Earthbound is the second (and most well known) game in the series, and the only one that was localized in the US on launch. It was released in 1994 in japan, and in 1995 in the US in the SNES.
Story: Earthbound has a longer story than It's predecessor, but often suffers similar issues. It's easy to get lost and not know where to go next, but hints are given by talking to NPCs, as they will make certain comments about places and/or events that seem like they're directed towards the player with a wink and a nudge from the game designers. It can be hard to find out where to go or what to do next, especially in areas like Fourside, where there are a bunch of things you need to do and a very specific order in which to do them. Occasionally you'll need to talk to a certain NPC to trigger an event neccesary to progress the story, and that could take you a while, but the story otherwise goes very smoothly.
7.5/10
Spriting: The SNES allowed a release from the visual limitations of the NES, and allowed for VASTLY improved sprites for Earthbound. The buildings look like actual building instead of a box with windows, the people look so much more detailed, everything look 10 times better and brighter than in Mother 1. Another thing that was new in Earthbound is custom battle backgrounds for enemies, which you can try to recreate here .
9.5/10, only because there are some thinge that Mother 3 improves on.
Music: Earthbound's music, like Mother 1's, was composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, and it definitely shows because some of the songs are almost direct remixes of Mother 1 songs. Super Dry Dance, Snowman, and Franky are basically remixes of The Yucca Desert, Snowman, and Hippie battle respectively. Anyway, the SNES also frees Earthbound from the musical limitations of the NES by allowing it to use actual instruments. Most of the songs reuse the same bass instrument, and the songs are generally really bass heavy. The instruments aren't entirely realistic, they sound different from real life instruments, but the songs still sound good nonetheless. Songs like Onett theme, Boy meets Girl, Winter's White, and Get on the Bus definitely hold up today, and many of the songs are extremely iconic in modern internet culture despite the fanbase being relatively small online.
8/10
Battle System: The battle system in earthbound greatly improves on the system of Mother 1, specifically by adding the rolling hit point counter, which makes it so that when you recieve damage, your hp counts down from your previous health to your health after recieving damage, which can give you time to heal if you recieve mortal damage. It makes higher level enemies much more bearable to deal with, and makes the game a much more enjoyable experience overall. The speed stat also plays an important roll in the battle system, with the person/thing with the highest speed stat going first, and the person with the lowest going last. It's kind of like an initiative roll in DND.
8/10
Overall Rating: 8.25/10
Story: Earthbound has a longer story than It's predecessor, but often suffers similar issues. It's easy to get lost and not know where to go next, but hints are given by talking to NPCs, as they will make certain comments about places and/or events that seem like they're directed towards the player with a wink and a nudge from the game designers. It can be hard to find out where to go or what to do next, especially in areas like Fourside, where there are a bunch of things you need to do and a very specific order in which to do them. Occasionally you'll need to talk to a certain NPC to trigger an event neccesary to progress the story, and that could take you a while, but the story otherwise goes very smoothly.
7.5/10
Spriting: The SNES allowed a release from the visual limitations of the NES, and allowed for VASTLY improved sprites for Earthbound. The buildings look like actual building instead of a box with windows, the people look so much more detailed, everything look 10 times better and brighter than in Mother 1. Another thing that was new in Earthbound is custom battle backgrounds for enemies, which you can try to recreate here .
9.5/10, only because there are some thinge that Mother 3 improves on.
Music: Earthbound's music, like Mother 1's, was composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka, and it definitely shows because some of the songs are almost direct remixes of Mother 1 songs. Super Dry Dance, Snowman, and Franky are basically remixes of The Yucca Desert, Snowman, and Hippie battle respectively. Anyway, the SNES also frees Earthbound from the musical limitations of the NES by allowing it to use actual instruments. Most of the songs reuse the same bass instrument, and the songs are generally really bass heavy. The instruments aren't entirely realistic, they sound different from real life instruments, but the songs still sound good nonetheless. Songs like Onett theme, Boy meets Girl, Winter's White, and Get on the Bus definitely hold up today, and many of the songs are extremely iconic in modern internet culture despite the fanbase being relatively small online.
8/10
Battle System: The battle system in earthbound greatly improves on the system of Mother 1, specifically by adding the rolling hit point counter, which makes it so that when you recieve damage, your hp counts down from your previous health to your health after recieving damage, which can give you time to heal if you recieve mortal damage. It makes higher level enemies much more bearable to deal with, and makes the game a much more enjoyable experience overall. The speed stat also plays an important roll in the battle system, with the person/thing with the highest speed stat going first, and the person with the lowest going last. It's kind of like an initiative roll in DND.
8/10
Overall Rating: 8.25/10