EarthBound Zero/Mother (NES, 1989)
EarthBound Zero
This is a strange one - strange game, strange fate. Let's start with the game: EarthBound was a bizarre but original RPG title that took place in modern 1980s America instead of some fantasy or futuristic setting. The game involves bizarre happenings and poltergeist-like activity and a young boy and his friends who investigate the disturbances. Along the way, the group encounters hippies, aliens and other strange characters while using psychic powers and household items as weapons. Strange, indeed.
Technically, the game was released - in Japan. But the North American version of this innovative NES title was never officially published. Not only was the game finished and translated for an English-speaking audience, Nintendo even had the packaging and marketing materials ready to go. But at the 11th hour, Nintendo of America made the dubious decision to cancel Earthbound (the Japanese version was entitled Mother). Essentially, the NES was coming to the end of its lifecycle and Super Nintendo was coming out the next year, so the big wigs at Nintendo decided the game would be unprofitable. Nintendo eventually released EarthBound, or Mother 2 in Japan, for the Super NES in 1995, so the game was considered a sequel to the never-released original.
But in a strange twist of fate, a beta cartridge of the game (dubbed EarthBound Zero to avoid confusion) was put up for auction and eventually turned into a ROM so fans could download the game from the Web. As a result, the Nintendo title enjoys a remarkably strong cult status for a game that was never officially released in the United States, with fan sites such as EarthBound IPM and others.
Ironically, after the misfire with EarthBound Zero, the EarthBound franchise got a boost with EarthBound, the Super NES title; the game wasn't a huge hit, but it established a strong following and aptly illustrated just what gamers were missing with the original NES game - quirky characters, sly humor and almost laughably crude graphics. Gamers grew to love EarthBound so much that Ness, the protagonist from the Super NES version, was featured in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Melee in 2002. While Mother 3 (originally scheduled for a Nintendo 64 release way back in 1996) was finally released for Game Boy Advance in Japan last April, fans in the United States are still waiting anxiously for the title.
