The games may seem similar at a glance (despite their technical differences), but when packaged together in one cartridge, their variabilities truly shine. MOTHER 1 is a mostly grounded, character-driven experience with a youthful sense of nostalgia, while MOTHER 2 has a more surreal direction that pushes the narrative through endless quirky scenarios.

In his opposition are a band of children proficient in the fields of Giygas’ own PSI ability and science, united together through the fictional interpretation of America by Ninten and Ness, two seemingly average boys with an admiration for baseball. The storylines of MOTHER 1 and 2 follow the invasion of the cosmic overlord Giygas in his attempt to eradicate mankind through psychic manipulation. Perhaps the most interesting fact about the port is that the version of MOTHER 1 in the game was based upon the North American version, EarthBound Beginnings, which at the time remained only as an unreleased prototype. Plus, I’ve been wanting to play it myself.” Even details like MOTHER 2’s library map, which Ness is asked to return in the year 2001, was kept after much debate by the team, finding the things which now seemed “out-of-place” humorous in light of the new pre-modern subtext. When asked by Miyamoto on the subject of how the games should be on the Game Boy Advance, Itoi responded, “It wouldn’t need to be like anything, just the mere fact of it being released would make me happy. There was much debate as to if anything needed to be changed about the two games, but Itoi was adamant about keeping things faithful. The port was developed by an unknown company under Itoi’s supervision.

On June 20, 2003, this restriction was redeemed when MOTHER 1+2 released on the GBA, a refreshed compilation of the first two games in the series.

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