MOTHER 3 Translation Turns 1

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Happy Mother 3 Translation Patch day! Wait, that seemed kinda long…

i just want to say to you and the translating team, Thank You.
it’s great how the EarthBound community works.
thanks again.

Dear god, one year already? It’s been a year since I played the game? Wow. Seriously.
1 year since the whole internet went batshit insane with spoilers and I got spoiled on Hinawa within 10 minutes of the translation released. Good times.

It honestly seems like half a year or something. I came back from school, saw it was suddenly released, immediately rushed to play it and finished it in 3 days (without ever skipping anything, of course, otherwise what’s the point).

To answer your questions, one of my favorite games ever, it was really a joy. I think you did a better job than Nintendo could ever dream on doing.
I can’t wait to find out about the new project (MOTHER related I assume), but man, get the pace up a bit with 1+2, please! I still haven’t played the original MOTHER and I’m waiting for it because of the easy ring (I tried the patch and it doesn’t work for some reason).

“Do you have nightmares of kissing creepy oxygen machines?”

I wouldn’t call them “nightmares” they’re more like wet dreams.

Wow…time flies.

I remember this time a year ago I was debating if I wanted to call of work or not to play Mother 3 in English.

It surpassed expectations. It was spectacular.

Woo. Feels like it’s been mere months!

I’m an absolute sucker for unused/beta stuff no matter the context – it’s kind of a shame that nothing’s been done with that section, but I’m a patient sort. Take your time – and thanks once again for your awesome work.

It seems like it was just last week I was counting down ther hours until this was released. Congratulations on your amazing success.

Also, just to clarify, does the Mother 1+2 Patch include Jeffman’s supposed M2 translation?

The Mother 1+2 Patch will probably only contain a Mother 2 menu patch for the first release. BTW, Mother 3 Fan Translation FTW!

Nice job, Tomato.

I can’t believe its already been a year. I think the translation was WAY better than anything Nintendo would have done. I love beta/unused stuff too, but don’t worry about that just yet – waiting for it makes it more fun in my opinion. I still love MOTHER more than the other two, but MOTHER 3’s translation was better. And as for a MOTHER 4…let’s just say that Harmony would be awesome as a game.

By the way, what are the two bugs you want to fix (if they were mentioned somewhere else I missed it)? Just wondering.

Can’t WAIT for the new project! Don’t know what it is, but can’t wait to see!

Great stuff, thanks again to all who’ve had involvement with the project. I was thrilled when this was released, I’d imported the game but this was a totally different experience. I was happy to help test the latest patch version, too :).

one year

and i still haven’t finished the translated version

stupid save state button 🙁

Well, it was pretty good, but it would’ve been better without all those cusses.

Also why wasn’t porky changed to pokey

*gets dragged off by the men in white coats* Wait! Waiiit! I’ve got some great theories you should hear about Giygas!

Happy Birthday, M3 Translation! That release was a fine, fine day.

I need to play through again now that I have a 1.1-patched version!

Congratulations and thanks again for all your hard work, Mato!

Alright, hear me out.
My day started at around 5:50 AM with my phone alarm going off. I set it an hour early on accident, because I had to take the PSAT.
6:50, alarm goes off again.
I go to school. On Saturday.
During the test, my phone vibrates. A quiet alarm.
It read, “MOTHER 3 Fan Translation 1 yr Anniversary.”

I had a really good day
🙂

*blows noisemaker*

Where’s the cake at?!

I remember checking the translation site almost everyday to see MOTHER 3 in english, yet I had no idea how to use the patch, and I didn’t know what ROMs were. Good times.

And yes, I do want a MOTHER 4.

The fan translation is perfect for the game. Though, me being the retrogamer I am, I can’t help but wish the game was officially released. I want to hold the official cartridge in my hands! I know I could hunt down a Japanese one, but I wouldn’t be able to play it properly. Sigh.

I want to bake mother 3 a tomato cake. Yeaaaaaaaaahhh

The script definitely retained the EarthBound feel. You and your team knocked that one out of the park, Josh-Gibson-at-Yankee-Stadium-style.

The game itself, honestly, wasn’t as good as Mother 2/EarthBound. The emotionally-driven moments were superb, but the game was generally a bit too high-handed with its message for my tastes. Had the translation not been as spot-on EarthBound-ish as you guys made it, as an official translation may not have been (unless they put in in the hands of one of the teams that do the Mario RPGs), I think the whole experience would have been a bit disappointing.

Keep being awesome, Mato.

Congratulations Tomato (& Co.)!

I’ve decided. At the close of every year I’m going to play Mother 3 again, completing it on exactly midnight of the New Year.

I took ages playing it the first time around last year, and by the time I was done it was coincidentally a few hours past midnight, January 1 2009.

And one of the last lines in the game was “have a happy new year” I think. It was really nice. Sentimentaru…

I think the game was much better than Earthbound, which I enjoyed for what it was, sheer absurdity, but Mother 3 feels like that it has a story that really matters, with characters who do things that actually are interesting in of themselves. I’m not sure what message joeymartin64 refers to as “high-handed”—the game is no moral fable. It makes no judgements—things just happen. It’s wonderful.

Personally, I wish a little that there wasn’t cussing—one of my friends said it felt “self-indulgent”—but I myself cannot praise the translation enough. Thank you so much, Mato.

ahh, mother 3 really stood out from the other two games. It definatly is alot more sad. In the first two, you get a heppy ending, but in M3, you get an ending that makes you want to cry

One thing that could have been improved was th cussing. When I think of a Curse word, the mother series was that last thing that came into my head, When I saw that first curse word, I died a little inside 🙁

but, happy birthbay M# translation. You have made many earthbound fans a happy “mad duck”

(get it, an earthbound enemy…………..)

Wait, It’s been a year? 0_o Wow, seemed like we were waiting for it 2 hours ago!

Do you know how many times the patch has been downloaded from the site?

Who cusses and what 2 bugs are left? It must have been 3 months already since I played it last.

@MOTHER3 IS GREAT:
Some people (Lighter comes to mind) swear once or twice during the game during tense moments, and Kumatora has the vocabulary of a sailor – which I felt actually fit her “rough” personality.

A year already. Wow.

Wow, er really? A whole year ago now? God i must’ve been asleep or something because it feels like i finished patching the game yesterday!
Ok, maybe not yesterday 😉

In all seriousness though, I for one, am not too surprised it’s been a year. Sure it actually kinda feels like it’s been 8 or 9 months in truth but not a year.

*sigh* The amount of people that still say “Huh, whatchoo mean dis Mother3 dude?” or “never heard of it mate” and i still get “Y’know in brawl, who’s that Lucas guy?”

Yet, many more people (ie me) have managed to experience the glory that is the Mother series and it’s all, ALL thanks to Mato and Co.
My hat goes off to all the fans who put many hours, blood, sweat, tears, swear words and coffees to good use and translated one of the best RPG’s of all time, out of sheer dedication!

The sad thing is, i NEVER found out there was a hard mode in Mother3 until last week, when i actually looked at the online Mother3 Handbook, so now that i have a flash card 😀 i can have my 3rd epic playthrough of the game.
Every time i think the game’s hard, i KNOW that the only reason playing it is possible, is because of YOU Mato and Co. going through extremely painful stuff and i sincerely thank you so much, in fact, there are no words in English to describe how thankful i am so……..bakota! (what DOES that mean anyway?)

Good Luck with the “project” and the Mother1+2 translation, so you can turn those games, into uncensored masterpieces too, so that Porky stays Porky (as that is his name anyway if it wasn’t for a stupid mistranslation on Nintendo’s part we wouldn’t have this argument), and i get the games in TRUE English.

Mother3 was too much to begin with, but to also be blessed with the other two as well makes Mato, the rest of the Mother3 translation staff (and official staff of course) a bunch of saints!

MarioFan3 out, and keep being awesome Tomato!

what’s up with the “zUcChInI”?

I’ve played Mother 3 with the translation patch a total of nine times in its one year of existence.

I don’t think we really need a Mother 4, as much as it would be cool to have one. Besides, Mato an Co. would probably end up having to translate that one too. 😛

And Nintendo releasing the game would’ve been cool…in 2007.

Ah yes by the way i almost forgot to answer the Questions heheh i’m such a morin…..er moron.

Q1. What are your thoughts about the game?
I think Mother3 was totally awesome!

Q2. Did it live up to your expectations in English?
It exceeded expectations in English, heck it was better than English!

Q3.Would it have been better if Nintendo had released it?
I think it would have been another Mother2 if Nintendo translated it, (ie mistranslations, ridiculous censorship etc etc.)

Q4. Do you want a MOTHER 4?
I think Mother3 wrapped up the series excellently and if there were to be a Mother4, i’d want it on hold for at least 10 years in all honesty. You can’t have too much of a good thing right?

Q5. Which game in the series is your favorite now?
Mother3 is definitely my favorite, heck i even added it to my dictionary!

Q6. Do you have nightmares of kissing creepy oxygen machines?
Er, if anyone has then you are a creepy, lonely and disturbing minded person, eww i don’t want to think about it……. anyone for oxygen? (please say no you morins)

It’s awesome, hell yes, no, yes, Mother 3, unfortunetly.

Okay, all stupidity aside, I’ve overplayed the translation patch. When I first played it , it surprised me how much thought was put into the games script. It’s not like you translated the game and it was done, you really put flavor into the text. It is thanks to the mother 3 translation team I have enjoyed one of my favorite games of all time. Keep on being awesome Tomato (Like you wouldn’t anyway).

While I thought Mother 3 was a great game in it’s own regard, I didn’t think it lived up to the other Mother games. The thing is, I have yet to be able to put my finger on what it was missing. When I compare it to Earthbound, I see a huge distinction, yet I can’t point it out. It just didn’t have that magic Earthbound had. Maybe it came out too late in my life, maybe the game was missing something, I don’t know.
Perhaps I should playthrough it again.

@ Another One:
I don’t want to get into a comment section debate here, but I’m referring to the “technology is evil” message. I was also a little put off at the depiction of Tazmily as going from an absolutely perfect utopia to a corrupted town of zombies because somebody introduced the concept of money. A commercially-sold video game telling me that TVs and capitalism are the downfall of society is a bit sketchy.

Like I said, though, I don’t want to divert from the anniversary for a debate about this. E-mail me if you wish to carry on: joeymartin64(at)gmail(dot)com.

One year already? Wow, I wouldn’t have thought that…

It only shows how much we (German translation team) suck, compared to Mato. The last two months have passed with forum-pong.

1. The most elegant, beautiful tales any game has ever told (Final Fantasy? Teletubbies compared to this). It was one hell of an RPG too!

2. Yes, it met my expectations. Even more so in places!

3. If they decided to release a cartridge with your translation, than yes. If they did it, well… :/

4. Simply put, a Mother 4 would not fit. Mother 2 connected to Mother 1 because Giygas still lived, and Mother 3 because of Pokey stuffing about in time. I guess they could do something with the indestructable casule, but I’d rather they’d just end it with a high note.

5. Even though Mother 3 has the best story, I’m still a big EarthBound fan. There’s so much humour and replay value!

6. I liked them! It was the centaur oxygen machine in the harem room that REALLY disturbed me…

Overall, if I met you guys on the street, I’d give you a big hug. 😀

@Vinny

I can’t find out why that is either. At first, I thought MOTHER 3 was my favorite and the best game in the series, but that was before I beat EarthBound. Maybe it’s because in EarthBound you have a lot more freedom? Or that EarthBound is much longer? I have no idea..

Overall, I really enjoyed MOTHER 3 despite having spoiled everything for myself before playing it. Thank you Mato and your team for giving us fans a chance to experience the game in english, because Nintendo will never have any intention of releasing it here.

Man, it’s been a year already? Of course I didn’t find out about it until 2 months after it had been released and I just had a passing thought of whether it had been finished or not… and it was! Now I’m trying to find a good time to start it again as I lost the SD card that had my save file on it. 🙁

I agree with the majority of people on this site about Nintendo releasing it. They would have played it too safe as usual, which is exactly what they did here with not even releasing it. (And it could be argued that that’s what’s keeping them from releasing Earthbound.)

Mother 4? If Itoi’s behind it, I’m game. I’ve also heard of a fan made one that looks pretty good too, but I don’t think it could hold a candle to a pure-bred one.

@Claus & Vinny
Mother 3 does give off a different vibe for me as well. Of course I’ve only gotten past the first 2 chapters but it feels very different, maybe with how there’s no money system in this part or something. I like this different vibe, but I see how some people could like EB better.

Sweet this is the same as my birthday I guess this was my present from you guys. Also i found out king porky is alive how else how can you explain the swine flu it’s his scheme to take over the world you silly children.

mato should make mother 4!

With EB, you feel like you’re on more of an adventure. Ness had to travel all around the world, while Lucas only traveled around the Nowhere Islands (I know it’s the only place left on earth but still). Perhaps that’s one reason why i consider EB to be a slightly better game. MOTHER 3 still had an outstanding script, but EB feels like the characters weren’t serious all the time and joked about things. So yeah, I guess I just found two reasons then.

When I firts finished Mother 3, I dreaded the idea of a Mother 4, nut now it doesn’t seem so bad. Only if Itoi’s behind it, ofcourse.

God damn! That trailer its awesome! This birthday just makes me cry… Ayear since we got the right to play it in English and other languages. Thanks to the translation team, there is Tomato(Mato) and Jeffman. Thank you for all your efforts.

That also happended to me Smaman, with my SD card, I ccould play EarthBound on my Wii.

I remember when this game came out. At the time, I was feeling extremely sick, and was staying home from school.

Quite a fortunate coincidence, I must say. MOTHER 3 coming out was a high point in an otherwise crappy day.

As for the questions:

1. The game definitely lived up to my expectations in English. Well done, Tomato!

2. I’m definitely in favor of an official release, but I do wonder how the translation would differ, and whether it would be of the same caliber… I have some misgivings.

3. I don’t want a MOTHER 4. In my opinion, the series is just fine the way it is. Plus, although it’s a weak argument, an additional installment would run the risk of being horrible and permanently marring the series’ record…

4. It’s a toss-up between MOTHERs 2 and 3. The games are both very different, so it’s a different set of criteria.

5. I was more amused than disturbed at that part, so fortunately, no.

That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.

@Smaman and PKSTARMAN

I just play it on my flash cart. Any other format screws up the rhythm system. Which I’ve become slightly godly at, by the way.

A little less than year since I’ve played it, I still consider Mother 3 to be my favorite game of all time. I’m glad I played it as a fan translation instead of an official translation, and I think once I’ve learned Japanese, I’ll play it the way it was meant to be played. But the music, the colorful graphics, the sense of otherworldliness, the whole adventure, everything about the game overwhelmed me. I played Mother 3 first, so I’ll admit I might have a bias, but I do think Mother 3 was immensely better than EarthBound and Mother. But is my bias any less justified than the bias of those who played EB first?

Here’s something I’d like to see: the EB fan community treating M3 as an equal of EB. I guess the obvious reason is that EB was the one game released in America, but, for some reason, it still bothers me that all the other EB series fans I know (which is limited to Starmen.net and one person I actually know) see M3 as “less authentic” or something, like it’s not a proper sequel, but a sort of extra treat or spin-off. Maybe now that us English speakers have known the game for a year, that’ll start to change, and M3 will be appreciated for its true worth.

I’m hoping!

Well… I think 10 years f depelopment for the game wasnt so bad, I agree you Forgotten Man: The series are ok how they are now. We dont need a MOTHER 4, We just need to mantain as a community and think about what our future holds.

1) I thought this game was truly a masterpeice for the RPG genre. I really want to talk to people I know about the game, but apprently video games are for nerds who play World of Warcraft all day, hate girls and never go outside. People really need to know of this game. Thank you everyone who put the time and effort to keep me up all night and beating Chapter 4 and 5 during the same night.

2) HELLZ YEAH

3) No, Nintendo may man-handle beyond recognition. I want the game the way Itoi wanted gamers to play it. Believe or not, I am glad EarthBound hasn’t been released in Amercia, if it’s going to be changed as much as I think it will be.

4)Only if Itoi is somehow behind in anyway and keeps a close eye on the project. And there must be Mr.Saturns

5)My favorite is still EarthBound while Mother 3 is defently my 2nd favorite game. EarthBound is full of charm, humor and love that no videogame, movie, book could ever top and is filled to the brim with nostalgia and holds a special place in my heart as the World’s Best Video Game. Mother 3 is second. The game is beautiful and a complete masterpeice, but something about EarthBound just makes me smile in way almost nothing can. Mother 1 is still enjoyable to me. It brings back “Hard as balls” NES games, that I still enjoy and still puts a smile on my face even during my grinding sessions. I would just scream with fanboy joy if a DS complitation of all 3 came out. Instant happiness wherever you go. All in all, Itoi is a master and a very creative and genius person and I can honestly say that the Mother series is the best video game series ever made.

6) No…just no.

CELEBRATION!!

The excitement and celebration feels so VIVID, like it was yesterday…

Great job, translation team! If Nintendo had translated it, it wouldn’t be anywhere near as great! My thanks go to all the hackers and translators that worked on it, not just Tomato (although as far as I can tell, he organized the project). Thanks to them, we can play Mother 3 in English. When the translation came out, I hadn’t yet heard of the Mother series, so I didn’t realize it was finished only a couple of months before I first heard of the series. Unfortunately, unlike a lot of the people here, I don’t remember what it was like waiting for the translation to be finished, or playing it in Japanese without being about to understand much of it. But I do remember the heartrending moments that made me cry or laugh that just wouldn’t have been the same without the translation.

Excuse me, Whats the song in the middle? Im searchin for it at the STARMEN.net MOTHER soundtrack.

i mean MOTHER 3

When I first played the game in English, I was amazed at how many lines were packed into the game. I could spend an hour before going on with the story and I still wouldn’t be able to read all of the side text, and then new text would appear an hour or two of storyline gameplay.

Thanks for being awesome, Mato and crew.

^Add the word “after” in between “appear” and “an”.

Really, there’s just one thing I want to know: What’s the deal with the Limey Mice in the attic? What were they like in Japanese? And what exactly are they saying?

I can’t get past the bit with the oxygen machines, even with the starmen.net walkthrough! I love the game, but I hate that bit.

Hey, who are you guys? NINTENDO AGENTS? Wait! The only bit I don’t like is the underwater bit! No…No…NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Boing)

My dad recently installed my computer, so naturally, i downloaded Mother 3 and the translation. But, after I beat the Mechadrago, and I was in Chapter 2, i saved it, and reset the game. When it got to the menu screen, the save data wasn’t there! For some reason it went to the Japanese version instead!

That happened on mine as well!

man, the day this translation came out, I pretty much shit myself. The game was simply amazing. Even though I do like mother 2 more, mother 3 did leave more of a lasting effect on me

When I found out about it I was ecstatic I honestly am fine with the series staying at three…as long as the translate all the games into English and put them on ds or something I am happy :3…though I will play chaises in a heart beat 😛

I REALLY need to download this!! 🙂

I can only immagine what the othe translations are going through right now. There are about two or three more. I feel bad for them that they may not expierence the awesomeness of this game. 🙁 . ALthough they can always just learn English or Japenese and play it? But I guess it wouldn’t be the same. Thank you Mato for spending two years of your life translating.