After the success of Dragon Warrior in Japan (Dragon Quest over there, and even outside of Japan now), multiple Japanese game companies tried to ride the Dragon Warrior success train to fame and fortune, Shigesato Itoi being one of the many who was inspired by Dragon Warrior, and wanted to make a similar game with the main difference being that it was set in contemporary times, more specifically, in 1980's U.S.
The plot begins with Ninten (seriously, that's the protagonist's name, could Nintendo be any more narcissistic?) trying to leave his room, only to be attacked by a lamp, which he easily beats. He goes to one of his sisters' rooms and finds a doll attacking her, and beats it up, as well. Searching the doll, Ninten finds a music box that plays part of a melody and he remembers it. Going downstairs, he finds that his mother is also in shock about what's happening, and then the phone rings, the call being from Ninten's father, who tells him that his Great-Grandfather studied psychic powers and that Ninten should go on a journey to see what else he can discover.
Of course they couldn't just give you a break! |
Anyway, back to the story. Ninten travels to Podunk, and he then goes off to a graveyard to rescue a girl. I don't know how the girl was kidnapped by zombies, I just know that she was. Anyway, Ninten rescues her and they travel back to the mayor of Podunk. Ninten also buys a canary at the local department store in Podunk, for... reasons? Anyway, going north, Ninten reaches the zoo that the mayor told him about that was having problems and fixes it and learns a tune from the singing monkey caged up there, and he also gives the canary chick to a canary named Laura who also teaches Ninten another part of the tune. Basically, the story of the game boils down to travelling the world of Earthbound Beginnings and learning the tunes to an eight-note long melody. Basically, the exact same plot of every other JRPG from Dragon Warrior II onwards during this period of time.
Couldn't have put it better myself! Thanks for writing my script for me, Nintendo! |
You know, graphics-wise this is actually one of the better-looking NES games, having walls that look like brick walls (Look at the screenshot above for proof of that) or having floors so shiny that it looks like the walls are actually reflecting off of them.
I do have to point out at least one thing about Earthbound Zero/Beginnings that I just can't stand, and that is the game's ridiculously high level of difficulty, and it absolutely does not let up, at any point in the game. Earthbound Beginnings starts off hard, and it stays hard throughout the entire game. Now, I used a ROM Hack that made Earthbound Beginnings a lot more forgiving, but even then it was still hard.
I honestly don't think I'd be able to recommend this game to anyone who lacks patience, doesn't have an affinity for old NES RPGs, or just hates grinding, because you're going to need about all three of them just to make it through Earthbound Beginnings. It's honestly a shame because it starts off so well, but it then immediately takes a nose-dive in terms of quality not long afterwards. Even worse, the game was only playtested to about halfway through the game, meaning that just like Dragon Warrior II, they didn't bother playtesting the entire game, only whereas in Dragon Warrior II it was the last two dungeons, in Earthbound Beginnings, HALF OF THE GAME WASN'T PLAYTESTED!!! Argh!!
An alien! |
I rate this game a 5/10. Not so bad, but not so good, either.
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