EarthBound / MOTHER 2 Translation Comparison: Introduction

Intro Screen

The first noticeable difference occurs at the most out-of-place screen in the game:

This seems to hint that Giygas had attacked earlier, and is now seeking revenge. According to an interview with Shigesato Itoi, that’s exactly what happens, though story-wise, it doesn’t seem consistent. But that’s a whole ‘nother ball of craziness that other people can try to untangle.

By the way, why in the world is this screen part of the game? It doesn’t match the rest of the game very well, and I don’t ever remember UFOs flying around zapping gas stations. Supposedly this picture is from the War of the Worlds (pre-Tom Cruise version) or inspired by it or something. I don’t know if this is true, so someone please enlighten me if it’s true or not.

Title Screen

The two title screens look very different, although in both versions the letters fly in from both sides. The MOTHER 2 title screen looks like the MOTHER 1 title screen, with added effects, of course.

Wondering what the Japanese text says? It means something like, “Gyiyg Strikes Back”.

Here’s a video of the title screens in action!

Also, if you press Start before the MOTHER 2 title screen comes up, the game will take you straight to the file loading screen. But if you press Start before the EarthBound title screen appears, it’ll just take you to the title screen instead.

Burglin Park Sign

In the intro credits, we see that Burglin Park was originally known as Nusutto Park. “Nusutto” is Japanese for “burglar”.

Alcohol-to-Coffee

We also see that the cafe in Fourside was originally a bar in MOTHER 2. Pretty much all references in the game to alcohol were altered during the localization process, as we’ll see.