Mother Obsesso

I've been a bit obsessed with the Mother series since I started playing Earthbound (Mother 2) for Super NES on Christmas last year. So quirky, so offbeat, it's the perfect antidote for the "dungeons 'n' dragons" rpg nerdiness that turned me off of the genre (although it's ironically turned me into a nerd now). What really has captivated me with the series, though, has been the music, which is about as weird as video game music gets. But since this is an 80's blog, let's talk about Mother (Earthbound Zero).

While Earthbound barely made a ripple in the states, not even helped by excessive packaging and promos, Mother was a blockbuster in Japan. So much so that they released an official soundtrack with real musicians and vocalists providing a J-pop-esque production of the songs. This included eight songs with original lyrics written for the OST including one with a full children's choir. Needless to say, this was an unheard of feat for a video game released in 1989. I've included my favorite track, a pop song of unrivaled weirdness (except in Japan) with a person named Jermy Budd singing in an unearthly falsetto for the entire duration.

Mother was never officially released in the US, though English translation hacks can be found for emulators (hint). Ditto for Mother 3, which was released for Gameboy Advance in Japan and had an English fan translation created as a patch for the emulator rom. To get a scope of the epic-ness of Mother's release in Japan, check out the promo commercial, which reminds me of Microsoft's "1984." To learn much more about the Mother series and its obsessed fans, visit Starman.net.