History Trivia / MOTHER3

** There's also a ton of unused music.

** There are even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2REnrYqqPZU unused]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qENvfKEK6uk cutscenes]]! Three of them seem to be flashbacks meant to play during the final battle (Lucas's childhood memories), while two of them appear to be from the ending (dealing with [[{{Bowdlerise}} the ultimate fate of]] [[spoiler:Salsa and Alec, who were the only ones left behind when everyone moved to New Pork City, surrounded with burnt animal corpses and falling meteorites.]])

** There's also a ton of unused music!

* NoExportForYou: '''''Very''''' unfortunately so. Lucas and other elements of the game appeared in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, but his home game still has never seen a release outside of Japan. As stated by Reggie in E3 2015, they are very well aware of the love for ''Mother 3'' and the demands for it to come to America, but the main thing they want to make sure about is whether or not the game will sell enough to justify translating it into English after all these years. However, after supposed reevaluation, Nintendo deemed the game to potentially be too controversial[[note]]in particular, most sources cite the [[ValuesDissonance Magypsies]] as a primary culprit for why there's no western release, as their depictions could be seen as incredibly offensive to the LGBTQ+ community[[/note]], meaning that we'll likely never know. A more reasonable explanation is that Nintendo still hasn't forgiven itself for ''[=EarthBound's=]'' disastrous ad campaign touting gross-out humor above all else.

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: Using the silver dragonfly item against Negative Man is said to yield an extremely rare and valuable item. For those wondering, Negative Man does actually have a 2% chance of dropping a [[VendorTrash Meteotite]] which is worth 2500 DP, but this is unrelated to whether or not you use the silver dragonfly.

** ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://youtu.be/6pcd9VnnXSQ started life as a]] UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} title, which was rather widely previewed and received significant press attention both in Japan and internationally, and Nintendo of America [[HilariousInHindsight seemed pretty dead-set on giving it an international release]].

* ImageSource:
** AbandonedLaboratory (top third)
** AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield (4[[superscript:th]] row)
** FanTranslation
** TheLostWoods (row 2, column 1)
** MixAndMatchCritters
** PeopleJars
** PlayerParty (6[[superscript:th]] row)

* FanNickname:
** This game is sometimes called ''[=EarthBound=] 2'' or ''[=EarthBound=] 3''.
** While officially just [[spoiler:a mine underneath New Pork City]], the final area of the game is often referred to as the "Cave of the Future" by fans as a reference to ''[=EarthBound=]'''s final dungeon.

* RemadeForTheExport: The plan for if it ever gets a remake, that the remake will get localized and released outside Japan.

** There's also unused sprites of [[spoiler: Flint actually killing the Mecha-Drago instead of leaving it alive, which suggests that he was going to turn out NotSoDifferent than the beast]], as well as sprites of Kumatora [[spoiler: as a Magypsy, suggesting that ''she'' was supposed to be the final Magypsy instead of Fassad]].

** There are lots of unused lines of text in the game. Notable examples include an exchange with the producer of something called [[VideoGame/EarthBound Mr. Pirkle and Ms. Lardna's]] Love Nest", mentions of a [[spoiler:New Pork Island]], a conversation with the seventh Magypsy, Locria (who evidently had different development), and some end-game conversations with Kumatora and Duster (asking Lucas how having a mother felt like, and [[spoiler:discovering all of their memories were fake.]])

* CreatorBreakdown: When the game was still being produced for the Nintendo 64, developer Shigesato Itoi suffered from major depression that contributed to the game's plot being even ''more'' bleak than the final product. By the time the game shifted to the Game Boy Advance, Itoi's depression had subsided to a degree and gave the planned ending a more happier feel to it.

* FanTranslation: Nintendo's decision to not release the game internationally led to a group of fans doing an extremely extensive localization project that took two years and thousands of hours to complete. Released in 2008, the ''Mother 3'' fan translation stands as probably the most famous example of a fan translation in gaming history, rivaled only by the 1999 fan translation of ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana''. [[http://mother3.fobby.net/ These awesome guys]] extensively hacked the game front-to-back to provide as close of an experience to a hypothetical official localization as possible, aided by the fact that it was all spearheaded by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, previously a subtitler for Creator/{{Funimation}}. The end result was one of the most widely acclaimed fan translations ever made, and its presence within the fandom has galvanized its status as ''the'' definitive way to experience ''Mother 3'' in the west (and not just among fans either; even Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} accepts the fan translation's terminology as close enough to official). The [[http://mother3.fobby.net/or/ online readme]], about halfway down the page, starts a very, ''very'' long list of every hack that had to be programmed in order to make the translation work. Buried in there is this gem:

** Early video footage of ''[=EarthBound 64=]'' depicts [[https://i.imgur.com/xyEEiiv.png a character]] similar in design to Ninten and Ness, implying that Lucas was supposed to be a Ninten {{expy}} like Ness was. Later promotional material uses different designs for Lucas and Claus than the early Ninten-esque design, while the GBA version redesigns them further to better fit the art style of the first two games.

** The N64 game was also supposed to be even darker than the final product--mostly due to the fact Itoi was suffering from depression at the time. This version of the game was widely called ''[=EarthBound=] 64'' by both Nintendo and gaming press, so more often than not it's still called that in discussions to differentiate it from the released GBA version. Despite its extensive previewing at various Nintendo and game events, it never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and Creator/ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, ''very'' ambitious with the project. Due to these and other factors, it ended up being cancelled and restarted several years later for the Game Boy Advance.
** One of the most famous sequences from the N64 version which didn't make it into the GBA game was a sequence where Claus and Lucas rode a cart through a mine shaft. [[spoiler:In the game, they're separated in Chapter 1 and never reunited until their duel at the finale.]]

* CreatorBreakdown: When the game was still being developed for the Nintendo 64, Shigesato Itoi suffered from major depression that resulted in the game's plot being even ''more'' bleak than the final product. By the time the game shifted to the Game Boy Advance, Itoi's depression had subsided, resulting in a story that was still pretty dark but not quite as bad as how it started.

** The N64 game was also supposed to be a lot DarkerAndEdgier--mostly due to the fact Itoi was suffering from depression at the time. This version of the game was widely called ''[=EarthBound=] 64'' by both Nintendo and gaming press, so more often than not it's still called that in discussions to differentiate it from the released GBA version. Despite its extensive previewing at various Nintendo and game events, it never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and Creator/ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, ''very'' ambitious with the project. Due to these and other factors, it ended up being cancelled and restarted several years later for the Game Boy Advance.

* NoExportForYou: '''''Very''''' unfortunately so. Lucas and other elements of the game appeared in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, but his home game still has never seen a release outside of Japan. As stated by Reggie in E3 2015, they are very well aware of the love for ''Mother 3'' and the demands for it to come to America, but the main thing they want to make sure about is whether or not the game will sell enough to justify translating it into English after all these years. Whether it would or not, as of more recent news will probably not be found out, after supposed reevaluation, Nintendo deemed the game to potentially be too controversial[[note]]in particular, most sources cite the [[ValuesDissonance Magypsies]] as a primary culprit for why there's no western release, as their depictions could be seen as incredibly offensive to the LGBTQ+ community[[/note]]. A more reasonable explanation is that Nintendo still hasn't forgiven itself for ''[=EarthBound's=]'' disastrous ad campaign touting gross-out humor above all else.

** The final area of the game has been dubbed the "Cave of the Future" as a reference to ''[=EarthBound=]'''s final dungeon.
* FanTranslation: Nintendo's decision to not release the game internationally led to a group of fans doing an extremely extensive localization project that took two years and thousands of hours to complete. Released in 2008, the ''Mother 3'' fan translation stands as probably the most famous example of a fan translation in gaming history, rivaled only by the 1999 fan translation of ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana''. [[http://mother3.fobby.net/ These awesome guys]] extensively hacked the game front-to-back to provide as close of an experience to a hypothetical official localization as possible, aided by the fact that it was all spearheaded by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, previously a subtitler for Creator/{{Funimation}}. The end result was one of the most widely acclaimed fan translations ever made, and its presence within the fandom has galvanized its status as ''the'' definitive way to experience ''Mother 3'' in the west. The [[http://mother3.fobby.net/or/ online readme]], about halfway down the page, starts a very, ''very'' long list of every hack that had to be programmed in order to make the translation work. Buried in there is this gem:

* NoExportForYou: '''''Very''''' unfortunately so. Lucas and other elements of the game appeared in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, but his home game still has never seen a release outside of Japan. As stated by Reggie in E3 2015, they are very well aware of the love for ''Mother 3'' and the demands for it to come to America, but the main thing they want to make sure about is whether or not the game will sell enough to justify translating it into English after all these years. Whether it would or not, as of more recent news will probably not be found out, after supposed reevaluation, Nintendo deemed the game to potentially be too controversial.[[note]]In particular, most sources cite the [[ValuesDissonance Magypsies]] as a primary culprit for why there's no western release, as their depictions could be seen as incredibly offensive to the LGBTQ+ community.[[/note]] A more reasonable explanation is that Nintendo still hasn't forgiven itself for ''[=EarthBound's=]'' disastrous ad campaign touting gross-out humor above all else.

** Early video of ''Earthbound 64'' depict a Ness-looking character, implying that Lucas was supposed to be a Ninten {{expy}} like Ness was. ''Earthbound 64'' itself uses different designs for Lucas and Claus than the final GBA product does.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKBhnImy4Jw Some footage of a SpaceWorld demo highlight]] revealed a few more tidbits about what didn't make the cut in the jump to the GBA. By far the most notable, however, has to be that at one point ''[[https://i.imgur.com/xyEEiiv.png Ness]]'' was intended to be a playable character.

** TheLostWoods (column 1, row 2)

** PlayerParty (6th row)

* FanTranslation: The game received one in 2008 that, as of today, still stands as probably the most famous example of a fan translation in gaming history, rivaled only by the 1999 fan translation of ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana''. [[http://mother3.fobby.net/ These awesome guys]] extensively hacked the game front-to-back to provide as close of an experience to a hypothetical official localization as possible, aided by the fact that it was all spearheaded by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, previously a subtitler for Creator/{{Funimation}}. The end result was one of the most widely acclaimed fan translations ever made, and its presence within the fandom has galvanized its status as ''the'' definitive way to experience ''Mother 3'' in the west. The [[http://mother3.fobby.net/or/ online readme]], about halfway down the page, starts a very, ''very'' long list of every hack that had to be programmed in order to make the translation work. Buried in there is this gem:

* DevelopmentHell: The game started out as being a Super Famicom game shortly after the release of ''[=EarthBound=]'', and was then moved to the [=N64DD=], then the [=N64=], then delayed several times until finally being canceled. It was ultimately revived for the GBA.