Earthbound is definately one of Nintendo's most well known and revered games ever made. Any clue why they have never re-done it? They went back and made all of the classic Mario games with their Super Mario Advance series and A Link To the Past. I find it hard to believe that Nintendo has NEVER re-released Earthbound in any form for North America. They did the GBA one for Japan but it was never released here. I only played it over about decade ago and it was a ROM. I never finished it, but loved the hell out of it. I'd much rather play it in an official fashion that doesn't require me to go and buy a SNES. Any idea why it's never been re-released here in North America, or I guess any other regions?

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

I honestly have no idea. Considering the whoring out Nintendo does of all its franchises, I'm flabbergasted as to why they haven't touched Earthbound.

@august said:

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

This. Also the irrational reason that Nintendo of America hates it. They really don't but remember, irrationality.

@august said:

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

I just heard about this recently. It's disheartening.

@neoepoch said:

@august said:

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

This. Also the irrational reason that Nintendo of America hates it. They really don't but remember, irrationality.

Actually, to my understanding, NOA had asked NCL to at least alter the music so that they can release it without threat of legal action, but NCL refused.

This is my favorite game of all time, but even I'd hesitate to call it "one of their most well-known." I mean seriously, the reason Mother 3 (Earthbound 2) never made it stateside was because of Earthbound's abysmal sales in the North American market.

And I never knew about the Beatles songs! What songs are in it and when?

@neoepoch said:

@august said:

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

This. Also the irrational reason that Nintendo of America hates it. They really don't but remember, irrationality.

It seems like Super Smash Bros. is the only time this series gets any love, which I'd credit more to Sakurai than anything else.

Also, I first thought august's comment about Beatles song references in Earthbound was a joke. Crazy!

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

@NekuSakuraba said:

@august

The game has a bunch of Beatles tunes in it and the Beatles rights holders are notoriously litigous.

Change the music.

As I said before, NOA asked NCL to do just that. They refused.

Sucks...I'm sure it would sell better tnan most of the crap released for the DS/3DS

I remember when Earthbound came out and it had a HUGE honking box because they packaged a strategy guide in it. It was especially funny in rental stores with the huge Earthbound box sitting next to regularly sized SNES boxes.

http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Musical_Allusions

This site has a list of all the songs and references.

@Sarumarine: That is why I grabbed it. Bigger is better right :)

@rentfn: It certainly caught my attention. Although I had to grow a little older to appreciate such a quirky ass game. There was one point where I thought I wasted a key item and broke the game. It was actually just Orange Kid's fake device.