No jokes about playing your mom, please. Let's Play Mother!

I haven't actually! I suppose you're telling me something in RPG-logic though, huh?



Whoa. This is heavy.

They really seem obsessed with zombies in this town. I fear Marty has reached the town of Internet.



Perhaps I should not have answered yes.



(That's him running away. It's actually pretty fast.)



Well, at least she's not talking about zombies.



Well, at least, um. Hmm. Maybe these zombies are a real problem.



More animal bad news. Things just don't seem right. Poltergeists, the dead coming to life, animals going crazy.



Sounds like a wonderful place. Maybe one day my adventures will take me there, but I doubt it.



Wow, now I want to go even more. I wonder what he's like.



Ohhhhh, SNAP. I'll stick with my nearby home in that case. They probably don't even serve Pepsi here.



Podunk is home to a couple of Marty's old friends. Asthma is actually a status effect in this game, and there are enemies who give off exhaust that mess with Marty.

As for the bratty girl, I don't know if she's speaking metaphorically or literally. It's too bad for Marty that all his friends remember about him are his bad lungs and snotty nose.



No, but now I think I know where Pippi is. Now I can tell the mayor, and this whole nightmare will be over for Pippi's mom.



I suppose it's time to go see the mayor. (And hopefully we get a glimpse of the receptionist. Yowza!)



I don't know the Mayor of Podunk's name, but I'm sure Progress is his middle name.

Current music: ♪Shop♪

My! She is gorgeous! I need this beauty secret of hers! Perhaps I should meet the mayor first.



Of course I don't want to do it! I was just sent to tell you about it, but you already knew where she was? Wow, what a mayor. I do love his selective hearing after I told him no.



Before I go to the graveyard, I want this bat. $500 for a wooden bat? Well, let's see what my dad has given me.



Ah well, time to bash some monsters for my dad to love me.

Current Music: ♪Battle 1♪



This, by the way, is the cool little effect when you get into a battle. Nothing special, just a circle.



After a few battles I learn a new PSI power.



LifeUp α is like an injection of Pepsi Free straight into my veins.



This crow is one of the enemies that was changed for the US non-release. It used to have a cigarette.



I mentioned the SMAAAASH!! font earlier, but only captured the green flash. So here it is. Looks very similar to Earthbound's. Anyway, after a bunch of killing, I go home to get some Pepsi and call my daddio.



I reached level 5 and have enough for the bat. Now it's time for some Pippi rescuing.



Well, blame your damned mayor.



As I get to the edge of town, it gets dangerous to talk to everyone.



If you're keeping track of death notices, Zombies return to dust.



Current Music: ♪Cemetery♪

You can tell the cemetery is coming because even the trees around it have started to die. And that's how it works.

This was another changed sprite. You see that tie? There used to be some gunshot wounds there.



I'm pretty sure these angel wings or whatever were also crosses, but this building is obviously a church. I hope Pippi is cowering inside.



Ugh. That's no girl.



So, what you're trying to say is that diplomacy has failed? Let's get SMAAAASH!ing.



Now it's time to wander around the graveyard. That little open crypt looks promising. The thing to remember about Mother dungeons is that the map designers made as much use of the map space as possible. There is never a direct route. The zigzag forces many random battles. The path to this is blocked by all sorts of trees and gravestones.



In all that time while you were reading that last little paragraph, I made it to the destination.

And this is the end of the line. Where is Pippi anyway?

Now let's jump in I guess!



Current music: ♪Underground♪

Damn, where's that kid?

Damn.

Damn damn.

Well, I guess I'll just do the creepiest thing possible.



That wasn't helpful.



Please tell me you're the lost Pippi.



Great. Now please tell me how you ended up in the casket.



I answer her questions with modesty and charm, and she gives me the great recurring gift of the Mother series. The Franklin Badge.



Pippi forgets where she is for a moment in her excitement to hurry home. She makes it to the door, but can't go further.



Pippi joined the party! But, wait, I don't remember naming her! I hope she stays.



Current Music: ♪Field 2 ~ Bein' Friends♪

I finally make it out of the Cemetery and new world music greets me. Since I have a friend, it plays me the other great overworld music in the game which is appropriately named Bein' Friends. Leaving the graveyard has netted Pippi 3 levels in a short period of time. And now we can return her.



NEXT: The Baby of Singing Laura

The worst part of any RPG is when you have to start with only one character.

"Shop"? That, sir, is Humoresque of a Little Dog, one of the finest pieces of music to grace a video game since Pitfall 2 introduced the idea of background music in the first place. Show some respect, and remember: soulful cry!

I swear by my collection of Mother CDs that I have nothing but respect for the work of Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka (and Akio Ohmori and Ritsuo Kamimura. And let's not forget Shogo Sakai I suppose).

These song titles are purely based on the names that some random hacker gave to the nsfe file that I provided. If someone had the nsf file and was looking for the song, the person would be lost.

I like how he reacts to this. "There's no cure for zombies!" Well no shit.

Then again, has anyone ever tried to cure zombification before? Maybe there is one out there, waiting.

Salt. Salt is the cure for Zombieism.

A "cure" for zombies would be returning them to regular corpses, right? So a shotgun, chainsaw hand, or in Ninten's case a plastic baseball bat is about the best cure you can get. And remember: soulful cry!

Oh, you've got some red on you.

I knew this game was like EarthBound but I didn't realize it was exactly like EarthBound!

I'm pretty sure that Itoi himself admitted that it was more of a remake than a sequel, because the first game didn't come out quite the way that he'd wanted it to.

From what I understand (and will eventually see, thanks to this LP), the most important part of the story -- the whole deal with Giygas -- is distinct, and leads into his role in EarthBound.

Nobody calls him a chicken.

This is one of the reasons I wanted to do the LP. As I said in the introduction, I wanted to show off the parts of the later game that people may not have seen due to being turned off by its similar nature to Earthbound.

Ah, good show! I missed an opportunity there.

Well that's just great. Marty returns to the mayor to show off his new girlfriend. Knowing this ass of a mayor, I'm inclined to believe he actually said "applause, applause" rather than this being a transcription of a sound effect. Yes, believe me: he's an ass.



See? I am just an extension of the mayor. Nay, an employee. By paying me one hundred dollars, he has ensured that any good deeds I did, am doing, or will do are attributed to him as purely work-for-hire.



No. Absolutely not. No. I didn't even want to go into the cemetery, but I did. For you. I was attacked by zombies posing as villagers. For you. I was bitten by zombies. For you. I'm probably a zombie now. If I don't get some Pepsi in three minutes I will become a zombie. I delved into a crypt. For you. I pried up coffin lids revealing dangerous zombies and mutilated corpses. For you. The smell was horrendous. I got stuck with this ugly red-headed girl. For you. All she has done is cling to me the whole way back here. I was literally dragging her along. And then she keeps giggling every time I LifeUp α her. I did all this. For you. I can still smell the dead. So no. No, I will not go to Podunk's Zoo. For you.



You ass.



Oh, God. Please don't tell me you love me.



You mean it isn't styled already?



Marty. Ladykiller.



Thank you, Abbott. Well, maybe that gorgeous receptionist will finally tell me that secret now that I've finished here.



Oh.



Current music: ♪Field 1 ~ Pollyanna (I Believe in You)♪

Now that I am all alone, Pollyanna plays on the jukebox of my heart again.

Instead of following the mayor's wishes, Marty decides to see if he can just leave Podunk and venture out into the world. Y'see, he had just been to the zoo last summer.



Curses! A stop to my plan at the first bridge out of town.



Just as officers of the law should be, this one is nice and helpful. I don't have any qualms about going near the zoo after all.



The mayor is smarter than I thought. You know, I like these cops, even if they don't stand up to their mayor enough. I even think that jolly Mr. Cop here was making a little directional pun.

Well, I suppose I'll go back to town and see about this "Zoo case." I guess it's this whole thing about animals going crazy.



One of the stores in the town department store is a pet store. That's kind of like a zoo, right? Maybe I can finish my adventure there.



The shop assistant chimes in with the collective town about the animals acting strange. The animals have even left the store.



You want eighty-five dollars for it? Unless this is some scheme in which I can sell it back to you for a lot more when it grows up and becomes a Canary, I don't want it.



Ah, so that's what they mean by "free as a bird". Well, I guess it's time to check out the zoo problem.



Before I head over to the Podunk Zoo, I stop by to see my mom for some home-cooked Pepsi-Free. On the way there, Pippi is hanging out with her mother. I'm not sure what adventures she's heard of because the only one so far has included her. Maybe she heard about my attempted escape over the Podunk Bridge.

On the way to the zoo, I pass by the Canary Village Wildlife Refuge. There are two important reasons for me to stop by here before I get to the zoo. The first is that, after buying the Canary Chick, one of the townswomen asked if the chick was from the Canary Village. I told her no. Since, of course, it was from the pet shop. She told me, "The chicks at the Canary Village have lovely voices". I then told her not to call girls "chicks".

But the most important reason was because of that girl who told me the guy who works there is her idol. Here's a preview of the amazing man.



Amazing. I'm in love. Oh well, I also heard admission was free.



The canaries that are walking around all say "......" to me. And I thought I could talk to animals! Hmph.



Talking to the idol of the village with possession of the chick leads to interesting conversation.

Telling him that I will not return it leads to one of my favorite lines of the game.



Indeed.



If you agree to return it, he just wonders where Laura wandered. (Like most of this game, none of this conversation matters. You can just return it without discussion.)



?

Hmm, this pillar seems discolored, and it looks like there is a canary back there.



Ta-da!



Hmm, good to know. I think I gots something for ya.



Current music: ♪Melody 2 ~ Canary♪

Singing Laura really does sing, and Marty has yet another tune to remember.



I hope so because otherwise I'm memorizing random snippets of music for no reason.



As I leave the Canary Village, I find that the canaries are all singing. No more ellipses for these birds.



NEXT: The Monkey Stole the Zoo Key.

No, see, he's just planning ahead as a politician. The election season's just around the corner, after all.

BRAIN A SPLODE!

Well, that must have driven some kids nuts.

Nah, kids in that era were probably used to that sorta thing.

I think I would kind of resent additional party members for changing the overworld theme away from "Pollyanna."

We have heard a singing canary. Now it's time to do the mayor's dirty work.



No wonder all the animals escaped. They've been using a monkey as a guard! Well. Let's get in the zoo and see what the problem is. At least, this means I get a free trip to the zoo.



Oh boy, do I hate monkeys. Now I'll never be able to get into this zoo, and I'll never be able to get past Podunk's bridge, and I'll never be able to... Wait. I can't remember why I want to leave Podunk. I don't even know where I'm going! First things first. Figure out a new way into the zoo.



Oh. So I didn't even need the key?

Current music: ♪Underground♪



The enemies suddenly become very hard. Actually I was seeing these enemies before I even entered the zoo when I was merely in its vicinity. I guess the mayor was right to close this place up: these guys hit hard. This zoo must have had a lot of money because I think I fought at least four tigers, seven alligators, and three elephants. I'm sure there were more. Tigers, elephants, alligators, gorillas...



...and flies!



Don't worry, animal-lovers! See? I'm not killing them.

Walking through the zoo is a chore since I have to go in a zigzag pattern to get to the end. What's at the end? Who knows, but I wish the disturbance was caused by something at the entrance of the zoo.



Walking through the zoo, Marty sees that some of the less violent animals have stayed quietly in their pens. Here are some cute little rabbits. I'm not quite sure why they haven't been eaten by these out-of-control tigers.



This animal pen presumably belonged to a more violent species.



Perhaps this alligator that killed me used to live there. They ganged up on me in a pair of two. I was hoping to last a little longer until my first death, but oh well. I suppose I'm not hardcore enough.



Fortunately, spotlights can talk to Marty, so this is not the literal end of the world.



The penalty for death is losing half the money in your pocket and warping back to the last phone you saved at.



You keep your EXP and game progress, though you are revived with 0 PP. So after a quick stop for some Pepsi Free, Marty ventures back to the zoo.

More cute and supposedly non-violent animals. I bet those monkeys are laughing at me though.



This is the last cage that actually includes animals. The other animals were moving around. These flamingos are standing still. The zoo has less money than I thought because these are clearly lawn ornaments.



Singing Monkey? I bet this is that EEK EEKer! Unfortunately the cage is empty.



At the end of this hedge maze of a zoo lies the zoo office. Let's enter!



Current music: ♪Alert♪

The ominous music perhaps predicts that I found the correct place. The building is a few stories of rooms like this. In each door is an office that may or may not have a present for me. Things like ropes and antidotes!



Marty makes it to the top floor and chooses door number one.



That doesn't look like a Zoo Superintendent's tool.



Current music: ♪Battle 2♪

Whoa, this is heavy!



Starman Jr. can be a tough battle depending on luck. If he continuously uses PK Beam α, there is a good chance he will win. It was doing about 25-30 damage to Marty. He also uses PK Beam γ which is an instant-kill spell. However, the Franklin Badge repels the spell 100% of the time and even has a miniscule chance to kill him.



PK DefenseUp α helps out for his non-beam attacks.



After a few rounds of bashing, Marty wins. For those keeping score of the death notices at home, "Starman Jr was beaten".



Defeating the enemy causes the capsule to run away.

Current music: ♪House♪

Does that mean I'm done here? I think so!



Outside in the zoo there are no more deadly animals, but it seems this monkey has returned to his cage.



Current music: ♪Melody 3 ~ Monkey♪

He does not return the key (which I'm fine with because I need the inventory space!), but he's sings a little melody for me. Now let's go laugh at the mayor that a child did his job.



Oooh, a "hero"? Well, I hope I at least get a reward!



You know what? I'm never talking to this guy again. He's simply a jerk. Maybe that gorgeous receptionist will finally tell me something.



I... see. Interesting. Tell me. How do you know she'll help me specifically? Well, it's time to cross that bridge!



So that's our third melody, and we haven't even left Podunk. Or know what they're for!

NEXT: Here in Magicant It's Just Like the World Outside.

I don't think I ever got he canary song or the monkey song, but that is because I got tired of being beaten down by alligators and gorillas all the time. I never could get into grinding. This is going to be awesome, please don't back out half-way!

Take a mel-o-dy
Simple as can be
Add in some words and...

...

(...and remember: soulful cry!)

Marty's father would be proud. Marty is finally leaving Podunk. I would tell him all about it on the phone next time I call, but he only ever talks about finances and making sure I'm sleeping enough. Unfortunately the southern bridge to Merrysville is still blocked off, so I have to take the long way around.



This guy secretly hates his job.



Why do people know so much about me? Must a boy who survived the living dead and attacks of violent animals be telepathic?



You know what? I wonder what this guy really thinks of me.



Oh yeah. Marty is so super-talented!



Oh. So you block off the actual road to Merrysville and just direct the general populace to a strange cave?



Past the bridge is... a cave! Who would have guessed?



Current music: ♪Mystery♪

In the cave is... a strange rock-like thing. Let's touch it! It should be safe since the officers of the law are letting a child wander near it, right?



In Marty's mind? Good thing the cop just reminded me about his telepathic powers. I'd probably have forgotten about that spell.



Oh, I know this! I read it in a diary. It's the forgotten one of the ship that sails the cosmos.

Hello? Mr. Pink Rock? I answered. What? You want me to use the book to prove it to you? But I took that out of my extremely limited inventory!

Well, back to my sister.



Give that back.



On the way back to the cave, I meet an interesting enemy that isn't an animal or humanoid. Marty destroys it. Okay, back to the rock.



I guess it just wanted me to actually read it a bedtime story.



The world turns pink.

Whoa.

This is heavy.

Current music: ♪Magicant♪

When the hell are we?

Marty arrives in a land where the land looks like lovely pink clouds. And... is that a swimming cat?



Oh, okay.



I'll take that as a compliment. Even though I would like some candy.

I suppose the only thing to do is search for a way out of here.



Well, I can't use that pillar to leave here. At least not telepathically. Guess it's time to meet the residents of this fine place.



You know what, you little--



Oh. Well, thank you, this place is quite odd, and I apologize for nearly losing my temper.



Okay, so there's a queen. Maybe she can help me out of here.



So this place is called Magicant? Okay. Queen Mary and Magicant. Thanks for the information. Sorry about your dream though, dude.



I think these two people have played a few too many Zelda games.



What's with this fountain? I suppose I should visit! I do indeed like benevolence.



Soulful cry. Got it.



Yes, yes, soulful cry!

That actually sounds pretty awesome.



That sounds less cool. But Marty lets him have it anyway.



After giving the man his cash card, Marty talks to him again immediately.



He just wanted to touch it, I suppose. I bet this world has probably not seen many cash cards.



Oh cool, I love magic tricks. What's your trick?



Oh, a phone. Or perhaps my dad. you even said "slam" just like he does at the end of every conversation I have with him.



Oh good. I hope I won't need this book again.



Has that been the problem the whole time? Oh man, I wish I could change clothes, but someone told me this cowboy outfit would fit in with the people here.



I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll put my shirt back on!



Oh! Yes! Yes, I am! You know the way home?



I see.



It's always the fountain with you people.



It's always the fountain with you people! I want to leave Magicant, not go to its fountain.



I mean I want to go home! Or at least to Merrysville...



Oh.