Earthbound...Why Was It So Good?

So the other day a friend asked me to describe to him why Earthbound was such a great game.  I talk about it with others like it really was the holy grail of SNES gaming.  However, when I sort of stumbled to answer this seemingly simple question.  I mean, it should be easy to answer if it really was that great of game...right?  It seems like one of those games that was indescribable in its greatness.

Was it the simplistic yet classic RPG design?  To some degree I think it was.  It did not overly complicated the genre by adding tons of special moves or complicated button combos or anything of that nature.  Simple turn-based design with your standard gameplay:  find baseball bat, equip baseball bat, and bash people with baseball bat.

Could it have been the general whackiness of the game?  Yes I think that also contributed.  Things like the maze-mouse, trout flavored yogurt, the runaway five, cities named for seasons and numbers, and of course that silly hint-guy all made for unforgettable memories.  I mean, who didn't love just ordering a pizza in the middle of a cave and laugh at the delivery guy when you decided you really did not want that pizza after all (or even worse realizing you could not pay for it!).  And carrying around that for sale sign so you could get rid of things at a moment's notice.  Stopping enemies from painting a town blue?  I have yet to see a game re-use that plot device!

To some degree it was also the time it was released.  It was the golden age of the simple platform RPG.  I think that the older systems with lower graphics may have allowed for a greater variety of game-makers to enter and compete in the market and as a result we had a very diverse and interesting mix of games.  It is beginning to seem like most games I hear anyone talk about come purely from an established source (Blizzard, EA, Sid Meyer, Square-Enix, etc.).  Had anyone ever heard of APE or HAL Laboratory or even cared?  I doubt you had.  Perhaps gaming had not yet entered the invariable "branding" phase market economies produce.  (Interestingly enough, the economist Schumpeter predicted that "innovation" would move from entrepreneurs to giant corporate research teams and he seems to have been right)  For whatever reason gaming seemed different back then, and people were willing to give a chance to a boy, his baseball bat, and a dream.

Oh who am I really kidding.  We all just loved Earthbound for the scratch and sniff stickers in the player's guide!  (Btw, the mystery scent was pizza.  I hope I didn't ruin anyone's childhood by revealing that!)