Memoirs of an English Major

“Didactically speaking, seminal evidence seems to explicate the fact that your repudiation of entropy supports my theory of space-time synthesis. Of this, I am irrefutably confident.” -Wordy guy at the Stoic Club

Still one of my top RPGS, Earthbound is by far one of the few games I replay simply to replay. Not to unlock extras or to find another ending, but to simply live the game again, laughing at the same moments, and once again remembering that middle school year where I was taken to the town of Onett and helped Ness and crew tackle the evil Gygas. I recommend anyone who hasn’t played this game to do so. Even if your not an RPG fan, you’ll love all the reference, off bear humor, and essential wacky ness that will just seem to come out of no where. If you ever wonder where I get some of my humor inspirations in life and my ring tone of the phone, this is the where it’s at. So, as I am still coding the site and since I know some you don’t know of the game, I’m going to actual going to write about the game a bit more. Feel free to email me question on this topic or comment here on your memories and thoughts. Also, if you know me personally, I may be able to set you up with the game. So, take that cup of coffee, grab a Magic Cake, and we’ll begin the journey.

It was about 1995, and at that time I should have been in 5th grade or so. If memory serves me, I could have been in either in Flint or Grand Blanc at the time, but after some research, I’m leaning that we were in Grand Blanc by then. What I can pinpoint is when I first rented the game and the case it came it. I was still getting issues of Nintendo Power, and I had read reports of the game, getting as much as I could out of the reviews. I made sure that I would give this game a try, as I had missed out last time I had read about a game in Nintendo Power. In any case, I remember when I rented it, it came in a huge case, complete with players guide, which was standard package for it. It had scratch and sniff cards and a whole slew of other things. It was pretty much the most unique packaging I had scene and I still have yet to see a more complete package for a standard game. Remember, this was during the time where Limited Edition didn’t exist, so for anything extra coming with a game was quite a stretch.

As I booting up the game, I was hooked. I loved ever little detail, from the music, to the sprite, to the story line, to the game play. I became enthralled as the story progressed. At times, the game was difficult, but I was used to this in RPGs. I loved everything of the game and still do. After that initial rent, I would re-rent the game time and time again, so much so that I think I should have bought it by then. But I never seemed to, mainly because I didn’t want to start over, as this was during the age of battery backed RAM, well before the concept of memory cards, so one couldn’t just buy the game and keep playing their save. So I kept re-renting it, trying to beat it. Eventually, some one erased my save and all my progress was lost….

Now, this is where the story should end, but some unlucky soul left his save of the game on their, towards the end of the game. And, me being resentful of my progress being lost, I played his game, trying to desperately beat the game. I would end up failing each time , as his character were far too weak to complete the game. So let’s get into that Skyrunner there and flash forward a bit…

It’s about the year 2000 and my exploration with SNES and NES Emulation was in full swing. I got into some light ROM hacking and pretty much played ever game I had wanted and finally playing and completing Startropics. I would also have later found the ROM to my favorite game, Earthbound, and I realized then I had not complete it. I booted up the ROM file and decided to change that. Though it took some time, I would eventually get to the end, armed with all I needed and would finally beat the game and let me tell you, it is still one of my favorite video game endings. It’s one I look forward to each time I play. It made me feel accomplished and it made me feel like I had played a full game. It is well worth it.

So, you may be wondering why is it I still play it. Simple : I love it. It just is a great game. Nothing has come close to the humor or wacky ness since. So if this story has intrigued you, get on the phone and tell Nintendo to put this game on the Wii. Or play the game yourself. You will not be disapointed. Well, if you’ll excuse me, there’s the Summer’s beach here and well, it’s calling me and after that, it’s time to jet off to Fourside to catch Venus’ show, so I must go, so Hello… and goodbye!