EarthBound 64, known in Japan as is a canceled role-playing video game that was under development by Nintendo and HAL Laboratory for the Nintendo 64. It was intended to be the third game in the Mother series following EarthBound (1994), with series creator Shigesato Itoi working as designer. The game was slated to feature ten playable characters across twelve chapters, including cowboy Flint and his sons Lucas and Claus, with the character Porky Minch – who was previously featured in EarthBound – serving as the game's main antagonist.

Initially intended for the Super Famicom, development was transferred to the 64DD peripheral, before being moved to a standard Nintendo 64 Game Pak in 1999. The game suffered numerous delays due to the 64DD's failure and the developers' inexperience with 3D technology, leading to its cancellation in August 2000. The project was later revived for the Game Boy Advance, though with many alterations from the N64 version of the game, and eventually released in 2006 as Mother 3, with assistance from developer Brownie Brown.

Though EarthBound 64 was considered to be lagging behind other games in terms of popularity in the mid 1990s, it steadily gained traction and was included in many lists of anticipated games. Scenes from the game's demo were received positively, with many critics believing the game could make a big impact once it was released. Its cancellation drew criticism from Mother fans due to the long wait time prior to its cancellation, notably from its American fanbase, who made many petitions in an attempt to get the game to release.

Gameplay

EarthBound 64 was a role-playing game. The game would have had a large overworld for players to explore, with battles with enemies triggered by interacting with them in the overworld. After triggering a battle with an enemy, players would have had a brief opportunity to avoid entering combat, even against stronger opponents.

In combat, EarthBound 64 would have used a fighting style similar to its predecessors. Battle would be done on a black swirling background with "psychedelic imagery" from a first-person perspective, similarly to EarthBound. A circular battle menu would allow players to use a variety of options: "Check", "Items", "Stand", "Fight", "Strength", and "Magic". If Magic was used too much by a given character, they would be unable to select actions in combat for a short time. The battle music was highly important to combat, as hitting attacks on time with the battle music (Apparently done by strumming a 3D guitar) would make them stronger. A wide variety of attacks could be performed, with many being based on the player's timing. Different enemies were planned to become stronger as the game progressed, and developers stated that the game would require 40 to 60 hours for experienced gamers to finish it.

Development

Conception and eventual cancellation

EarthBound 64, known as Mother 3 in Japan, was initially conceived of for the Super Famicom (Super NES) that began development in 1994. Shigeru Miyamoto, head of Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development and the final game's producer, stated that it was "a commercial decision", since Mother 2 (EarthBound outside Japan) had sold well. By this point, Mother series creator Shigesato Itoi had worked on the series' earlier games and Itoi Shigesato no Bass Tsuri No. 1 and was experienced at pitching video games, so Miyamoto provided a team willingly. The Mother 2 development team carried over to the new game's development, though several people left and the team grew in size. They forwent the usual prototyping phase and went straight into development expecting to create something unprecedented. Itoi said he wanted to make the game like a Hollywood film. In September 1994, he predicted that Mother 3s development would end around 1996 with a release on Nintendo's then-upcoming console, the Nintendo 64. According to Reid Young, founder of Starmen.net and Fangamer, the game was intended for a brief period of time to have pre-rendered 3D sprites similar to Donkey Kong Country on the Super NES. The team was inspired by Super Mario 64 and decided that they too could creatively flourish by making a 3D open world. Their early technical specifications exceeded the capabilities and memory limits of the platform. The limited storage on the N64's cartridges meant that pre-rendered cutscenes planned for the game, akin to 1997 game Final Fantasy VII's, were unable to be produced. About halfway through development, the team attempted to scale back its large scope and changed its target from cartridge to the 64DD peripheral, which granted significantly more storage and levels of interactivity not present on the N64. Miyamoto stated in 1997 that the 64DD would allow for the game to potentially have multiple branching story paths, with IGN repeating this statement in 1998, though Iwata would state later in 1997 that the story would be the same regardless of player choice, with the choices of the player instead allowing the path along the story to be different. Other planned features the 64DD would allow for were the ability to use a real time clock and expanded interactions and missions, with the in-game clock in particular being planned to allow for the incorporation of concepts such as seasons and plant growth in the game. At E3 in June 1997, Miyamoto speculated that the game would be one of the four games for the then-expected 1998 launch of the Japan-only peripheral.

The EarthBound fan community anticipated a sequel, and a North American release of Mother 3 was announced as EarthBound 64, decided upon as they felt the Mother name would be confusing for English players and to allow for an easy title for new players to jump on to. Nintendo displayed a playable version of the game at its Space World 1999 trade show, composed of various sections from throughout the game, where IGN described the development's progress as "very far along" and half complete. Having followed a period of media silence, the announcement there of its conversion from a 64DD game to a regular N64 game with an added 64DD expansion, dubbed Mother 3.5, was considered by IGN as a sign of further delay or cancellation of the 64DD altogether. In March 2000, the game was announced in the magazine 64Dream to have been delayed to a summer release. The company struggled to find a firm release date, and was expected to release in Japan before a North American version would be considered. Additionally, at the time, the 64DD was only released in Japan, and was expected to sell poorly. Nintendo did not show the game at the 2000 Electronic Entertainment Expo, though IGN expected to see a finished version of the game at Space World 2000. Mother producer Satoru Iwata canceled the game altogether prior to Space World 2000, as announced by Itoi on August 20. Itoi's team ran into trouble while developing this game due to their inexperience with 3D game development with the Nintendo 64. The game's scope and ambition compared to other N64 titles was stated to be a major reason behind its cancellation, as was the reliance on the 64DD, which was considered a failure due to poor sales figures.

Iwata clarified that the franchise was not abandoned but that the game would no longer be developed for the Nintendo 64, and Miyamoto added that it was not due to project complications or development hell, but to resources needed for Project Dolphin (the GameCube). Some of the artists had been on the project for over three years. They estimated the project to be about 60 percent complete at the time of cancellation—the basics were complete and only programming was left. About 30 percent of the final product was completed. Itoi estimated that it would have taken an additional two years to finish properly, and Iwata said that the game might have been finished by 2000 had the scope been reduced two years earlier. Miyamoto was involved in other work and spent little time on-site with the project, and Iwata too was distracted by bankruptcy concerns at HAL Labs and was off-site in 1999 due to circumstances that required travel. Iwata was also hospitalized during production for stress-related reasons. The team intended to have the game finished by the end of 1999 and knew they had to reconsider their priorities when they missed the milestone. They said that the Mother 3 supervisors had wanted to cancel the project since 1999, but later changed sides and said that cancellation would be wasteful. They discussed bringing the game to their forthcoming GameCube, which Miyamoto said would have solved some of the Nintendo 64's hardware issues. Miyamoto and Iwata also discussed releasing the game on the Game Boy Advance, but realized that it would take "just as much time" with 40 to 50 staff members to make such a game. In retrospect, Iwata wondered out loud in an interview why the game needed to be in 3D when Itoi's "greatest talent lies in words" and thought that the energy poured into making a 3D game might have been a poor choice. He said he was "genuinely ashamed", and acknowledged that they were both "caught up in the 3D obsession and felt obligated" at the time. At the time of its cancellation, Itoi predicted that the game's story would remain one that only the game's staff would know, though he also expressed an interest in making the story into a novel or kamishibai if he had the time. Miyamoto was still interested in bringing the game to fruition.

Design

Conception

Itoi conceived the premise of Mother 3 towards the end of Mother 2s production. He called another person on the project to describe a "detective story where the city was the main character". He envisioned a hack, small-time, womanizing private investigator who would become engrossed in a big murder case, and the story would unfold from a young female clerk at a flower shop who would slowly recall parts of a story consequential to the plot. Thus, the city would appear to grow. This idea of a "single place changing over time" was central to Mother 3. He saw previous RPGs as "road movies" with little reason for the hero to backtrack to previous areas, and instead wanted the player to see the town gossip grow dynamically. Miyamoto and Itoi compared this type of progression to the story of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The game was enough of a departure from the series that the development team questioned whether fans would consider it part of the series. Itoi wanted to change the style of the game from the prior two installments, wanting to evolve past the standard definition of the RPG genre.