Playing EarthBound Zero

I think everyone stops at that point, I hated that part.

i actually played the whole game through without making any big stops.

I finally played through the entire game for the first time last month, and while I’m glad I did, I found the game wasn’t very fun.

I suppose it’s more of a context thing, but I really only enjoyed the music (which is fantastic) and the humor. There’s just so little direction to guide the player.

“I even considered making an item that would tell you what you need to do next, but I don’t know how to mess with the game’s event flags so that’ll probably not happen.”

Given the amount of online walkthroughs, this shouldn’t be necessary at all.

Whenever I play through Mother 3, I always stop at the start of Salsa’s chapter. I pick it up after a while, but I always stop there every single time.

I often get bogged down whenever I get a new party member. It always sucks trying to bring them up from level 1 to a level where they’re actually useful.

I ALWAYS stop whenever I get a new party member.
I hate grinding for hours on end… *grumble*

I’ve stopped when i’ve losed Teddy…

Can you hack the game so that the party members don’t start at level one?

What is the default name going to be for him? Lloyd or Loid?

3 times I’ve gotten just passed getting Loid I always quit there for some reason, and the one time I got like 2-3 hours past that point in one sitting I went to it F1 to save and hit F2 which reset it. I haven’t played since then.

I used the walkthrough map like crazy at the Duncan Factory part, but I never had any major stopping points. (Aside from almost giving up before the Dragon of Magicant.) I finally beat it in time for the 20th anniversary, though.

This is how I play EBZ:

Play half n hour, get someone KO’d, use Onyx hook, repeat until I get past the part I was trying to beat. Get party member, having her/him KO’d, use Onyx hook, repeat. Technically, I stop playing every 2 days or so. Yes, that means I’ve only beat it once T-T.

Learn how to hack event flags to make that item that gives you hints! Seriously, I love EB0, but it certainly needs some tweaking.

I generally play through fairly consistently. There are pauses for me, though, when I do take little breaks. After getting teleport from the baby, I take a little break before braving the swamp, and after completing the swamp, I pause a bit before either getting Teddy or continuing with Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd. But my pauses never last more than a day or two at most.

I always stop after getting Lloyd, too! I’ll come back to it after a day or so, but man Duncan’s Factory is a nightmare. Although, I guess that was done on purpose? Because that gives you an excuse to wander around and get totally lost, which helps to level him up, and I … suppose is why the maps are built the way that they are! However, I find the swamp maybe even worse than Duncan’s Factory, so I tend to stop at that point, too. STUPID SEAGULLS. D:

[PK Mt. Fuji said on Aug. 22, 2009]
“Can you hack the game so that the party members don’t start at level one?”

That is a very, [i]very[/i] good idea.

The first time I played it through without stopping, but when I tried to play again I would stop there too, then after a while start over and end up stopping again. It’s not so much that the factories take so long, it’s that the only map I could find of Duncan’s factory for a long time was incorrect in many places. I’ve found a better one, but I’m still just not as interested at that point.

The first time I played it through without stopping at all, but when I tried to play again I would stop there too, then after a while start over and end up stopping again. It’s not so much that the factories take so long, it’s that the only map I could find of Duncan’s factory for a long time was incorrect in many places. I’ve found a better one, but I’m still just not as interested at that point.

sorry about the double post

I have a suggestion… please remove the damn rats from the factory! Barbots are fine, but those annoying low exp things waste so much time.

Also, I’ve beat it a few times… I really never had a problem in any factory. I just lean to a wall and keep going. I haven’t used the Easy Ring, I guess it would allow for a one day playthrough though.

I’ve played through it twice. The first time, I didn’t have a guide (this was back in the NESticle days so I’m not sure an English guide even existed), and I made it to Mt. Itoi and realized that I’d missed one (or maybe even two) parts of the melody. So I stopped. The second time went more smoothly and I completed it, but I’ve not had the urge to go through the game again.

Well, I seemed to stop playing just before your first visit to Mt. Itoi after getting Teddy. Dunno if I find it hard, or just lost interest in playing it for a while.

My first time playing I went through the whole thing without stopping. I only played EarthBound Zero once.

Out of mother 1,2,3 the place I hate the most is the factory part in mother 1.

I think that much hacking would make the game lose its’ true essence :S

I’ve played though the game sveral times, and I can’t say I’ve stopped once. But this covers several years, and I can hardly remember what brand of cereal I ate for breakfast this morning, so I could easily have forgotten. Mother is just one of those games you have to be really pacent with and be good at figuring out exactly what to do next. I grew up playing games like King’s Quest with my dad, so maybe I’m just a bit more apt to having pacence and thinking of a solution. Also, having a complete walkthough convenently by your side always helps, but that kind of takes the fun out of it too. Games like Mother just really push you to the limit on how dedicated you are to the game.

I think making it so the other characters are at a higher level when you first get them would make things so much more bearable. I spent a lot of time in Magicant after I got Loid trying to level him up, then was dead bored by the time I tried to even GET to Duncan’s Factory (I already knew it was a terribly hard part, which made me want to avoid it even more). Yeah, that’s when I gave up all those years ago.

I always feel like stopping on my first visit to Magicant, but when I keep on going it’s worth it.

Oh I HATE that feeling when you play a game when you get to some frustrating point and can’t bring any further enthusiasm about it.

I quit after I got Lloyd, and I’ve never gone back.

I stop at the first time to Magicant every time as well. I always pick it up again, but I arrive in Magicant, buy the most expensive defensive (har har) items at the shops, visit Queen Mary, and then stop. I never really thought about that before.

I’ve never actually gotten past Magicant. Mainly because i played the original NES version after EarthBound and was too used to the L button check/talk. Plus i think i skipped a melody. I’ll probably play it when this is done.

Plateau at Mt. Itoi, for sure!

MOTHER1 is the most fun for me to play through (it’s the only one I’ve beaten more than once), and I will agree that there’s a bit of a halt once I acquire Loid because Sweet Little’s Factory is a bloody demon to go through. Everything else I can usually breeze right through.

I can’t go through Itoi’s caves without needing a map, though.

I never stop playing…when I start, I always finish! I’ve played through twice, and actually felt it was much more fun the second time. I actually was surprised when I got Lloyd the second time at how he didn’t suck QUITE as much as I thought he did!

I did instantly give him a boomerangg when I got him, though…

Its a hard game but thats part of why I like it so much.

I started this game soooo many times and stopped after Loid before I actually finished it. Why? Because that’s when it can be too hard to be fun. Sweet’s Factory isn’t bad, but Duncan’s Factory can be very difficult because from my experience, if it doesn’t become a Ninten-solo area on the way to the rocket, it certainly does on the way back. Luckily Bread helps.

Merryville is my favorite town in the game, ironically.

Magicant can be tough if you don’t do it right, so maybe after hard Magicant, Hard Duncan’s Factory just doesn’t seem too appealing.

And if people really want it to be easier, your “easy” patch for the NES ROM fits the bill perfectly, Tomato. 🙂

I stopped playing shortly after getting Ana. But only because you announced this project.

I always stop after getting Anna.
I get sort of mad at leveling up Lloyd, but leveling Anna from 1 when everyone else is so far ahead makes me stop.

Well, uhhh… Ive never played EB0 really… I heard is very difficult and It gets boring when you must level up a lot and fight hundreds to get a higher level, Im waiting for the M1+2 translation to play it. Hey Mato, Youre a hard worker and I thank your wok here… You translate the MOTHER games! Wow… Its good to have you and Jeffman here… I hope the M1+2 translation gets released soon, I got a fresh M1+2 ROM now prepared to be translated. Once again, Thank you Mato and Jeffman. PKSTARMAN out.

Oh man! I can’t wait to try and give MOTHER 1 a play through again! I have no doubt Mato has done an amazing job. I can’t wait to see how the game is meant to be played!

Right after I get Lloyd.

I usually stop after I get Loid or right when I get Ana. The factory is soooo long to trudge through and the enemies at Snowman are crazy.

On one hand, most of your party members joining you at level one is basically the source of most of the game’s grinding, which is bad. But Itoi has said that there’s a reason for everyone else starting out that weak (even though I don’t remember what it is), right? I would think it wouldn’t be good to get rid of that, even if it is annoying.

“There’s just so little direction to guide the player.”

But I think that’s the thing that really keeps this game from being completely outclassed by the other two. It’s not supposed to be linear. It really only takes talking to townspeople to get an idea of what you should be doing, anyway.

When I finally got around to playing the game, I didn’t have too much difficulty with it. However, I did go into it with the mindset that it was a NES game, which meant that I would have to grind levels a lot and either make my own maps or use others’ to figure out how to navigate from place to place.

I think when I first went into it when I was like 14 I stopped at the Zoo. But when I went into it, I stormed through it, including a few hours in the god damned Duncan’s Factory

I never really stopped playing. The only time I ever stopped in an EarthBound game was my first playthrough of MOTHER 2/EarthBound, in Moonside, when I couldn’t figure out what to do…

But I often get discouraged big time in EB Zero, when I get to the Swamp, and Mt. Itoi… those two places have rediculous jumps in difficulty.

…

Also, doesn’t that “EarthBound into EarthBound Zero” hack count as making it from scratch? ( I am fully aware it’s scrapped until a good map editor is made, for the record )

I quit twice, once sometime after getting Lloyd and once around the Rosemary’s Mansion. I actually finished the whole game without a guide on my third try. I went to the factories in the wrong order, but that’s not the point.

Being Loid my fav character is hard for me to stop there, i usually stop after getting Ana

Currently I’ve stopped right after beating the Dragon. Before then I stopped right after getting Ana.

I accidentally over leveled Ninten while trying to buy the strongest defense items. At this point I got hit for 1 damage by almost everything, and decided to add some fun to the game get Ana first.

After making it through the train tracks I got to her, and then warped to Magaicant. I do regret not getting the fourth melody before warping though.

And I forgot to get the Boomerang until I got to Ana and warped back, noticing that I still had the Wooden Bat. 😛

Also this is on an unpatched version with no easy ring. 😛

I usually stop when I have to find the 5th melody -_-‘

Most times I stop right after getting Ana, I’m not sure why. It might be the fact that I know she’ll be dying after almost every round due to her low HP and level.

Recently I tried to go farther and made it to Spookane, but once I got to the manor I kept getting turned to stone and gave up.

I’ve only played through the Mother series once. But once this is over I’ll definitely play it all over again

I agree. It’s usually around the time when you get a new character. Ususally for me it’s Ana. That part of the game in general is rather lackluster for me, added to the unpleasant task of grinding her on eyeball enemies for 15 levels.

I hated that part too. I think that pile of bones in the Yucca Desert that tells you it’s the most boring part of the game is misplaced. xD

Once I take Lloyd to Magicant, I start leveling him up there to 15. I stop playing when I get bored of constantly fighting. Then, when I reach level 15, I stop playing because I never feel like going through Duncan’s Factory. I have horrible memories of that place…

Hey, I made that fake NES EarthBound boxart! AWESOME, I GOT RIPPED OFF BY MY HEROES!! 😀 😀

Yeah actually I have them ready to go in a future update sometime. I just needed a pic real quick and since they were sitting there I used one 😛

God looking at these comments I can’t believe how pathetic some of you are. Don’t call yourself a Mother fan if you can’t make it through the original game without whining about the difficulty (that includes you, Tomato). It’s an NES game, for crying out loud! NES RPGs are NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT. What do you expect? That being said, I still managed to beat the game using Tomato’s Easy patch and gone back and beaten the game several times since then. This may sound incredibly elitist or conceited or whatever, but you really can’t call yourself a fan of the Mother series if you can’t even appreciate the awesomeness of the original game. Neither Mother 1 or 2 come close to the darkness of the original game’s plot and the soundtrack (many tunes of which are also in Mother 2) still kicks ass to this day.

I’m so sick of people trying to “fix” Mother 1. If you’ve ever started Mother 1 and have given up on it indefinitely then might I suggest that game isn’t broken the GAMER is.

“Mother 1 or 2”

EDIT: Mother 2 or 3.

Oh, to anyone who still thinks the game is too difficult: don’t play the game with a keyboard. If you can’t afford to play EBZ on a real NES using a reproduction cart or a PowerPak, at least buy an NES controller for your PC: http://retrousb.com/

It makes a world of difference, trust me.

I kind of agree with you to a certain extent, Conceited Mother Elitist, on your first post particularly.

I understand where you’re coming from, though I have played through the game before. I find it hard to play through games/watch movies/read books more than once now that I’m old and busy.

I think the fact that people stop playing the game at certain points is an important topic to bring up though, especially given the results of the poll here. My hope is that people will at least be more inclined to play further than they would have otherwise by using something completely optional.

When the time comes, I’ll try to also mention that people should put themselves in the old NES days mentality and stuff like that.

I always give up where you do, mato, Right where you get Loid.I hate duncan’s factory. XP

I usually stop at the swamp. I hate that damn swamp. Sometimes I stop at mt. itoi because it melts my brain. I can see why youd stop at those factories. they are a real pain in the butt. however, I like old school rpgs like that because they require more resilience. you really gotta level grind the hell out of old games like the first mother and dragon warrior/quest. I know that kind of rpg isn’t for everybody but I think it’s neat. Makes the game last longer too.

I used to start the game up every once in a long while to play, since I loved Earthbound. I usually quit around the zoo, because I just couldn’t get into the game. Mostly it was the grinding and the difficulty. I’d get to the zoo and just not want to have to deal with that the entire game.
But the last time I played, was my first time going through the end, there was not a point I even wanted to stop! I played the game straight through, never getting frustrated anywheres or annoyed anywheres. And everything after that zoo part I was in love with, so I don’t seen myself quitting anytime during future playthroughs.

Despite the massive problems in the unedited form of the game, I find Earthbound Zero nearly as fun and impressive as the other two games, especially since it’s an NES title. It beats the hell out of the Dragon Warrior (Quest..whatever) games available on the system, and ties Final Fantasy 3 in my opinion. But then again, I’m not the biggest fan of JRPGs, so what do I know?

The grinding being one of the worst issues, true, its worse in similar games for the system. But even so, I admit, I’ve yet to actually pass the game, but that’s for lack of time, not out of massive difficulty.

I think a mistake a lot of people make is that they don’t keep the charecters properly equiped. You’ll have to give a new charecter the greatest weapon available and take them to Magicant, or they’ll never level up. I know I made that mistake my first time. And I also find if you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, the game’s a lot easier. But there’s also a great amount of pleasure when you figure out what to do. But then again, its absolutly no fun when you can’t figure out what to do. Maybe the patch could come with a walkthrough that gets you though the first half of the game, like what was planned with NES EarthBound. Just a thought.

I agree that people should be able to play through mother without whining and giving up, butif Mato’s easy patch or any other hacks like that enable more people to enjoy the game, then that’s okay. Pretty cool actually. Especially since it’s optional. It seems to me like making the game more enjoyable to a wider audience is something Itoi would appreciate.

(unrelated tangent: remember mega man 2’s “normal” and “hard” modes? the original didn’t have that. In fact I believe normal mode was actually easier and hard was the original. I don’t see the harm in stuff like that.)

I usually stop around the desert, CURSE YOU NANCIES!

i love that factories,they are so easy
to sweet sweet factory you just go up and left
and duncan factory you just go up and for the right!
easy

I stop when I beat the game. I find it to be the best Mother game.

I don’t know why, but I’ve never even got out of Ninten’s house. I always stop after I go into the basement. Everyone keeps saying that EBZ is the darkest Mother game. That kind of scares me from playing. And those 8-bit graphics (with the black battle background) adds to that “dark” effect. Mato, if you add the remade sprites, you might persuade me to play this :O

Mother isn’t really a dark game, its just a lot more real than EarthBound was. EarthBound took light out of every situation, but Mother is just more serious. And its not like its always like that, it has some funny lines in it, but it generally takes itself more seriously than EarthBound did. Like I said earlier, you just have to be really headstrong about getting through it.

Hey Mato, nice image of this one… Is there a link to download it? I like it really.

I’ve only played (and completed) the game once, but I stopped after I got Ana in my party because I had no idea what to do. I picked it up after a couple days and finished it though.

I didn’t mind the factories too much, to be honest. Maybe I was just having a good day.

I’ve never played the game but I will and without the easy ring and dieing ( thats impossiple to a 11 year old )

@motherfan mark 2
I played and beat the game when I was 11 and didn’t even use cheats, or the old x2 exp hack, So no, it’s not impossible for 11 year olds, and that was my first nes rpg.

Anyways back on topic, I never made any big stops in the game. I just usually start playing slower around the 5th melody.

I think “motherfan mark 2” was trying to point out that it’s impossible not to die once through the game as an 11 yr old.

I myself have yet to not die once in the game.
Other than getting killed once i reached a new area, i found it was only mildly difficult considering it was a NES game.

I found Mother a fun game. for an NES game atleast but both Mother and Earthbound would’ve been better if the text boxes where like mother 3 all light and stuff because the black one i just found i dunno annoying.

I’m playing with easy patch right now. That plus the fast-forward button seems to be doing it for me. It must be said that it was the unique design, weird story and great music that made this game. The gameplay really is kind of broken though, which is a shame because that’s what I MOST look for in a game.

I’m pretty sure I stopped on Mt. Itoi… I remember watching the ending on Youtube. It’s not the first time that’s happened to me in a game.

Please help! I have a Earthbound rom and I had just gotten to Threed. I went to my my shore house for the weekend, and now my file, and state are gone! Does anyone know how to retrieve them!

That Level is pretty hard I never would of Made it through there if I hadn’t of looked at Chuggaconroy’s video walkthrough of it Mato Do you think you could replace the mother logo with the EarthBound Zero Logo exept without the Zero? Mato and Chuggaconroy Rule! one last thing I have heard that in Mother 3 you can get omelets from the mystery metal monky it even said so on Starmen.net however the Fanmade handbook doesn’t mention it is the rumor true?

Recent pokemon games have a “journal” telling the player what they did last. If there is anything wrong with Mother 1 is the interface, pacing, and balance. Getting those right will be tough, especially being as limited as you are.

Yeah, I’ve been playing through EB0 and when I got to Loid, I got bored of it too.
Odd…

@Deraj626:

Well, if you’re on a mac like me then it’s very simple and convenient to use the Time Machine application, you’ll recover your files before you say fuzzy pickles!
Although if you’re on a PC, unfortunately my very lame suggestion is to start looking around the net, asking questions and searching for it on you’re computer (it might be called something different for some reason?)
Yeah, yeah i already know my help for PCs isn’t exactly helpful but it’s the best i can do, besides if all else fails, just start the game again i suppose…?

(I know this was very, VERY off topic and i apologize, but the guy needed help ok?)

I installed the game on Virtual Console, It runs smooth so far, It is a very hard game to play without save/load states to help you through. Right now I’m in Ellay and I just got Teddy, I hate going to the caves as soon as you get him since Ana dies as soon as I get there, so I’m on hold of the game due to grinding.
Anyway, I hope the Translation comes out good.

i played without stopping and i beat it in 2 days

Honestly, I would keep the game just the way it is, but add in an equipped item at the beginning that eliminates the random battles. Take it off when you need to level up.

It shouldn’t be hard to implement that kind of feature, right? Someone found the Game Genie for it. Here it is: UPSPTSXA

Maybe put in a person who tells you what to do, like Fateen in Pokemon Colosseum (flaming of the pokemon fan begins!)

The first time I played it I stopped around Lloyd’s part.
The second time I stopped around Snowman.

Only recently, like a year later, did I actually complete the game.

MT.Itoi is an area I have never really wanted to do.In other words,I SAY SCREW IT AND STOP PLAYING THEN!!!

I Almost gave up at the haunted mansion and snowman and just because I always had problems getting into Mt Itoi but I finally beat it after like four weeks of playing if off and on.

I actually just did a second playthrough, and it was easier than I remembered. The only real spot of actual grinding was getting Ninten strong enough to get into town – the rest of the necessary leveling came naturally by taking my time and exploring, and it didn’t even take that long. No one died in Duncan’s Factory, which shocked me, although I did game over on the mountain twice because I didn’t run away. It sounds really conceited, but I don’t think the game is as hard as people make it out to be as long as it’s played “properly”.

I am definitely in favor of an optional easy mode so that more people will play the game, but they should also know that it’s not really that hard as long as they don’t use maps to go straight from A to B and rush through everything (which will make constant grinding necessary).

Nintendo Company should remake “Earthbound Zero/Mother” on the DS.

I stopped in the middle of the factory because I got lost for over 3 hours. I eventually came back, and ended up quitting just before the haunted house because it’s so stinking hard.

The first time I played the game I gave up at around the graveyard, or maybe the zoo, I can’t remember anymore. The second time I stopped when I needed to cross the Yucca Desert, but after a long while picked it back up and played through the whole thing after that.

I stopped when I first laid eyes on Shroudley in the haunted house. IT CREEEPED ME OUT!

I stopped when I first laid eyes on Shroudley in the haunted house. IT CREEEPED ME OUT! BIG TIME!

First I just want to say that this is really awesome. Keep up the good work, Mato!

Anyway, I usually stop at Loid as well, though it’s because I power-level Ninten and Loid so I can get Ana, then power-level Ana up to speed before doing anything else in the game (even the other factory). I know, I’m weird and grind-happy like that.

Mt. Itoi plateau is obviously the HARDEST LEVEL IN THE GAME!!! (I hate the Grizzly bears!) 🙁

Duncan Factory wasnt that hard but scraper and old robot maded it seem like HELL beside that never got lost then i realized i need Lloid alive…….FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

i mean isnt it hard to keep Lloid alive?oh and i stopped at snowman gonna try again but the enemys are hard and what do u guys though about starman in the hotel of haloween?(didnt play EB0 im playing the M1+2 transalation)at first i was like that guy make me sick but when it was a Starman i was like O-O i though i was gonna lose but it was easier than fighthing starman junior

After the canary village; I always get interrupted, and it deletes my file!

I tried playing Earth Bound once and stopped once I’d gotten to the Duncan Factory because the enemies were too hard and the factory was too big.

I have never have huge stopping points in mother 1.

In earthbound it’s usually around peaceful rest valley and happy happy village (I hate it.)

In Mother 3, well, I made A TON of stops. Some parts i just couldn’t get into, but it’s changed. I don’t have to stop as much

I don’t know about you guys, but when I play Mother 1, the only time I stop playing is after I beat the game.