Oddities 20: Earthbound Insanity Part 2

And now for some more random Earthbound insanity!


Doesn't this sign remind you of...

...this sign in Zelda 3?



If they're the Runaway Five, then why are there six of them?

What on earth is a "Fuzzy Pickle"? (BTW, "Monotoli" is a play on "Monopoly").



This is the only American SNES game I know of to actually have poop in it.


Isn't that usually how it works?


Poor Ruffini has the odd dilemma of being spontaneously possessed by the spirit of one of the game's programmers. I wonder if anyone's ever actually sent any mail to Ruffini?




Mr. Saturn is a strange race of creatures who resemble Kilroy and speak in a weird font. Much of what they say seems to be just nonsense, such as one that shouts "DAKOTA" for no apparent reason. Here's how to find the secret Mr. Saturn shown in the picture on the right. When you first go to Happy-Happy Village, you'll notice the little red building in the lower-left corner of town. When you knock on the door, you're given a message in strange font that says something about there being "more behind Threed". Of course, this refers to Saturn Valley, which is behind Threed and is where all the other Mr. Saturns live. But after you beat the final boss, you'll now be able to enter that building. Nothing special happens, except that you can now confirm that a single Mr. Saturn lives all by himself in Happy-Happy Village. Why? I don't know.



A reference to HAL, one of the game's developers

And here's a reference to APE, the other developer


Here are a bunch of in-game references to the game, Earthbound, itself, and hints of a planned sequel:







The opening scene is based on "War of the Worlds".

Earthbound has too many movie references to count.

What's kind of funny is that I remember Nintendo Power touting Secret of Evermore as having lots of movie references, but all of the movies mentioned in that game were completely made up. But there are REAL movie references in Earthbound, and I don't remember that point ever being stressed.



Tessie is everybody's favorite purple dinosaur.

It's Mr. T! He pities the foo who kidnaps people!

Earthbound is also full of rare celebrity guest appearances.



Nintendo censored all the red crosses and alcohol references, yet allowed the word "drugs".


The Lost Underworld is enough to make you feel really small!



Late in the game, you can find Pokey's dad getting drunk at Jackie's Cafe.

Uh, why is the Mr. Saturn doctor (Dr. Saturn?) living in a trash can??


Moonside is one of the strangest places in videogames. It's like a wireframe, neon version of the town of Fourside, with some really wacky citizens. Most of them speak gibberish or nonsense, and some talk backwards. (Yes means "no", and no means "yes", here.) There's also an invisible man who will force his way into your party at one point. Even the enemies are strange (well, strange even for Earthbound), like the Dali's Clock pictured above. There's a pretty cool secret behind Moonside, but you'll have to play the game to find out what it is.



Pincho, Pancho, and...

...Tomas Jefferson?

Now, if you really want some Earthbound spoilers, continue onto Part 3 for pictures of all the game's "Your Sanctuary" (aka Sound Stone) locations.

ON TO EARTHBOUND INSANITY PART 3!

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