Earthbound

Earthbound is a RPG video game published by Nintendo released on June 5, 1995 for the Super Nintendo.

Earthbound is a fun little RPG for the Super Nintendo. It's not a sprawling epic on the scale of Final Fantasy, rather, it's rooted almost entirely in a pseduo-Earth world. It has a kiddie feel to it, but there's a good RPG lying underneath.

You play the role of Ness, out to save the world from the almighty evil Gigyas. You're not alone in your quest; your friends Paula, Jeff, and Poo will join you. You'll venture across the towns of Onett, Twoson, Threet, and others.

In Earthbound, you travel a sort of pseudo-Earth. Real places aren't used, and real names aren't used, but otherwise you're adventuring the real world. 

Your weapons range from baseballs bats and yo-yo's to frying pans and pop guns. 

Enemies you can expect to see are rabid dogs, crows, alligators, and unassuming local guys. Yes, unassuming local guys. 

Items and equipment are bought from department stores with cash that you get from an ATM with your ATM card. You have to call home to your mom on the telephone otherwise you might get homesick.

For around 20 hours. Earthbound can be called many things, difficult is not one of them. Gaining levels are very uneven. Going up from level 19 to 20 might give you 5 more hit points, while going from 20 to 21 might give you 57. There's no one point in the game where you'll be truely taxed to beat something.

Replayability is a bit higher then the usual RPG simply because it's easy to pick up and play. The humour that's sprinkled throughout the game also makes it easier to give it a second-whirl, but there aren't any side quests to make it mandatory.

Overall, Earthbound is a very good game. There's excellent traditional gameplay in it, if you aren't really scared off by the cutesy feel.