Simply put. How would you order the three and why? Which is your favorite?

1.Mother 3- The music was top notch (even if it did borrow), It had the best story out of the three, and it had so many little touches that a game could have had. My favorite game ever.

2.Earthbound- Sure it was fun, but its cliches are a tad too obvious. The innability to run was a tad annoying if skip sandwiches were too below you at the point your at, also. Sure, it's not just some generic RPG if you look closer and deeper then just the surface, but Mother 3 was just up there.

3.Earthbound 0- I kinda had to drag myself through it. It never held my interest for too long, and it has a few cliches in it, as well. Not a bad game, just needs a little polishing.

it's always changing in my mind, but for my current list

1. Earthbound (mother 2)
2. Earthbound zero (mother)
3. Mother 3.

I won't go on a 5 page rant of why. but I'll tell you that nostalgia trumps better story any day in my mind.

so maybe 4 or 6 years from now I might have mother 3 on my top, when it becomes a part of my nostalgia

story-wise, they're about tied at 1st place. but Guiegue's story in Mother is heartbreaking, i would almost say more so than Lucas' story but it's only a matter of perspective-opinion.

Overall....(this is tough)

1. Mother 3
2. Mother 2
3. Mother

1st and 2nd place flip-flops back and forth as much as ten times a day and Mother is still a wonderful game and has the best Melody of the trilogy.
it really depends on how i am feeling at the moment and what is fresher in my mind.
Kyoo is right though. nostalgia plays a big factor.

1: Earthbound, it's the first of the series I have played and got into from millions of people online talking about it and curious about the trophy's on SSBM made me look it up and gave it a try.
2: Earthbound zero: I was surprised when I heard about this game and it being on the NES. Reason being I put it second is because it's a very challenging game even with Mato's easy patch. Also it's the first NES game I have ever beaten in my life.
3: Mother 3: Although the graphics are nice, the battle system is amazing, and the story plot is touching with many refferences to literature. It ranks at number 3. I love the game and all but when I played it I felt there was something missing. I was satisfied with everything, I loved it all but it gave me that feeling that something is missing... who knows.

Let's see...

1.Mother 2
It's my first (and currently only) mother cart I've ever owned with the great storyline and great music with some remixed versions of the original Mother music plus the cool battle backgrounds and so much more. It's why It's 1st on my list.

2.Mother 3
It has alot of new stuff but still has alot of returning things like the battle backgrounds and some music from the previous two mother games and more music then any game I've ever seen!

3.Mother
It may be in 3rd on my list but it's the one that started it all and it has to be one of the coolest Famicom games I know. It has great music for a 8-bit game it also has great color and graphics for a 8-bit game too.

Wow that was hard to choose which one goes where! (I like them all equally!)

Well, since I've only been a mother fan for about a year now, nostalgia doesn't really apply to this for me.

I feel the same way with how they flip flop sometimes more than ten times a day. but for me it's all 3 flip flopping. it's a never ending battle in my mind of who is best. that's why I when I have my top 5 game list. I have mother trilogy as number one meaning I have all 3 games equal. the way my brain sees it. all 3 of the games are just one giant game. each game is just a chapter in the story. a part of me feels I shouldn't be rating any part of any of them over any of them, they all 3 equal an entire body.

mother is the spinal cord, mother 2 is the skin, and mother 3 is the innards.

I really don't know what I'm saying, because ever since I've clicked on shibarus link. I've lost a lot of blood... but I think it makes sense

it makes sense to me, kyoo. you should know by now. you shouldn't apologize for speaking your thoughts on the series, no matter how unconventional you think they might be.

This really is an unfair question. Each game has had its charms that has made me like it. I feel bad saying EarthBound zero is my least favorite since most people put it as theirs but I do feel it is weaker than its sequels. But when I compare EarthBound zero to other NES RPGs it holds up really well compared to games like Final Fantasy 1 and Dragon warrior 1. For an NES game it was very long and detailed. I liked EarthBound because it was very laid back and the entire atmosphere of the game was just fun rather than dark and angsty like other RPG's. Then mother 3 had its charm as it was very deep and emotional but it still kept the humor, and any problem with EarthBound's gameplay and battle system was fixed in Mother 3. Like if you try healing a character before they die but their health reaches zero before you heal them, the healing PSI or item is redirected to yourself while in EarthBound it isn't. If I had to pick a favorite I would probably pick EarthBound just because it was such a nice change from the normal RPG, it was fun, simple, and full of surprises. (Wow that was a mouthful). I guess EarthBound Zero and Mother 3 are both just as good in my book since I can't (for some reason) bring myself to say it was my least favorite.

That's what I assumed when I read your gripe about "the inability to run" in EarthBound. It's not so much the inability, rather the ability had not been popular yet.

It's like taking an old cellphone from 1998 and complaining that it can't download apps from the internet.

Anyway, I refuse to list them. I just won't do it. Nostalgia gives EB a SUPER HUGE unfair advantage, and I've only played through M3 once, though the fact that it was on a portable system made it even better (I love portables) and M1 I'm only about 1% into it, but even when I beat it, it's going to have a disadvantage because the graphics are lame (sorry, that's how I feel), the controls are outdated and after being pampered with good controls and menus over the years, playing on an old one is annoying, etc. It just can't be done.