deepfry55

I want to experience everything Xbox live arcade has to offer and get some games to get from top hits to some of the hidden gems

I pick up limbo, penny arcade 1-4, undertow, bastion and castle crashers. I also plan to pick up braid and brother a two tales.

Any other recommendation would be greatly appreciated :)

Fuel and here is the link for the header http://www.giantbomb.com/images/1300-631400

So I would want to do an another run of Mother 3 but get all the cool stuff and complete the battle memory. Do you guys have any helpful tips and all the side quest I can do??

I'm going to start with a warning before I start this blog, There will be spoilers though out and I strongly encourage you to play this game without getting anything spoiled as even in the first chapter their are plot twister and major character development, but nevertheless enjoy.

Mother 3, wow just wow I can't believe on how much I enjoy this follow up to Earthbound. It took the original formula of E-Bound and made it quirkier, crazier and more lovable but change it up just a little bit to make it feel different. Mother 3 has a complicated past, as it started as a follow up to Earthbound on the new Nintendo 64 at the time, conveniently called Earthbound 64. After multiple delays it got put as a new title for the 64 DD drive add on. Eventually the DD drive got canceled and so too did Earthbound 64. Years would past and after almost a decade later, we finally got Mother 3, unfortunately it wasn't in English and only released in Japan. Sadly this would be the only way us western gamer's could experiences this game, but a team of fans (at Starman.net) set out to create a fan transition patch so every one can experiences this wonderful masterpiece and after two years of pain staking work everyone got to see Mother 3 for all it glory. That's enough of the back story you guys want to know what I think of this game.

Me and Mother 3 haven't seen eye to eye and it took me finishing the game to realized how good this story really is. I would always watch my sister play Earthbound and after we heard a sequel was coming out on the Nintendo 64, we got really excited and couldn't wait to have a brand new adventure in the Earthbound world. Time went all and nothing happened and we soon forgot about Earthbound 64. Eight to nine years later and the rise of YouTube lets play I got to see Mother 3 and all it English glory. I downloaded the patch but was in for a shock, this wasn't a Mother game let along a sequel to my beloved Earthbound, no towns hamburgers and baseball bats. Sadly soon after I stopped playing right before a major plot twist. Its wasn't until my resent play though of Earthbound (here is a link to my blog about it) that when I decided to give Mother 3 second chance.

Mother 3 takes on a 8 chapter story between the lives of Tazmily village and the New Pork Army and boy it is a touching story that has a lot of plot twister, character development and wacky stuff you love from Earthbound all rolled into one. If there is one reason to play this game it will be for the story. Mr Itoi created a novel worthy story that ranges from confines of a clay man factory to a island with psychedelic mushrooms you will never over spend your time in one area which keeps everything fresh and exciting. Now if you thought Earthbound music was good wait till you hear Mother 3, just to show how much I loved this music, I bought the soundtrack right after I finished the story. Have you ever tap your foot to a battle theme, Mother 3 will make you do it. Beethoven music even makes an appearance but Mother 3 takes it to the next level with its combo system, As you play out the turn based battles there will be a underlining bass beat to the music if you can match it up, will cause an increase damage to your enemies causing the game to be a lot easier. This epic adventure set its mood with it music and takes full advantages to the GBA capabilities. From the start to the end don't expected to get an easy game, compare to dare I say it Earthbound, boss battles got a whole lot tougher. It will require careful technique to beat without requiring a high level to breeze though. Mr Itoi has done an amazing job with the dungeons. An Attic full of Angry forgotten instruments, Mother 3 has that, An underwater dungeon where you have to work your way from oxygen supply to oxygen supply yes surprising Mother 3 has that too. Everything about this game from it setting to unique enemies to the consent old Mother game reference never gets old or feels like it got stolen from another game.

Mother 3 story is one of a kind, that has fleshed out charaters and has a underlining meaning that you could write a collage essay on. The level of detail from any Mother game is still there but just upgraded ten fold and I got to admit has one of the most catchy battle and boss music that will not disappoint. The 25 hours it takes to complete this adventure with put you through your paces, you will cry, jump for joy and say "omg that was epic". I was wrong to not see this game all the way through the first time and I know it takes a couple of chapters to get into but definitely see this masterpiece all the way to the end. Mother 3 is a harder sell then its prequel but definitely should not be over look to fans of the franchise and to hard core rpg players. As a closing thought, I hope Nintendo sees a market for these type of games as they are truly diamonds in the ruff and I wish more people could experience this series world wide. Thank you guys for reading!!! I don't know what my next game with be but any ideas of stuff to check out with be greatly appreciated. I'm still playing through Fuel and I'm about 20 hours in and it still look like the end is not in sight. I also recently bought Final Fantasy Theatrhythm and for the weird game it is, I'm quiet enjoying it so expected a blog on that in the future but until next time gamers keep gamin

I had the same feeling with Dirt, it took a couple of races to get into but I found it a little bit too easy but with that said you should check out Dirt 2 it improves on all the fault of the first game and turns up the difficulty a bit but then counter it with a rewind feature.

I don't know what sim racers could do to spices up the career mode, I find Gran Turismo to dry but Forza doesn't do a whole lot better with its mode usually I burn out before I get to drive any worth wild cars

Love it!! but its already been done but needless to say I will support a good cause

@Nottle for some reason Earthbound got so much better after Fourside, I love going to the new areas because they were completely different from the last. But don't get me wrong I love the city feel just after Fourside I dont think I could go back to another american town. I dont know if it was just me but I thought the Characters grew alot in Earthbound maybe most of it was interpretation through the coffee chats and the games ending.

@ElvishName it's sad that Nintendo won't give this series any love and I understand money and risk go hand and hand but still it would be a perfect game for the DS but I heard Nintendo had a chance to put it on the VC but chosen not due to major chances with music and gameplay due to legal issue.

@GaintStalker There were two more games in the series know as Mother. Mother the original for the nes (Earthbound) which is Mother 2 in Japan and Mother 3 which is for the GBA, only Earthbound got the treatment of Nintendo bring it over to the States

@MrKlorox I agree there is not alot of games that have complete sound tracks I really love

@ArbitraryWater@Animasta@Nottle@JazGalaxy: I guess i should clarify "hidden Gem" I used that term more so for my friends and of people not into RPG's but want to get into them. Many friends have not even heard of Earthbound before but yet they know of Ness from SSB. I was playing on my recent play through and my roomate had no idea what I was playing but after a couple hours watching he decided to give it a shot and try it out. that was about a week ago and now his almost halfway through and loves it. I guess that how I came up with the title. But yes to people on the youtube and people into RPGs in general this game is more a "cult classic" But I'm very much looking forward to my Playthrough of Mother 3 and the increased difficulty it has to bring

Earthbound has a special place in my heart, I have nostalgic overload when it comes to what I call a masterpiece but again my review or what i say about it is 100 percent biased. This was one of the very first game I ever got to experiences let along complete as a kid, it even produced memory's between me and my sis as I watch her play it for countless times I learn so much details about this game before I even got my hands on it. I loved even reading that simple players guide making Eagleland feel like a living, breathing country, with it newspaper ads and events page all from the guide. I even remember being so excited with my sister for the release of Earthbound 64 but we now know how that story goes. Lets jump 17 years later, it has been a long time since I played this game let alone the actual cart. I was about 4 when I first experiences E-bound jump maybe 7 years later I got to play the game again through the use of roms and emulators. So when I got the actual cart from my sister and her SNES, I would have been insane not to play it again and even better that my memory was a bit fuzzy about the game making it seem more fresh and more awesome to remember the wittyness the game has to offer, the classic 16 bit music and just how different this is game today and back then. Enough of hearing a boring back story, you guys wanna know why you should give a dam about Earthbound and why ever RPG fan should at least give this game a try.

Earthbound comes from an era where RPG's were just becoming mainstream in the gaming community, with stuff like FF6 and Chrono trigger coming on the SNES, games like those had there knights, potions, swords and staffs but the franchise of Mother (called in Japan, also I will get into the first game on a different blog) wanted to be different. It did away with the swords and potions for Baseball bats and hamburgers which even to this day I haven't played RPG in that vain. The setting ditch the fantasy land for the heart of America creating something you could relate to. I bet anyone if this game was released as a new IP on a hand held it would have been love today not just a cult classic its now know for.

I booted up the cart and the one thing Earthbound does the best out of anything is the 16 bit music, the title screen with the 16 bit rock sounds amazing, But needless to say why I love this music is with the infusion of classic hits like Johnny B Good and the Beatles making every song memorable and it seals a memory in time, right now I'm listen to the album and I can remember what part of the game that was from and what I was going in the game at the time which beside a famous gaming song or melody I have never been able to do. Earthbound has a slow start in the beginning but it picks up to tale of epic proportions and takes a surprising dark turn to how light hearted and cutesy the game takes its self. One of my favorite parts of the game is trip out coffee talks you have with a couple of NPC's. Having a chat with them make you feel like you came a long way in the 30 plus hours the game takes to complete, I really like when games does this because you have to reflected all the back to hour one and are like "wow I have come a long way and become so much more stronger" Needless to say this blog will become a 10 page essay if I talk about every little detail.

Warning spoilers in the video Trip out coffee video

Earthbound is a game every RPG fan should play, It may be Kiddie and light hearts but rest assured there is deep level of detail put into this game for even a Hardcore RPG fanatic to sink there teeth into. For the around 30 hours the games takes to beat I bet you can find a moment that every time someone mentions Earthbound you will look back to. It maybe a slow start and quite easy but complete it because there is always a surprise around the corner, an new dialog you haven't seen and even a new item or two you have never used before but maybe one day Nintendo will finally re-release this masterpieces and then everyone can play this game. So thanks for reading guys!! I will be playing through Mother 3 for the first time next to continue this franchise but I'm still working on Fuel, blog to come for both games soon but until next time "keep gaming gamers"

So long story short?? Is it worth the grind. I've been trying to get for at total about 6 hours with reloading saves to not hit the max level cap. But in your guys opinions does it help out?. I have gotten in all my other playthroughs but this one i'm finding the grind to long.