systems of the series.
3/10
Overall Rating: 5.5/10