Mother 2, also known as EarthBound, is loved by both sides of the Pacific for its charm, memorable characters, and striking social commentary. A Western EarthBound fan would naturally assume that Mother 3 on the Game Boy Advance is just as loved in its native country as it is overseas, but that seems not to be the case.
Fansite EarthBound Central gives us a peek into what the Japanese Mother fanbase thinks about the third entry to the series. A couple of comments can be seen below:
I’m sure Nintendo wants to bury this failure of a game in the darkness forever. I bet they’re thinking on the inside, “Dammit, mind your own business and don’t bring this game back up!”
Mother 3 is such a serious piece of garbage that it might be better for them NOT to play it. I was a fanboy of the game since it was announced for the N64, but the game turned out so horrible that it made me loathe Itoi
Stinging words to we overseas fans of the series who find the third game to be worthy of the Mother title. It’s not too far off to guess that the negative fan reaction to Mother 3 is because the game is just so depressing.
While Mother 2/EarthBound had its share of dark social commentary, the third game really turns it up in terms of terrible things happening to generally good people. Such dark themes are generally not to the Japanese public’s taste. I guess now we know why Shigesato Itoi streamed Mother 2 instead of Mother 3 earlier this year.
