Earthbound, released June 5th 1995 to the world but a sequel to Japan's 'Mother'. The game isn't your traditional RPG. It isn't Mages and Warriors or Trolls. It's you, a kid in a small town. Going through life like a kid would. People don't talk back to you when you talked to them. You're a kid! They'd treat you like a kid and that's what you are. As you play this game you grow up with your character, you become your character. Earthbound reflects life well and has some darkness to it. It's a great game and you should definitely try it.

The Graphics in this game can be bright and happy to a bad trip. The enemies are designed well but some of the bosses can look disturbing, maybe it's just me though. The game doesn't really have a graphic style but if it had one it'd be... Weird? Battle backgrounds aren't grassy plains or caves or castles. They're an acid trip. They confuse me but they're fine. The overworld looks very bright most of the time and fit what they are. It's just the battle backgrounds that bother me... 8

In the beginning of your adventure you'll hear a lot of ambiance. Noises and sirens. It sounds like a real night in a city. It doesn't sound like a perfect place like you'd find in Pokémon. Nearly every enemy you face has a different battle theme and puts you in the mood to fight. Easy enemies don't really have complex songs but harder enemies do. I like that, it's cool. The overworld music can seem generic but it grows on you. It fits each emotion the game puts you through. 7

This game is really good when you get into it. You feel as if you are growing with Ness and his friends. Like you're going somewhere in the world. This feeling makes you really want to play on and go ahead. I can't say much about the addictiveness here, it's just addictive! 10

CRASH!!! You hear as a meteorite falls near your home. As a normal protagonist would, you go pick up your baseball bat, put on your clothes and investigate! When you get to the site you meet your friend, Pokey. He tells you to go home, so like a normal protagonist would, you do. You go back to bed and get some sleep. Later on, your neighbor and friend Pokey knocks on your door telling you he lost his brother, Picky. You go back to the crash site and you find him there. Pokey hears a buzzing noise coming from the meteor and the main game begins here... That's pretty much the beginning of the story. It get's weirder but also deeper from there, with new friends and even a betrayal... 10

This game is very long and your objectives aren't so simple to get to. You'll have to do things before them to get to... them. I could have explained that better. Basically, you'll have to make your own objective, things aren't straightforward in this game. That's a good thing though, I like games like that. 10

Now, I'm not so great at video games and this is no exception. I couldn't beat the Titanic Ant at first... It's tough! At the start you'll fight easy things like stray dogs and snakes but in Main Onett you'll soon realise things aren't as easy as you thought they were. You'll encounter the Sharks. A gang who are causing trouble in Onett. When you encounter them you'll be lucky you get out alive. It's like the game is telling you, in a subtle way, "You need better stuff!" That's good game design right there. 8

Overall Earthbound is a great game with a majorly devoted fan base. It shows life in a gaming perspective and in a very real way. It shows life from a child's perspective, like a boy going through life. A boy growing up and leaving his hometown. A boy going on an amazing adventure. A boy becoming a young man. 8.5

I really liked this review. It touched on several things that I think are important in a review. You gave some technical data, gave a few details of the plot and covered all of the sub-ratings in detail.  I'll give two minor critiques. First, there were a couple of slight grammatical errors (ie, the comma in the first sentence). Second, I may be one of the few people here that likes to see the overall rating as an average of the other 6 sub-ratings, in this case the math comes out to 8.8.

I think I want to try this game. Thanks for the review. 

thephantombrain : Thanks man. I think I'll use your system of an average rating, seems more fair. I'll try and use better punctuation too.