I think a big reason the game never sold is because it was made by APE, and not a big name. back then we all knew buying RPG's was a gamble. it was either a long game that sucked. or a long game that kicked ass. and the game was so expensive you, to spend so much money on a game that you know nothing about....

I agree with Roo. on the reason the game not selling to well is the players manual that came with the game, making it cost so much money. hell I didn't buy it because it cost so much money. to buy something that would be a gamble, and have the money be so much.... I think they should have at least made a cheap version. but this was back in the day before video game companies realized how important it was to make both a cheap and an expensive version.

but I'm so glad that a friend stole it from his friend and then gave me the game. that's what friends are for, that game kicked ass!

Seriously.

MOTHER 2 had been cheap lately. If you know Japanese… the your set.

The game has pretty much no kanji symbols in it so I'd guess it might be slightly easier to understand but still if your not familiar with the language you're pretty much stuck. The game did sell better in japan and it even got a GBA rerelease so I'm guessing that helped keep the game at a reasonable price.