Culture

For our generation, gaming nostalgia is largely related to the console you had as a child. Did you have a Sega or a Nintendo 64? A PlayStation or an Xbox? The answer to this question will likely dictate whether you are a Mario fan, or a Crash Bandicoot fan, or – God forbid – a Sonic fan. Due to the dedicated first party development of this period, the console you had opened you up to a particular library of games which, unless you played friends’ games as well, determined not only what games you played and loved as a kid but potentially which kinds of games you enjoy today.

This raises a disturbing thought: what games will induce feelings of nostalgia in the next generation? Most games are now multi-platform, which means that today’s kids are essentially playing the exact same game. I foresee a generation that will be nostalgic of the hours the spent screaming profanities and drinking chocolate milk while shooting “noobs” in Call of Duty. What a haunting vision. We, however, are lucky enough to come from the golden age of nostalgia: each of us will have a similar, yet delightfully varied, assortment of games for which to be nostalgic.

In that vein, I want to share with you a game that induces feelings of nostalgia in me but is not well known, in the hope that my own fond childhood memories may translate into equally fond memories for all that decide to play it today.

That game is Earthbound. A classic JRPG released in 1994, it never really took off in Western markets, despite its serious awesomeness. This is largely due to the fact that is was released right on the brink a new generation of gaming consoles (namely the Nintendo 64), and was therefore lost in the shuffle – just as The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask would be a few years later.

Earthbound is a classic Nintendo RPG in the sense that it begins by allowing you to name all of the playable characters in the game. For more mature gamers, this gives you the opportunity to name your protagonist after yourself and your companions after your friends; for less mature gamers, it is an opportunity to play as COCK, FART, BOOB or anything else you can imagine.

You play as a young boy in 90s America, or rather in a 90s America as visualised by Japanese developers. This results in a hilarious depiction of the West that includes almost every cliché you can think of, including “healing foods” in the form of burgers and fries. The story is strange in the kind of way only JRPGs can be, but still follows a very simple premise. Earth has been invaded by an evil alien race (Giygas) that infect animals and humans with negativity, making them surly and violent. (Interestingly, however, the script often makes it seem that this is due more to their “American-ness” than to the aliens.) You and four other playable characters have been chosen by a benevolent alien race to take down the Giygas and save the human species.

All in all, there is not much original about this game; however, that is almost its charm. It was one of the last RPGs to be released for the SNES, and as such it is almost a pastiche of everything that was learnt during that generation. It is artistically beautiful, with various artistic styles complimeting parts of the diverse and complicated world you are given to explore. It has a turn-based combat system like all JRPGs from this period (and most from today), and an almost incomprehensible – yet overwhelmingly charming – story.

I have nothing but fond memories from playing it as a kid, and to my delight it was just re-released on the Wii U. Having recently played it, I can assure you that its charm has not worn off. So make this a week to not only embrace nostalgia, but to make some new memories that will feed your nostalgia in 20 years from now. Why not make Earthbound one of them?