Fans of the cult-classic EarthBound had some good news at today’s Nintendo Direct with the reveal that both EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings are joining the Nintendo Switch Online lineup. Originally released in English on the Super Nintendo in 1995, EarthBound was previously re-released on the Wii U and 3DS virtual consoles, as well as on the Super NES Classic Edition. EarthBound Beginnings also saw a Wii U Virtual Console release, which was the first time the game was officially available in English. Known as Mother and Mother 2 in Japan, the games originally released on the Famicom in 1989 and the Super Nintendo in 1994, respectively.
From Nintendo:
Join Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo in their quest to fulfill an age-old prophecy to stop the wicked Giygas (and maybe catch a Runaway Five concert along the way) in the fan-favorite Super NES classic EarthBound. In addition, travel back to 198X for EarthBound Beginnings, a localized version of the original Famicom Mother game.
Ahead of both games’ announcements, series director Shigesato Itoi made a cryptic tweet about the Nintendo Direct and the possibility of snow, which had many fans speculating on a possible release. And with the first two games in the series now easily available in English on the Nintendo Switch, maybe a Mother 3 localization won’t be far behind (hey, a girl can dream!). At any rate, you can watch the announcement video above, and both games are available now on Nintendo Switch Online.
Curious to see what oprainfall thinks of both games? You can read our EarthBound review here, and our EarthBound Beginnings review here.
