
Earthbound Battle Background JS - ingve
http://gjtorikian.com/Earthbound-Battle-Backgrounds-JS/
======
dccoolgai
For fans of the game: Help me understand the appeal. I fired it up once on an
emulator and played for like 15 or so minutes and was just completely
"meh"-ed. Is it something that pays off later and you just have to play it for
a while or what?

~~~
jordigh
It's just a quirky RPG with western culture as understood by the Japanese. You
fight with baseball bats and frying pans instead of swords and bows. Your
enemies are zombies, cultists, aliens, and bike gangs. Your dad gives you your
allowance which you collect over ATM. The towns you visit are called Onett,
Twoson, Threed, and Fourside, because their only importance is the order in
which they appear in the game. Depending on the version you play, you run
around in your pajamas or birthday suit because you just got out of bed.

It's not a game you play so much for the mechanics, which are not bad, but not
hugely novel. At the time, when all console RPGs were based on high fantasy, a
quirky RPG based on a bunch of silliness was very different.

~~~
dccoolgai
Thanks for the explanation - maybe I'll give it another try. I am totally open
to quirky JRPGs. I think I was just measuring this one against Chrono Trigger
(another quirky JRPG for the uninitiated, which oozes charm) - which I went
into with a skeptical attitude and 10 minutes later was completely drawn into
the story and felt like some kind of magical child. Didn't have the same
experience with my 15 minutes of Earthbound, but maybe I just needed to give
it a little time.

~~~
jordigh
The story in Earthbound doesn't make a lot of sense. You play it more for the
individual story elements than the actual overarching plot. Kind of like how
the plot in The Big Lebowski is ultimately irrelevant.

------
Tiktaalik
From an 1994 Famitsu article:
[https://starmen.net/mother2/publications/](https://starmen.net/mother2/publications/)

 _Itoi refers to the battle backgrounds jokingly as a "video drug". This is
noteworthy because the dummied-out Video Relaxant item in EarthBound was
originally known as "Video Drug" in MOTHER 2, even though the item was dummied
out in that game, too. So apparently that's what "Video Relaxant" refers to:
the battle backgrounds._

 _The battle backgrounds were all made by one guy, who Itoi says was a real
background graphics geek. The guy spent two years doing nothing but working on
the backgrounds! He says he thinks there are about 200 different ones._

------
DiabloD3
As a tiny reminder, for those that loved Earthbound, please go play Undertale.
It is just an absolutely fucking amazing game.

~~~
tudorw
or watch this chap play it, it's up next on his play list :)

[http://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage](http://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage)

~~~
coldpie
If you can't play it, then watch it. But if you can play it, PLAY IT!! The
game has many moments that I think are better interpreted when taken at your
own speed.

------
foxbarrington
Oh wow, this is awesome. For xmas I built a game for my wife based on
Earthbound (she's Paula walking around Fourside looking for things) using
React. Seeing this makes me want to add battles...

[http://eb-test.surge.sh](http://eb-test.surge.sh)

------
acbart
I never realized how much variety there was in the backgrounds of enemies in
that game.

------
andrewclunn
225 / 15 Chaotic swirls and spirals that occasional form a momentary glimpse
of Giygas' face creeping through. Damn, had no clue how procedural those
backgrounds were. Whole new respect for the game on a different level now.

------
sillysaurus3
This is incredibly cool!

