EarthBound Beginnings/Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of EarthBound Beginnings.

Mother was a major localization milestone for Nintendo of America in 1990. During its conversion to Earth Bound, several improvements were made to make it more accessible for western markets (which at the time was not anywhere near as receptive to the RPG genre as in Japan), as well as many graphical changes and additions done at the leisure of the team. The most major change being the expansion of the ending, which in Mother had been abrupt and visually unceremonious. Also abrupt and unceremonious: the US version's cancellation in 1991. Nintendo of America's efforts didn't go to waste in the long run, however. In an interview with LostLevels.org, localization director and English scriptwriter Phil Sandhop stated that the process made Nintendo Co. Ltd more willing to work with its overseas counterparts to develop games with an international audience in mind, and indeed, all of the improvements made in this game's localization would be incorporated in the Game Boy Advance port featured in Mother 1+2.

When the English version finally got an official release on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2015, all was left untouched from the build that had leaked in 1998. All descriptions here are based on the latter, which was released on the aforementioned platform as the final version.

Title Screen

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

In Beginnings, the intro text was made more grammatically correct and the golden Mother logo was replaced with the red Earth Bound one. However, the original title graphics are still present in the CHR bank used for the intro text; this bank is swapped out and replaced with the Earth Bound CHR bank right before the title screen appears.

(Source: EarthBound Central)

Dummied Items

Time Machine

The Japanese version had a "Time Machine" item for sale in Twinkle Elementary School which, if bought, would trigger a short event not present in Beginnings: the player is teleported to the same room directly after Lloyd blows it up with a bottle rocket.

Through some simple hacking to copy the NPC data from the Japanese version into the US one, the event can be restored. Mother 1+2 does not have this item or event, either.

Map

This item is still in Beginnings and is fully functional. Using it simply displays the string "Ninten checked the map."

Friendship Ring

The Friendship Ring (known in-game as FrndshpRing) appeared in the Japanese version. It was useless and did nothing, so in Beginnings it was replaced by the Repel Ring.

(Source: WikiBound)

Graphic Changes

To do: Add more pictures for examples.

Characters and NPCs

Beginnings changed the appearance of some characters, although most of the edits were minor (such as the stripe on Ninten's shirt). All of these changes were retained for Mother 1+2. It's interesting to note that some NPCs, like Ninten's mother, Carol, were edited to look less like Peanuts characters to avoid any potential legal prosecution. In typical NoA fashion, all religious symbols were removed, including the priest's rosary. Some of these changes were reverted in all versions of Mother 2 and/or EarthBound for similar-looking NPCs, such as Ness' mother, the Return Woman in the Department Store of Fourside and Twoson, and the salesman of the "For Sale" sign in Burglin Park.

The final four NPCs' edits appear to be little more than stylistic touch-ups.

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Ninten
Carol
Marcie-esque NPC
Pig-Pen-esque NPC
Priest NPC
Mustachioed NPC
Fancy NPC
Fancy Marcie-esque NPC
Cool Kid NPC

(Source: The Lost Levels)

Church

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

(Source: The Lost Levels)

The crosses on top of the churches were replaced with a taller, pointier steeple, while the large crosses on the back walls inside were changed to large stained-glass windows. While the steeple is a simple graphics alteration, the stained-glass window was edited on the palette and CHR-ROM level, so attempting to copy and paste the large cross back into Beginnings will result in graphical glitches.

Both of these changes were retained for Mother 1+2.

Funerary Objects

Various death-related paraphernalia was also changed between regions to remove religious imagery:

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

But the overworld graphics weren't the only thing that got changed during the localization process...

Enemies

Crow

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The crow, like the B.B. Gang, had its cigarette removed in the English releases due to NOA's own censorship policies, as well as concerns influenced by California laws during this time as well (to localizer Phil Sandhop's recollection). This change later extended to Mother 1+2 and the Japanese Wii U Virtual Console release.

Gang Zombie, and Nasty Zombie

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Gang Zombie
Nasty Zombie

The bleeding gunshot wounds on the Gang Zombie, and Nasty Zombie, were cleaned up, and a tie was put in their place. Phil Sandhop was reportedly impressed by the effort Nintendo took to make this change rather than simply cleaning up the blood spots, believing it showed their commitment to Mother‍ '​s English localization.

(Source: The Lost Levels)

Kelly, Nancy, and Juana

	Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Kelly
Nancy
Juana

The three female robot enemies had the lighting on their breasts adjusted to remove their nipples.

Dr. Distorto

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

A small red spot (bloodstain?) was removed from Dr. Distorto's lab coat.

Shroudley

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The dripping blood was removed from Shroudley's hands and around his feet.

B.B. Gang

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The Black Blood Blah-Blah Gang members joined the D.A.R.E. program.

B.B.'s Boss

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Teddy B.B.'s Boss no longer brandishes a knife during battle. His elbow is also changed for reasons unknown.

Bug Fixes

Bread Crumbs

A glitch involving the use of the Bread Crumbs item was fixed for Beginnings and Mother 1+2. One of its main uses is to bypass the rock sealing Giegue's lair, which doesn't normally open until you get the Eight Melodies, a glitch that is used in speedruns of the Japanese version.

Flea Bag

In the Japanese version, it is possible to abuse the Flea Bag item on R7038XX, dropping his offense to the point where he cannot kill EVE, and staying alive until a total of 255 turns have passed (in all versions, the game is programmed to automatically end any battle after 255 turns, declaring it a draw {using text not seen anywhere else} and dumping you back onto the map). Upon doing this, the event for EVE dying and giving you the melody happens, but she also remains in your party - something which isn't supposed to happen, mainly because she's obscenely strong.

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 fixed this by giving the R703X-series robots immunity to the Flea Bag's effects.

Misc.

Location Names

A vast majority of the names of locations were changed from the Japanese version to Beginnings. To quote the localization producer:

"Itoi originally wrote them to sound friendly. I don't believe that towns named after holidays was friendly. Matter of fact I thought it sounded stupid and thought older players would really be turned off. I wanted it to be enjoyable for all ages."

— Phil Sandhop, localization producer. Interview by Jonathan Wirth of the Lost Levels.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings
Mother's Day	Podunk
Thanksgiving	Merrysville
Santa Claus Station	Union Station
Halloween	Spookane
Easter	Youngtown
Valentine	Ellay
Holy Loly Mountain	Mount Itoi

Menus

The menus have some more options in Beginnings and Mother 1+2, such as more speed levels. The world map is also not an option and rather a separate item in the Japanese release, found in the basement (and replaced by Bread in Beginnings). The order of learned PSI is also different.

To do: PSI learning comparison.

PSI	Ninten	Ana
LifeUp α	3
Hypnosis	4
Healing α	5
DefenseUp α	7
DefenseDown α	9
4th-D Slip	11
PSIShield α	13
QuickUp	14
Healing β	16
OffenseUp	18

Quick Status window

On the main HUD (at the bottom of the screen when the command window is open and during battle), the stats were rotated so that Level is first in the US version (compared to last in the Japanese version). This was possibly so that the character names could be extended an extra character (from 6 to 7) without touching the stats (since Level is only two digits).

Look

In-game item descriptions (the Look command) were added for Beginnings and Mother 1+2.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Setup

A setup option was added in Beginnings. It lets you change the button assignments and the text speed throughout the game.

(Source: The Lost Levels)

Status Backdrop

Beginnings moved the position of the critical condition and fainted status backdrops to the HP numbers. In the Japanese version, these backdrops were positioned in the party member names.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Check Blurbs

In Beginnings and Mother 1+2, checking an enemy in battle will display that enemy's stats as well as a short description. In the Japanese version, only their stats are displayed.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

(Source: The Lost Levels)

Melody Backdrop

A rolling background effect, not present in the Japanese version, was added to Beginnings when learning a melody. This was programmed into the subroutine that plays music: any values containing one of the melodies will use the background whenever they are called, and revert when the song changes. In Mother 1+2 the lines were made wavy, most likely to reduce the risk of seizures.

Maps

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 contain simplified versions of the Underground Stream (in the Magicant wells) and the path to Mt. Itoi, as well as the layout of part of Spookane; Reindeer's department store also gained a 5th floor.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

To do: Add Mt. Itoi maps (if needed).

The summit of Mt. Itoi was also considerably revised.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The rocks obstructing Giegue's lair were changed from four small rocks to two small rocks and a tall one.

Exclusive to EarthBound Beginnings is a final, Starman-infested path between the outer summit and the cave where Giegue is fought. This is also where the cave containing the kidnapped adults from Youngtown was moved to.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

In the Japanese release, the party instead finds the imprisoned adults shortly before the cave where the Sea Pendant is located, between two clusters of rocks (incidentally, this also means that the player can bring EVE to the prison in the Japanese release, but not the English one). Because the climb up Mt. Itoi features multiple diverging paths, it's possible for the player to trek from the base of the mountain to the summit without ever encountering the imprisoned adults in the Japanese version, whereas it's much harder to miss in Beginnings and Mother 1+2.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

When the path to Giegue's lair is opened, all of the rocks blocking it disappear in Mother. In EarthBound Beginnings, only the tall rock in front of the cave entrance is removed, leaving the two small ones.

Run

Beginnings and Mother 1+2 added a run button, which by default is set to B and R, respectively. According to Phil Sandhop, the localization producer and English script writer for the US version, the running feature was originally added for debugging purposes (hence why it simply runs the overworld at double speed in Beginnings) but ultimately got retained as a legitimate game feature at his request.

(Source: Lost Levels)

Magicant Men

Two of the NPCs in Magicant were substantially changed. One of them is the man who appears in the fountain: he cures ailments in the Famicom version, but acts more like an ATM in Beginnings and Mother 1+2. In the Japanese version, he asks "What do you need?" and the choices "Cure Poison" and "Soften" appear. This change makes him more useful, since you can simply return to the hospital in town to cure those status conditions.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The other is the Forgotten Man: in the Famicom version, should a player answer one of his questions wrong, they're warped right back to the beginning of Magicant. In the Beginnings and Mother 1+2, he simply ends his dialogue, allowing one to quickly start his prompt over again.

Endgame

To do: Comparisons of everything here. Provide the unused text for the translated version of Maria's Famicom dialogue.

After the R7038 battle, you appear at the Doctor's house near the foot of Mt. Itoi, with Teddy injured on a bed, unable to continue. Beginnings moves Teddy closer to the center of the bed, most likely for aesthetic purposes. Sandhop reportedly remembered the change, but he did not recall the reasoning behind it.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

(Source: The Lost Levels)

In the Japanese release, upon learning the seventh melody, you are automatically warped back to Queen Mary, who heals your party members & revives your fainted friends, then remembers the eighth melody on her own; afterwards, the party is teleported to George's gravestone on the summit of Mt. Itoi. Beginnings requires you to collect the eighth melody from the crystal at George's gravestone, return to Magicant, and talk to Queen Mary yourself. The dialogue associated with the Japanese version of events is in Beginnings, but unused:

I am the one who has called you. Ninten, Anna, Lloyd, and Teddy! All of the brave children. Now is the time!

While George's gravestone is just decoration in the Japanese release, Beginnings and Mother 1+2 expanded its role. It now summons a crystal containing the embodiment of George's soul, which gives you the eighth melody. In Mother 1+2, this will also fully heal your party.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Additionally, Sing isn't available until after Giegue finishes up monologuing in the Japanese release, but in Beginnings, the option is available before Giegue's monologue, but doesn't do anything meaningful until Giegue's monologue is over; interestingly, this change wasn't carried over to Mother 1+2, being one of the few changes to not get carried over.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

Ending

The ending was heavily revised for Beginnings. In the Japanese version, the party simply faced the screen as the credits rolled behind them. In Beginnings, meanwhile, the game cuts to an epilogue that explains the fates of the imprisoned adults and the game's playable cast, which is followed by a cast reel, a revised credits sequence, and a new post-credits scene setting up a sequel (though the actual sequel has no relation to this hook).

This said, despite the change, there are a few errors in the ending: the heavy NPC who had changes done to his sprite in the US version uses his original Japanese sprites, and Ninten's sister Minnie uses Mimmie's pink color palette rather than the red palette she wears throughout the game.

Mother's credits theme became the epilogue and curtain call theme in Beginnings, with a slight rearrangement that gives it a more fleshed-out and joyful sound, and comes to an end instead of looping. The credits feature an all-new extended version of the Airplane theme, which includes parts of the Youngtown/Easter and Eight Melodies themes.

Mother	EarthBound Beginnings

The revised ending was retained in Mother 1+2, albeit with some further touch-ups. Minnie is now properly colored red, though the heavy NPC still uses the wrong sprites. Due to the GBA's smaller resolution, the cast reel now has the game's characters walk along the top of the screen rather than the lower margin, which retains Ninten's sole line of dialogue. The original arrangement of the ending theme is retained, and the credits omit the remixed Airplane theme in favor of reusing the train theme, "The Paradise Line".

EarthBound Beginnings	Mother 1+2