maskedman:

GATHER ‘ROUND YOUNG EARTHBOUNDS

—- Here’s a run-down: Mother 3 is an RPG for the Game Boy Advance released in 2006. It’s the third and final installment of the MOTHER series, but it’s not a direct sequel. You’ll be fine if you don’t play the other two games! You can save those for later because in my opinion Mother 3 is the best. The games are pretty different though, so that can be up to you!

—- It was not released overseas. There’s a fan translation!

—- Now, a run-down of the plot, taken from Wikipedia. I’m not that good at plot summaries! 

“The game switches perspectives between the main characters, who are all people (or animals) who live on the islands. The game focuses on a pair of twins named Lucas and Claus, their family, and the friends who join them to fight against the mysterious Pigmask Army.

The game’s story is a tragedy: its main themes involve coping with the loss of family members and the perils of consumerism. The game also has many comedic elements, such as parody of other video games. The game was advertised as ‘funny, strange, [and] heartrending’.”

As you can see, it’s pretty fuckin’ sad, but not always fuckin’ sad! The characters are fun, and the graphics are really pretty— in my opinion the color choices are really eye-grabbing! The Mother series in general is really wonderful with being creative. 

I wouldn’t say there are exactly “villains” either— just about everyone is stupidly lovable or pitiable. 

—- Long story short, it’s a really refreshing and interesting game. I wouldn’t say it’s too long or too short in length: it gets what it has to get done in a nice amount of time, depending on how good you are at video games.

There are eight chapters, and I think it really gets good in Chapter 4, but that’s also a matter of personal opinion! All chapters add important stuff to the game but some are more frustating than others!

Chapter 6 is by far the shortest, and Chapter 7 is by far the longest, so the pacing can seem a bit off at times. The story picks up right away though! Just probably not in the way you’re expecting.

FAQ

I already know what happens/the ending/etc! I don’t think it’s worth playing.
No. You’re wrong. Don’t say that. Play it anyway.

Any walkthroughs?
Starmen.net has a pretty handy one!

I don’t want to level grind…
NO!!! PLEASE!!! PLAY THIS GAME!!! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

Are there any cheats, at least?
Yes, but I really would save those for a second playthrough!! It feels so much better when you do it on your own. Honestly. Also a warning: it can glitch up your emulator and make your life hell if you overdo it.

Just a note: as you can see, Starmen.net has a lot of handy things in general! Poke around.

Other Links

The fan translation + some other nifty stuff!

ROM! This is the one I use personally, I’m not sure of any others.

Emulators (also listed with the fan translation along with others!)
For PC: VisualBoy Advance-M, VisualBoy Advance, no$gba (personally I prefer the VisualBoy Advance!)

For Mac: VisualBoy Advance 1.7.4

Probably to be edited/added on to later!