While Nintendo has an incredible amount of popular IP’s, one of itsmore niche series isEarthBound,also known as theMotherseries in Japan.Mother 2, orEarthBoundin the West, has cemented itself in RPG history with its quirky and humorous, yet dark nature. Over time the series has developed quite the cult following, but much of that revolves aroundMother 3.
It’s no secret that fans don’t always get what they want when it comes to video games, and the third installment in theMotherseries is a prime example. While the game had a troubled development cycle to begin with, it has never left Japan despite many in the West asking Nintendo for an official release. Now, thanks to fans, theclassic Game Boy Advance gameis trending on Twitter.
RELATED:Nintendo Fans Wishing Game Boy Advance a Happy 20th Birthday
In line with fans celebrating the Game Boy Advance’s 20th anniversary on Twitter,Mother 3fans have gotten the game trending by sharing memes, fan art, and other memories. It also seems many are tweeting about the game because they are playing it for the first time. As shown by user Nick_Lalone, even though the game was never officially released outside of Japan, non-Japanese fans can play an unofficially localized version via an emulator.
One popular meme being shared compares Lucas fromMother 3to Harold from theCaptain Underpantsseries. Other fans have shared their pixel art featuring various characters from the game. Many outside of Japan were first introduced toMother 3by way ofSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, which added Lucas to the game as a playable character, being a pseudo-clone of Ness fromEarthBound. Since then, Lucas has appeared in everySuper Smash Bros.game, cementing his spot onthe covetedSmashroster. SinceMother 3’s release in 2006, it has become known among fans for having a touching and sad story falling in line with other games in the series, which all deal with mature topics.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo acknowledged Western fans' love for the series by localizing and releasing the original NESMothergame asEarthBound Beginningson the Wii UVirtual Console in 2015, nearly 26 years after its original release in Japan. While this surprised many, fans still clamored for an official localization ofMother3, and continue to do so to this day.
Over the years, there have beenrumors thatMother 3would be localizedand released on a variety of Nintendo’s platforms. However, nothing has come to fruition yet. Nintendo is a company that loves anniversaries and surprising its fans, and withMother 3’s 15th anniversary taking place this year, fans seem hopeful they may officially see the game localized soon.
