EarthBound

EarthBound is a 1994 role playing game for the Super Nintendo. It is known for its incredibly quirky, nonsensical humor and extensive fanbase.

Plot

The story begins when a meteor falls in Onett, a small American town. Ness, the main character, heads outside with his dog to investigate. At the crash site, he learns from Buzz Buzz, a bee-like creature from the future, that he must collect eight melodies to defeat Giygas, an evil overlord who wages war against the earth.

The game then follows Ness and his friends as he travels from location to location, battling mushrooms, taxis, UFOs, and hippies. He rescues Paula, a magically-adept girl held captive by a cult outside Tucson, and meets up with Jeff, a boy from an English boarding school. The group's fourth member is Poo, prince of the Asian country of Dalaam.

The game's principle antagonists are the Starmen, Giygas' warriors, also sent back from the future, who make continual mischief by stealing important items, including Poo's Sword of Kings, the Suporma (a device created by the child genius Orange Kid), and the Shyness Book from the Onett library (needed to communicate with the Tenda village). Allied with the Starmen is Pokey Minch, Ness' overweight neighbor, who goes from playing tricks on Ness to becoming Giygas' right-hand man.

Characters

• Ness: A seemingly average boy from the town of Onett and the game's protagonist. Ness's primary weapon is a baseball bat but he can also use PSI for healing and attacking.

• Paula: A girl from Twoson, who has a variety of PSI powers used for battle.

• Jeff: A boy genius from Winters who can make useful machines from junk. He is the son of Dr. Andonuts.

• Poo: Prince of the eastern kingdom of Dalaam, who has trained in PSI and martial arts for the battle against Giygas.

• Porky Minch(Pokey in the English localization): Ness's self-centered next-door neighbor and recurring antagonist of the game.

• Dr. Andonuts- A scientific genius and Jeff's father. His invention, the Sky Runner proves useful to Ness and co.

• Mr. Saturn- A friendly race of strange creatures residing in Saturn Valley. Mr. Saturns have a small body with two eyes, a large nose, two tiny feet, catlike whiskers, and a single hair on which is tied a red ribbon. They help Ness and co. on multiple occasions.

• Apple Kid and Orange Kid- Two rival inventors living in Twoson.

• Buzz Buzz- An insectlike alien who comes to Earth to warn Ness about Giygas's invasion.

• Giygas- The principal antagonist of EarthBound, Giygas seeks to destroy Ness so he can spread his terror throughout the universe.