Mother 3 [JP]

Spontaneous lightning showers over the peaceful Tazmily Village. Strange salesmen appear, bringing bags of a foreign substance known as "money." Creatures wearing pig masks bring a swath of totalitarian civilization wherever they tread, and animals in the forests are being captured and experimented on in brutal tests.

In a world that has quickly gone insane, can a crybaby, a thief with a gimp leg, a dancing monkey, and their friends stop the Pigmask Empire from achieving their diabolical goals?

Console: Gameboy Advance
Release Date: April 20, 2006 (JP)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Brownie Brown/HAL Laboratory
Players: One
CERO Rating: A

Introduction:
Twin brothers Claus and Lucas visit their grandfather in the mountains, playing with the nearby Drago family and helping their mother with the laundry. Mole Crickets teach the two of them how to box and the terrifying (but peaceful) Dragos give them rides and hum songs to each other. As their mother writes a letter to their father on the last night of their stay, a strange object passes through the sky and casts a shadow over the mountainside...

Flint, a hard worker and shepherd in Tazmily Village, wakes to the sound of distant thunder and warning sirens. The forest that his wife and two sons passed through on their way to the mountains is aflame. As he rushes to help the townspeople drive off the strange creatures assembled from animal parts who are now starting new fires, he notices a shred of cloth stuck to a branch. It is the same fabric as his wife's dress. Fresh Drago tracks are nearby, as well as mashed-up boulders and tooth-scarred tree trunks. But the Dragos have never been violent before, have they...?

Duster the thief-in-training is kicked out of bed the next day by his father. "Get up!" his father shrieks. "The time has come for your training to be put to use!" He is sent to the abandoned and haunted Tazmily Castle in search of an item that may save the village. It's commonly known that the ghosts there are both evil and benign, but as Duster searches he realizes that there is something worse. Something outside, breaching the castle walls. Something that has all of the ghosts scared...

Storyline:
The idyllic Tazmily Village is shaken by a series of events that each push it further and further from its peaceful roots. A young wife is found slaughtered by previously pacifistic mountain lizards. Bombs send walls of fire rushing through the forests. "Happy Boxes" are being distributed to the townspeople by the Pigmask Organization, constantly bathing their owners in daytime television and annoying infomercials. A young boy named Claus is lost, presumed dead, searching for his mother's killer in the wilderness.

From the ashes, heroes must rise to reveal the true nature of the Pigmasks and unveil the face of their leader. Lucas and the princess Kumatora are taught about the mysterious PSI power by flamboyant characters known as Magypsies, magical guardians who are neither male nor female. Duster trains with his Tools of Thievery in his father's basement. Salsa the monkey is forced to dance for the salesman Fassad, knowing every moment that his evil owner may order Salsa's girlfriend killed if he disobeys. These four lunatics and their dog, Boney, are the only resistance against the Pigmask agenda.

Graphics:
The Mother series has always favored simplicity over intensity when graphics are concerned. This holds true in the third title, as vibrant colors and weird designs make up for the low pixel count and lack of detail. The art style is wonderful, however; the artists managed to paint some great pictures despite their limitations.

Claus, Lucas, and their grandfather Alec playing with the Drago family.

Gameplay:
Sticking to their RPG roots, the Mother team decided to keep the original turn-based battle system. There's no Active Time Battle gauge to fret over here, no Judgment Ring, no free movement. So how do the battles in Mother 3 manage to stay so frantic and fast-paced?

Well, the rhythm system, naturally.

You didn't expect to find a rhythm game hidden in a full-blown RPG, did you? Different enemies will often have different background music associated with their battle sequence. When you attack, you must tap to a certain beat to continue landing hits and dealing up to 16-hit combos. The best way to find the beat is to put your enemy to sleep and listen for its heartbeat, and then follow that while attacking.

YouTube - Mother 3 Boss Battle: Mr. Passion

You must also keep battles moving at a quick pace when you're fighting heavy-hitters that can knock one of your team members out in one hit. Your HP and PP gauges function like odometers, and drop steadily when you are dealt damage. They'll keep dropping at the same rate until you take the full amount of damage, or if you were dealt a mortal blow, until you are dead. If a teammate can heal you before you hit 0, your decrease will cease and you'll begin gaining HP back instead. Layer your teamwork with strategy to be sure that nobody's HP reaches 0.

Despite the mature themes that the team brought to Mother 3, such as death, loss, and political values, it is still a Mother game. The series has always been known for its quirky humor that can be found in every trashcan and under every Neckbeard's wig. Take, for example, the saving system: frogs.

Save the frog from the snake's belly, and you have another save point.

And from time to time you may find yourself speaking some encouraging words...to inanimate objects.

Just let it out, pal. We're here for you.

Longevity:
Mother 3 is a game that spans several chapters, each of which will last you from 1-3 hours. In all, you'll probably invest at least twenty hours if you speed through it. The more casual player will probably clock in between 20-30 hours. There isn't much incentive to replay the game besides being able to experience it all over again.

Sound:
The soundtrack is one of the best I've seen on a handheld title. Mother games have a history of quirky, fun musical scores, but this one puts the others to shame. Battles will greet you with classic rock n' roll riffs, blues and reggae, classical orchestrations, techno beats, and more. Even cutscenes are peppered with tracks that can bring a tear to your eye as you watch. The dandelion field and the music that defines it one of my favorite experiences from the game.

Overall:
Mother 3 is the defining RPG for the Gameboy Advance and it proves that graphics do not make a good game. It's a shame that Nintendo scrapped whatever plans they originally had to translate and localize it, but there are rumors that a DS collection of Mother 1-3 is in the works. For now, you can buy the game in Japanese, find a ROM online, and head here to patch it in English. It's worth every minute.