It’s a well-known fact that when a game is translated and released in other countries, many changes are made. These changes may be simple text changes, graphic changes, or even major content changes.

This sub-site of EarthBound Central is devoted to exploring how MOTHER 2 was localized into EarthBound. It’s more than just comparing simple graphical changes – we actually dig deep into the text to see what was changed, why it might have been changed, and how it was an improvement (or the opposite) over the original version.

For what it’s worth, I’m a professional translator and translating games, anime, movies, etc. is what I do for a living (see my list of my translations here), which also gives me a unique and detailed view of how EarthBound’s translation was handled. Some of the stuff I point out might seem super-picky or uninteresting, but don’t pay it too much mind, that’s just how translation analyzing tends to be

Anyway, if you’d like a quick taste of the kinds of differences between the two games, here are just a handful of interesting changes that Nintendo of America made:

Violence Issues

Acts of violence were altered wherever possible, including simple sound effects!

Graphical Changes

Some graphics were altered to avoid possible lawsuit problems.

The Runaway Five

The Runaway Five were originally the Tonzura Brothers. They also had their outfits completely redone to avoid looking like the Blues Brothers.

Religious References, etc.

Things relating to religion were altered, and anything else that might upset parents was removed.

Localization Changes

Things were changed in the localization process, like an octopus statue becoming the pencil statue.

Good Translations and Bad Translations

The game wasn’t without its translation problems, and we take a detailed look at these. Conversely, sometimes lines were translated spectacularly, and I point those out too.

And that’s just a tiny fraction of the changes I’ve dug up. There’s a whole lot more to see too, so you can start here:

• Read the super-quick, one-page summary of differences…
• …or jump right into the details here!

Check out this stuff to add to your EarthBound collection!

$95.00 Mega Man X3 SNES Great condition free case free shipping! RARE like Earthbound	$149.99 EarthBound (Super Nintendo, 1995) TESTED WORKS GREAT
$19.00 EarthBound SUPER FAMICOM Cartridge ONLY	$44.88 NINTENDO GAME BOY ADVANCE GBA"MOTHER 1+2 GUIDE BOOK"EARTHBOUND JAPAN
$36.00 GBA MOTHER 3 Game Music Soundtrack CD MOTHER3+	$59.00 GBA MOTHER 1+2 Gameboy Advance value selection JAPAN
$119.99 EarthBound Nintendo Mother 2 Starman Figure set of 3 official Earth Bound	$49.99 GBA Mother 1+ 2 Japan Gameboy Advance boxed complete

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