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 and explaining the differences between MOTHER 2 and EarthBound. I (Mato) started this site as “MOTHER 2 to EarthBound and Back Again” way back in 1999, but I never got around to finishing it. In 2008, I started over from scratch, and in 2009 I decided to merge it with my newest site, EarthBound Central.

For what it’s worth, I’m a professional translator and translating games, anime, movies, etc. is what I do for a living, 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, so use the menu on the left or click on the thing below to browse all the stuff that I’ve documented so far

Check out this stuff to add to your EarthBound collection!

The Blues Brothers - served as inspiration for the Runaway Five

MOTHER 1+2 Soundtrack CD

Gymnopedie No. 1 (MP3 Download) - this famous song plays during Leder's speech in MOTHER 3