The next stroke of genius is gaining access to Master Belch’s secret lair. Headed back behind the waterfall, I’m prompted to give a password. The correct action is to stay perfectly still for three minutes – set the controller down, walk away, do nothing for three minutes of real time. Crazy! I remember encountering this for the first time when I was about 12, and, though I had a FAQ, I still had difficulty doing this. After several attempts and figuring out where the prompt was and when to stand still, I got it. This time still made me smile.

I breezed through Master Belch’s factory, was appalled at the enslavement of the Mr. Saturns, made short work of his slime piles and went to face him.  It always made me chuckle to fight a boss which was literally a pile of puke that made burping sounds as it talked. He’s a pretty tough boss unless you toss him a Jar of Fly Honey. He chomped down on it for several turns as I blasted him into a pile of… uhh, anyways. Exiting the factory, I sit down for a trippy cup of coffee and say goodbye to the grateful Mr. Saturns, only to plunge my head into a mushroom-infested cave…

The next stroke of genius is gaining access to Master Belch’s secret lair. Headed back behind the waterfall, I’m prompted to give a password. The correct action is to stay perfectly still for three minutes – set the controller down, walk away, do nothing for three minutes of real time. Crazy! I remember encountering this for the first time when I was about 12, and, though I had a FAQ, I still had difficulty doing this. After several attempts and figuring out where the prompt was and when to stand still, I got it. This time still made me smile.

I breezed through Master Belch’s factory, was appalled at the enslavement of the Mr. Saturns, made short work of his slime piles and went to face him.  It always made me chuckle to fight a boss which was literally a pile of puke that made burping sounds as it talked. He’s a pretty tough boss unless you toss him a Jar of Fly Honey. He chomped down on it for several turns as I blasted him into a pile of… uhh, anyways. Exiting the factory, I sit down for a trippy cup of coffee and say goodbye to the grateful Mr. Saturns, only to plunge my head into a mushroom-infested cave…

Mr. Saturn font needs to be a default on all computers. They're so cute! And that password to Belch's lair? Still SO GENIUS. If games were to do that today, most kids would have a fit. 
 
The way you're blogging about some of this just sounds like some kind of hippie adventure into a magical dreamland. And I am A-OK with that! =)

I really liked earthbound when I played through it a couple of years ago. Still has the best ending boss fight I can think of.