The game was initially planned to release on the Super Famicom. Itoi noted that it has a powerful plot, much like an RPG game, and has some heart-wrenching moments that definitely has some strong influences on the game’s story. The novel is the first entry in a trilogy that follows two twin boys growing up during World War 2.

In an interview with Mycom Inc., Itoi explained that the plot for Earthbound 64 was inspired by Agota Kristof’s Le Frand Cahier (Known as The Notebook in the English translation). That led me to another idea, and putting the two together made MOTHER 3. First I wanted to turn a hard-boiled detective novel into a video game. … the concept came from MOTHER 2 and I wanted to hurry and start on 3. In an interview with The 64 Dream (A magazine that would later be known as Nindori), Itoi stated: It was during the middle of the night when the idea came to him, and he had rushed to phone in order to call his game designer to tell him about it. In 1992, Shigesato Itoi had begun coming up with ideas for Earthbound 64/Mother 3f, a full two years before the release of the Mother 2/Earthbound in Japan. If you haven’t read part 1 yet, which focuses on his career before working with video games, we’d recommend doing so by clicking here. Or if you’d like to skip that and read part 2, which focuses on Mother, Earthbound Shigesato Itoi No Bass Tsuri No.1, we’d recommend doing so by clicking here. This article is part three (of four) of the Shigesato article and will be covering the inception and cancellation of Earthbound 64, Mother 3’s release on the Game Boy Advance and its lack of localisation. We're partnered with Skillshare, where you can do unlimited online courses that'll help you create art, make games, and even help you with school/university! Click here for a free 1 month trial.

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