Onett - Reception

Reception

The game sold 140,000 copies in North America, and about twice that number in Japan. American audiences were largely indifferent to Japanese role-playing video games, and would remain this way until titles like Final Fantasy VII took the genre into the mainstream. Years later, many critics have praised the game for being ahead of its time, as well as for its storyline, graphics, and particularly, its humor. In the June 2008 issue of Nintendo Power, EarthBound was revealed to be the #1 "Readers' Most Wanted" Virtual Console title, with Mother close behind at #4. Then in the July 2008 issue of Nintendo Power, EarthBound was yet again the #1 "Readers' Most Wanted" Virtual Console title, with the original Mother now placed in second.

EarthBound is regarded by critics as one of the greatest RPGs on the SNES, as well as one of the best of the 1990s. The game has also become a cult classic and possesses substantial fanbases in both Japan and North America. As a result, the game regularly appears on readers' choice polls in both countries. In a 2005 readers' choice poll of the top 99 best games of all time conducted by IGN, EarthBound was voted 46th on the list. A year later, IGN conducted a similar readers' choice poll where EarthBound moved up to be 33rd on the list. A 2005 GameFAQs poll of the 100 best games ever had EarthBound at the 37th spot. The game has also appeared on lists conducted by the Japanese. In a 2006 readers' poll conducted by Famitsu magazine, the game was voted the 37th best game of all time on a list of 100 titles. In a retrospective of the 20 essential Japanese RPGs, Gamasutra featured EarthBound on the list. In the January 2010 issue of Nintendo Power, editors named the game "The Ultimate Cult Hit".

Reviews of EarthBound have generally been positive. In Allgame's review, EarthBound was declared "one of the most original role-playing games of the 1990s." The site then went on to praise its storyline, humor, music, and characters. A point of contention between critics were the simplistic graphics. In All RPG's review of the game, the graphics were described as "horrid," while Nintendojo and 1UP enjoyed them, with 1UP going so far as to say "regardless of what anyone tells you, the graphics are awesome." 1UP also criticized the title's similarities to Dragon Quest, but in the end declared EarthBound a game "worth experiencing." Nintendojo and Gamasutra also criticized the similarities to Dragon Quest, with Gamasutra declaring EarthBound an "unabashed Dragon Quest clone..." Despite the criticism, Gamasutra regarded the title "as one of the greatest RPGs on the SNES." The game's audio was also praised, with All RPG declaring it "some of the best music on the Super Nintendo."

Of all EarthBound's elements, however, the most lauded was its humor, being universally praised by all critics for its comedic, albeit confusing, depictions of Western culture and parody of the RPG genre. Ranging from trips in a yellow submarine to fighting a diamond dog, both of which are nods to British music, or the American national anthem, the game is rife with subtle cultural references. Described by Gamasutra as "a warped, confused tribute to American culture, designed by people who've only experienced the country through books and movies" the quirky humor of the game is one of the chief reasons for its popularity. Amongst the ranks of absurd enemies in the game Ness must face down New Age Retro Hippies, Pogo Punks, Extra Cranky Ladies, and Big Piles of Puke throughout his quest. Much of the dialogue and plot of the game pokes fun at traditional RPG and sci-fi clichés. Even the advertising campaign played off of its humor, with the slogan "This game stinks", referring to the scratch and sniff stickers that were included in the Player's Guide.