Prerelease:EarthBound Beginnings

This page details pre-release information and/or media for EarthBound Beginnings.

March 2, 1989 Press Conference

This video showcases an unfinished version of the game with numerous differences from the final.

Graphical Differences

• The copyright information is in a larger 8×8 font and is displayed differently. There also appears to be a misplaced tile in the lower-right corner.
• Text breakers are arrows instead of bullet points.
• The doll containing the first melody has a different, somewhat bulkier looking sprite.
• The sign in front of Ninten's house looks different.
• The plane in Yucca Desert has blue stripes instead of red.

Map Differences

Ninten's House

• The door is on the wrong side of Ninten's room.
  • His bed is positioned higher and there is a window next to it.
  • The lamp is missing and his chair is pink instead of white.
• The path from Ninten's house to Podunk is different, leading west instead of east.
• The yard is a bit bigger and has more trees.

Snowman

• There are train tracks running through the town.
• The overall layout of the town is different, appearing to be more open and having several roads.

Magicant

• The sky is a darker blue instead of cyan.
  • A person can be seen standing in the sky.
• The layout is very different with more boundaries.
• One of the shops has a dark blue door, and has a regular building right next to it.

Yucca Desert

• The land where the pilot is situated at is shaped a bit differently, and more cacti are south of it.

Zoo

• The outside fence is lined by trees instead of flowers.
• There are more trees behind the fence.

Battle Differences

• The battle interface always shows three rows for party members, even if they are not in the party.
• When three enemies appear, they do not spawn left to right. The centermost enemy spawns first instead.
• Blue Starman enemies are referred to as "Starman 2" instead.

Famimaga May, 1989

The build shown in this video appears to be very similar, if not the same as the March 2, 1989 Press Conference version.

• Debugging was enabled, as Ninten starts out with maxed-out stats and $5,000.

Graphical Differences

• The telephone in Ninten's house is smaller.
• When walking down the stairs in the Spookane Manor, the party faces south.
• The blue-haired heavy NPC looks different, having a thicker mustache, thinner back, and longer arms.
• The Podunk mayor's assistant looks completely different, having a slimmer look.
• Oh-Mook enemies are yellow instead of orange.

Map Differences

Ninten's House

• There is a window to the left of the basement door.

Mt. Itoi

• The motorboat is located on the west side of the dock, rather than the north side. Its palette is also different, looking more white.
• The ground is green instead of yellow.

Yucca Desert

• After taking off in the plane, a tall sign can be seen.

South Cemetery

• The layout appears to be different, as the gravestones are south of the brick wall.

Battle Differences

• There are enemies shown in the footage that do not appear together in the final game, showing a Big Woodoh with a Mad Truck and PseudoZombie in the South Cemetery.