A Short History of Mother 3
A few weeks ago, on April 20th, Mother 3 had its 17th anniversary. Released for the Gameboy Advance in 2006, it was the third and final game in the Mother (known as Earthbound outside of Japan) series. The games were written and directed by Shigesato Itoi, and are beloved for their quirky humor (with virtually all text written by Itoi himself) and humorous subversions of RPG conventions. Mother 3 is especially notable for its much darker and heavier story, its tagline being “strange, funny, and heartrending”. Also notable about Mother 3 is the unfortunate circumstance of its release. Despite being so well known and beloved outside of Japan, it has never gotten an official non-Japanese release. Despite this, it is incredibly beloved by people all over the world, and its impact cannot be understated. I wanted to take a look back at Mother 3, its history, and what the future may hold.
Mother 3, despite releasing over ten years after Earthbound, began development shortly after Earthbound finished. Earthbound had sold well (in Japan; it bombed everywhere else) and Nintendo wanted to capitalize on it. Itoi had ambitious ideas about the game, ideas too ambitious for the Nintendo 64 to handle. As a result, it was taking too long to develop. There’s a theme that comes up a few times when it comes to Mother 3 releasing: circumstances just don’t line up for it. It was being made at a time when things at Nintendo were tumultuous. Nintendo just didn’t have the manpower to spare for Mother 3 after a certain point, and development needed to stop.
What’s notable about the development of Mother 3 is that key figures at Nintendo, Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto, seemed to be personally invested in it. Mother 3 was not some small forgotten personal project, it was a product Nintendo was willing to put a lot of investment in. Sometimes, circumstances simply don’t line up. Eventually, they did line up, and Mother 3 would release for the Gameboy Advance in 2006.
Something I found ironic about the development cycle of Mother 3 is that western gaming media were well aware of it. IGN was reporting on it in 1999 and 2000, and were fully expecting the game to release at some point. An expectation that’s been betrayed thoroughly, as not only was “Earthbound 64” never released, but Mother 3 would become infamous for never getting an official release outside of Japan.
And that is indeed the most infamous aspect about the game. It is a beloved game, and actually quite well known in Nintendo gaming circles, but it has never received an official localization. It is so beloved, in fact, that fans spent the better part of 5 years making an unofficial translation because they cared about it so much. So, why was it never localized? Well, as I alluded to, circumstances didn’t line up for it. Mother 3 released on the Gameboy Advance in 2006, a full 2 years after Nintendo’s next handheld console, the Nintendo DS, had released in 2004. The Gameboy Advance had pretty much been phased out entirely in the west by the time Mother 3 could have released. Considering Earthbound also did not sell well, Nintendo had plenty of reasons not to localize Mother 3. The circumstances did not line up for it.
That’s why it didn’t release initially, but what about a re-release? It’s a well known game now, with Nintendo fans constantly egging Nintendo on about an official release. It has also been rereleased a few times on modern Nintendo consoles; but only in Japanese. So why is there still no official English version of Mother 3?
It all comes back to the circumstances. Mother 3 is a very old game at this point, and all the re-releases are emulations; unlike the first two Mother games, an English version simply does not exist. A new version of Mother 3 would have to be made. Nintendo would have to go back and edit a Gameboy Advance game, a risky prospect given all the new things they could focus on instead. I’ve seen fans ask if Nintendo could just use the fan translation, but that is also unfeasible. Nintendo is a company that likes to have complete control over everything it makes, and would not use a translation they did not oversee. It’s an admirable effort by passionate fans, one that Nintendo has even implicitly approved, but it is not suitable for a wide release. Like many things in Mother 3’s past, the circumstances did not line up.
That being said, I think an official localization of Mother 3 is inevitable. It’s a well known game at this point, and Nintendo is well aware of its popularity. It’s hardly a taboo topic as well, as they’ve referenced it plenty of times. What it would take is not a mere re-release, but a remake. If there’s ever a new version of Mother 3, made from the ground up, it would absolutely get an official localization. If only because there would be people at Nintendo who want it to be released. I don’t doubt that that will happen someday, but it remains to be seen how long it will take.
Although, the original Gameboy Advance version of Mother 3 getting an official localization isn’t totally out of the cards either. The first Fire Emblem game, for the NES, was released with an English translation for the Nintendo Switch in 2021. It’s totally possible that something similar could be done for Mother 3. The game is such a landmark, and very important in the history of video game storytelling. It’s only a matter of time before it gets its due.
