this is great

HEY YOU! Where have you been? I haven't seen you post forever, you stupid cat!

I've been on a journey. I've come back with some sweet sweet elixir. What's it to ya, you pernicious raccoon?

I have heard this game was great as a cult classic but never really appreciated it until playing it on the wii U and it is fantastic but again its just an old SNES game to me because my dad never wanted me to get any consoles at the time, he was a computer purist....

When I got a Dreamcast he shut the fuq up.


Now with the Wii U I can finally experiance this game, too bad the original Mother never came to NES in the states.... Damn Nintendo...

I didn't play it when it was new but the game had it's unique effect on me regardless. Mother 2 is a cult classic for good reason.

Indeed! It's just too bad they went in such a dark direction for the last stretch of the game... and then proceeded to stay there for the entirety of Mother 3. :P

Go b..a..c..k.

YOU CANNOT GRASP THE TRUE FORM OF GIYGAS' ATTACK

Maybe I could if I tried hard...

The greatest final boss battle ever made!

Plus one of the greatest villains ever. Too bad he/she/it was not in mother 3

Yis but I like that they followed up on Pokey.

i love your work as always

Thanks pal, long time no see!

nodsnods (3 we better fix that.

Fuck yessss, Ayato is still alive! I was worried that you may have decided to leave the site or something orz

I just love the bottom part of the drawing, it really expresses the feeling of the battle... The characters were truly dissolving in it.
....AND I NEVER GOT THE SWORD OF KINGS, AWESOME.

I was discussing this boss with a friend, he said that it was too fucked up to put such a scary character is a children's game considering all the happy/light atmosphere that the game had, but I consider that it's pretty much the other way around... It was a perfect element for the gameplay.
Gyigas is scary and truly nightmarish, but even if that was the case, the game taught you that even the most overwhelming obstacles can be defeated. “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

The thing I find most intriguing about Earthbound is how far the visuals go towards disguising the more intense story-elements. People are often genuinely surprised by some of the games content because things like kidnapping, adult debt, police violence and cult activity are subjects (among many others) which intentionally betray the colorful expectations set by the aesthetic. Giygas being as frightening as it is is like the game breaking the forth wall; Giygas' form is so shocking that it transcends the cartoon visuals of this world and is a starkly juxtaposed nightmare to cap the game off. Just lovely.

This is precisely why Earthbound is my favorite game.
The entire game is presented in a playful, fanciful, tongue-in-cheek manner, reminiscent of the non-sequitur logic and suspension of disbelief that is associated with children's play. It's like they're pretending, accepting each new thing as just another aspect to their play. Their weapons are toys; Ness's most powerful psychic ability is based on his favorite thing (Rock and Roll by default!).

When you finally come to the very end, the children are essentially *murdered* so they can go back in time. It is grim and disturbing. It is uncomfortable. And the final fight with Giygas is terrifying, uncomfortable. The way he speaks, his appearance - suddenly reminiscent of horror movies, of disturbed mental patients' ramblings.

The whole time, the kids are able to play pretend, to gloss over the problems they encounter through perception. And then, when the reckoning finally comes, the thing they are faced with they cannot play away. Via this aesthetic conveyance, innocence is lost. Danger is real. The children do die. And one must ask themselves if after the final battle, their return - a mystical, inexplicable return, the return to the fanciful world of make believe - is truly reality anymore, or whether it's a "heaven" of sorts for the heroes.

I love Earthbound.

You just reminded how unsettling the Happy happy village and Moonside felt, dammit.
The battle against gyigas didn't only break the fourth wall... It truly grabbed you and included you in the situation, the message that you get with the last prayer was rather overwhelming, you truly wished for the wellbeing of the characters and jdnjdgndasg

this has to be one of the best images on this site,
absolutely amazing, really cool.

your words spoil me
thankyou

I do live, thank you for noticing!

You always draw the best Earthbound art. The photographic genius himself would be proud.

Fuzzy pickles!

Omnipresent Cameraman will make a small cameo in the final image of this set~

I assume you also checked out Earthbound's Miiverse community? Some great drawings there too.

Ooh actually no. I never bought a Wii, I assume that's a requirement?

Well Earthbound was recently re-released on the Wii U, which caused a lot of commotion since Nintendo pretty much ignored the game since the SNES days. Anyways, all games on the Wii U have their own online community on Miiverse, which is basically Nintendo's version of tumblr + facebook. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGOEMCG2Ll4

However, you have to have a Nintendo Network account to view Earthbound's Miiverse community, so yeah I guess you kinda have to get a Wii U to see it. But a lot of people there draw some amazing artwork and post it online there.

I feel h...a...p...p...y...
friends...
And also I lurve your Earthbound pieces so much.

Thanks a bunch!

Glorious.

So's that icon, Rawr!

*blush* <3 I'd pick awesome Earthbound paintings over my icon most days!!!
But thank you, most profoundly <3

Thanks a bunch for the support, Mr.

I want these up on my wall next to this framed poster of the Skyrunner. ;_;

That sounds like a rad poster! Where'd you find it?

http://www.fangamer.net/products/skyline-poster

Cheap and spiffy, but it fits the space where I sit above my head nicely. |3

Fangamer is loaded with Earthbound swag.

Dang that's stylish and classy, good pick

MY godness!!!

Mine too!

<3 so good <3

It's awesome to see you posting again, and finishing your Earthbound stuff <3

Thanks Mr, I'll try to be present more often. :>

Description text makes this even more epic. Good work~! <3

You're good work ~

oh my gaaad it makes me so happy you did this series!!

Thanks! Had you played this when you were younger, or more recently? I was surprised how engaging I found the game from a modern perspective as someone who didn't experience it new.