Version Differences

This is a sub-page of EarthBound Beginnings.

To do: More Mother 1+2 changes, like pixel-based movement instead of tile-based movement?

Mother was a major localization milestone for Nintendo of America in 1990. During its conversion to Earth Bound, several improvements were made to make it more accessible for western markets (which at the time was not anywhere near as receptive to the RPG genre as in Japan), as well as many graphical changes and additions done at the leisure of the team. The most major change being the expansion of the ending, which in Mother had been abrupt and visually unceremonious. Also abrupt and unceremonious: the US version's cancellation in 1991. Nintendo of America's efforts didn't go to waste in the long run, however. In an interview with LostLevels.org, localization director and English scriptwriter Phil Sandhop stated that the process made Nintendo Co. Ltd more willing to work with its overseas counterparts to develop games with an international audience in mind, and indeed, all of the improvements made in this game's localization would be incorporated in the Game Boy Advance port featured in Mother 1+2.

When the English version finally got an official release on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015, all was left untouched from the build that had leaked in 1998. All descriptions here are based on the latter, which was released on the aforementioned platform as the final version.

Title Screen#

In Beginnings, the intro text was made more grammatically correct and the golden Mother logo was replaced with the red Earth Bound one. However, the original title graphics are still present in the CHR bank used for the intro text; this bank is swapped out and replaced with the Earth Bound CHR bank right before the title screen appears.

Dummied Items#

Time Machine#

Watch on YouTubeThe Japanese version had a "Time Machine" item for sale in Twinkle Elementary School which, if bought, would trigger a short event not present in Beginnings: the player is teleported to the same room directly after Lloyd blows it up with a bottle rocket.

Through some simple hacking to copy the NPC data from the Japanese version into the US one, the event can be restored. Mother 1+2 does not have this item or event, either.

Map#

In the Japanese version, the Map was an inventory item found in Ninten's basement, which he could use from the Goods menu. In Beginnings and Mother 1+2, the Map item is no longer required and the map is instead able to be opened at any time on the overworld by pressing Start. While the present that used to have the Map only contains Bread in the later versions, the item itself is still present in both versions and is still fully functional. Using it simply displays the string "Ninten checked the map."

Friendship Ring#

The Friendship Ring (known in-game as FrndshpRing) appeared in the Japanese version. It was useless and did nothing, so in Beginnings it was replaced by the Repel Ring.

Graphic Changes#

To do: Add more pictures for examples.

Characters and NPCs#

Beginnings changed the appearance of some characters, although most of the edits were minor (such as the stripe on Ninten's shirt). All of these changes were retained for Mother 1+2. It's interesting to note that some NPCs, like Ninten's mother, Carol, were edited to look less like Peanuts characters to avoid any potential legal prosecution. In typical NoA fashion, all religious symbols were removed, including the priest's rosary. Some of these changes were reverted in all versions of Mother 2 and/or EarthBound for similar-looking NPCs, such as Ness' mother, the Return Woman in the Department Store of Fourside and Twoson, and the salesman of the "For Sale" sign in Burglin Park.

The final four NPCs' edits appear to be little more than stylistic touch-ups.

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings	Notes
Ninten			On all sprites, either the shirt's stripe was made from black to cream, or, the division of the shirt and shorts was made lower and more detail was added, depending on how you interpret it. The collar on the front and back facing sprites, and sleeves in the sideways sprites, were given more outline and definition.
Carol (Sally Brown-esque)			The haircut is completely, edited to look less like Peanuts characters to avoid potential legal prosecution.
Marcie-esque NPC			Ditto.
Fancy Marcie-esque NPC			Ditto + Sideway standing sprite's body was redrawn.
Fancy Guy NPC			Sideway sprites' bodies were redrawn, and front-facing sprite's suit shirt was made one pixel larger.
Mustachioed NPC			Ditto.
Pig-Pen-esque NPC			The dirt particles / fleas were removed, seemingly to avoid semblance to Peanuts' Pigpen
Priest NPC			The shirt was re-drawn, originally rosary. A tiny pixel detail.
Cool Kid NPC			The back foot was essentially flipped.

Church#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The crosses on top of the churches were replaced with a taller, pointier steeple, while the large crosses on the back walls inside were changed to large stained-glass windows. While the steeple is a simple graphics alteration, the stained-glass window was edited on the palette and CHR-ROM level, so attempting to copy and paste the large cross back into Beginnings will result in graphical glitches.

Both of these changes were retained for Mother 1+2.

Funerary Objects#

Various death-related paraphernalia was also changed between regions to remove religious imagery:

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

But the overworld graphics weren't the only thing that got changed during the localization process...

Enemies#

Crow#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The crow, like the B.B. Gang, had its cigarette removed in the English releases due to NOA's own censorship policies, as well as concerns influenced by California laws during this time as well (to localizer Phil Sandhop's recollection). This change later extended to Mother 1+2 and the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console release.

Gang Zombie, and Nasty Zombie#

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Gang Zombie
Nasty Zombie

The bleeding gunshot wounds on the Gang Zombie, and Nasty Zombie, were cleaned up, and a tie was put in their place. Phil Sandhop was reportedly impressed by the effort Nintendo took to make this change rather than simply cleaning up the blood spots, believing it showed their commitment to Mother‍ '​s English localization.

Kelly, Nancy, and Juana#

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Kelly
Nancy
Juana

The three female robot enemies had the lighting on their breasts adjusted to remove their nipples.

Dr. Distorto#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Dr. Distorto's pocket square was likely mistaken as a bloodstain and was removed from his lab coat.

Shroudley#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The dripping blood was removed from Shroudley's hands and around his feet.

B.B. Gang#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The Black Blood Blah-Blah Gang members joined the D.A.R.E. program.

B.B.'s Boss#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Teddy B.B.'s Boss no longer brandishes a knife during battle. His elbow is also changed for reasons unknown.

Bug Fixes#

Bread Crumbs#

A glitch involving the use of the Bread Crumbs item was fixed for Beginnings and Mother 1+2. One of its main uses is to bypass the rock sealing Giegue's lair, which doesn't normally open until you get the Eight Melodies, a glitch that is used in speedruns of the Japanese version.

Flea Bag#

In the Japanese version, it is possible to abuse the Flea Bag item on R7038XX, dropping his offense to the point where he cannot kill EVE, and staying alive until a total of 255 turns have passed (in all versions, the game is programmed to automatically end any battle after 255 turns, declaring it a draw {using text not seen anywhere else} and dumping you back onto the map). Upon doing this, the event for EVE dying and giving you the melody happens, but she also remains in your party - something which isn't supposed to happen, mainly because she's obscenely strong.

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 fixed this by giving the R703X-series robots immunity to the Flea Bag's effects. Notably, it is still possible for EVE to survive the encounter in Beginnings if R7038XX misses its attacks enough times for the battle to reach 255 turns without EVE dying, but the chances of that happening are so utterly obscenely small that it is essentially impossible to do without using savestates (and a LOT of patience).

Misc.#

Controls#

The controls differ in each version of the game when outside of battle, with only Beginnings allowing you to change button mappings. Mother lacks any button to Run or open the Map, as the former wasn't implemented as a feature yet and the latter was only an inventory item instead of having a dedicated button.

Location Names#

A vast majority of the names of locations were changed from the Japanese version to Beginnings. To quote the localization producer:

"Itoi originally wrote them to sound friendly. I don't believe that towns named after holidays was friendly. Matter of fact I thought it sounded stupid and thought older players would really be turned off. I wanted it to be enjoyable for all ages."

— Phil Sandhop, localization producer. Interview by Jonathan Wirth of the Lost Levels.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Menus#

The menus have some more options in Beginnings and Mother 1+2, such as more speed levels. The world map is also not an option and rather a separate item in the Japanese release, found in the basement (and replaced by Bread in Beginnings). The order of learned PSI is also different.

To do: PSI learning comparison.

Main HUD#

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings	Mother 1+2

Several changes were made to the main HUD in Beginnings, most of which would be reverted in Mother 1+2:

• The Command window was made wider to make room for the new Setup menu option, and the State menu was also added to the Command window instead of only being openable by pressing B. The latter was likely done to keep the number of options even.
• The abbreviations for "EX" and "LV" were changed to be "Exp" and "Lvl"
• The stats were reordered so that the characters' Level comes before their HP and PP. This change also applies to the version used in battles. The motivation for this may have been so that character names could be extended an extra character (from 6 to 7) without touching the stats, since Level is only two digits long.
• The word "Cash" was added to the window which displays your currently held money.
• The text inside the Cash window was shifted one tile to the right, and the empty space was removed so that the window border now touches the dollar sign. Not counting font differences, this is the only change to the HUD which Mother 1+2 retained.

Setup#

A setup option was added in Beginnings, allowing you to change the button assignments and the text speed throughout the game. The setup menu was ultimately removed from the Command window in Mother 1+2, which opted to use a smaller version of the Japanese version's Command window, although a new "Setup" option was added to the battle menu and a "Speed" option was added to the save file selection screen; both allow you to change text speed like in Beginnings. The option to change button assignments, though, is entirely removed from Mother 1+2.

Look#

In-game item descriptions (the Look command) were added for Beginnings and Mother 1+2.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Status Backdrop#

Beginnings moved the position of the critical condition and fainted status backdrops to the HP numbers. In the Japanese version, these backdrops were positioned in the party member names.

Check Blurbs#

In Beginnings and Mother 1+2, checking an enemy in battle will display that enemy's stats as well as a short description. In the Japanese version, only their stats are displayed.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Melody Backdrop#

A rolling background effect, not present in the Japanese version, was added to Beginnings when learning a melody. This was programmed into the subroutine that plays music: any values containing one of the melodies will use the background whenever they are called, and revert when the song changes. In Mother 1+2 the lines were made thicker and wavy, most likely to reduce the risk of seizures.

The following content may induce seizures and has been hidden by default. Click to reveal:
Mother EarthBound Beginnings Mother 1+2

Maps#

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 contain simplified versions of the Underground Stream (in the Magicant wells) and the path to Mt. Itoi, as well as the layout of part of Spookane; Reindeer's department store also gained a 5th floor.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

To do: Add Mt. Itoi maps (if needed).

The summit of Mt. Itoi was also considerably revised.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The rocks obstructing Giegue's lair were changed from four small rocks to two small rocks and a tall one.

Exclusive to EarthBound Beginnings is a final, Starman-infested path between the outer summit and the cave where Giegue is fought. This is also where the cave containing the kidnapped adults from Youngtown was moved to.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

In the Japanese release, the party instead finds the imprisoned adults shortly before the cave where the Sea Pendant is located, between two clusters of rocks (incidentally, this also means that the player can bring EVE to the prison in the Japanese release, but not the English one). Because the climb up Mt. Itoi features multiple diverging paths, it's possible for the player to trek from the base of the mountain to the summit without ever encountering the imprisoned adults in the Japanese version, whereas it's much harder to miss in Beginnings and Mother 1+2.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

When the path to Giegue's lair is opened, all of the rocks blocking it disappear in Mother. In EarthBound Beginnings, only the tall rock in front of the cave entrance is removed, leaving the two small ones.

Run#

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 added a run button, which by default is set to B and R, respectively. According to Phil Sandhop, the localization producer and English script writer for the US version, the running feature was originally added for debugging purposes (hence why it simply runs the overworld at double speed in Beginnings) but ultimately got retained as a legitimate game feature at his request.

Magicant Men#

Two of the NPCs in Magicant were substantially changed. One of them is the man who appears in the fountain: he cures ailments in the Famicom version, but acts more like an ATM in Beginnings and Mother 1+2, only without the ability to deposit money. In the Japanese version, he asks "What do you need?" and the choices "Cure Poison" and "Soften" appear. This change makes him more useful, since you can simply return to the hospital in town to cure those status conditions, and there are otherwise no ATMs in Magicant.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The other is the Forgotten Man: in the Famicom version, should a player answer one of his questions wrong, they're warped right back to the beginning of Magicant. In the Beginnings and Mother 1+2, he simply ends his dialogue, allowing one to quickly start his prompt over again.

Endgame#

To do: Comparisons of everything here. Provide the unused text for the translated version of Maria's Famicom dialogue.

After the R7038 battle, you appear at the Doctor's house near the foot of Mt. Itoi, with Teddy injured on a bed, unable to continue. Beginnings moves Teddy closer to the center of the bed, most likely for aesthetic purposes. Sandhop reportedly remembered the change, but he did not recall the reasoning behind it.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

In the Japanese release, upon learning the seventh melody, you are automatically warped back to Queen Mary, who heals your party members & revives your fainted friends, then remembers the eighth melody on her own; afterwards, the party is teleported to George's gravestone on the summit of Mt. Itoi. Beginnings requires you to collect the eighth melody from the crystal at George's gravestone, return to Magicant, and talk to Queen Mary yourself. The dialogue associated with the Japanese version of events is in Beginnings, but unused:

I am the one who has called you. Ninten, Anna, Lloyd, and Teddy! All of the brave children. Now is the time!

While George's gravestone is just decoration in the Japanese release, Beginnings and Mother 1+2 expanded its role. It now summons a crystal containing the embodiment of George's soul, which gives you the eighth melody. In Mother 1+2, this will also fully heal your party.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Additionally, Sing isn't available until after Giegue finishes up monologuing in the Japanese release, but in Beginnings, the option is available before Giegue's monologue, but doesn't do anything meaningful until Giegue's monologue is over; interestingly, this change wasn't carried over to Mother 1+2, being one of the few changes to not get carried over.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Ending#

The ending was heavily revised for Beginnings. In the Japanese version, the party simply faced the screen as the credits rolled behind them. In Beginnings, meanwhile, the game cuts to an epilogue that explains the fates of the imprisoned adults and the game's playable cast, which is followed by a cast reel, a revised credits sequence, and a new post-credits scene setting up a sequel (though the actual sequel has no relation to this hook).

This said, despite the change, there are a few errors in the ending: the heavy NPC who had changes done to his sprite in the US version uses his original Japanese sprites, and Ninten's sister Minnie uses Mimmie's pink color palette rather than the red palette she wears throughout the game.

It also assumes you finished the game with the intended final party of Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd in that order, regardless of who your final party actually is, as the developers didn't (or couldn't) account for the fact that it's possible to finish the game without meeting Ana or Teddy, or that the player could skip the Mt. Itoi cabin scene that would've removed Teddy from the party, or that it's possible to leave Lloyd at Teddy's bedside by not talking to the latter after he's critically wounded.

Mother's credits theme became the epilogue and curtain call theme in Beginnings, with a slight rearrangement that gives it a more fleshed-out and joyful sound, and comes to an end instead of looping. The credits feature an all-new extended version of the Airplane theme, which includes parts of the Youngtown/Easter and Eight Melodies themes.

The revised ending was retained in Mother 1+2, albeit with some further touch-ups. Minnie is now properly colored red, though the heavy NPC still uses the wrong sprites. Due to the GBA's smaller resolution, the cast reel now has the game's characters walk along the top of the screen rather than the lower margin, which retains Ninten's sole line of dialogue. The original arrangement of the ending theme is retained, and the credits omit the remixed Airplane theme in favor of reusing the train theme, "The Paradise Line".