subdirectory_arrow_right WayForward Technologies (Company)
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An infamous scratch and sniff ad for EarthBound, featured in magazines around the time of the game's release, caused WayForward director/designer James Montagna to suffer from a severe allergic reaction as a child, which had him rushed to hospital:
"When I came to the page with the EarthBound scratch and sniff ad, I remember going at it without hesitation. Not long after, my tongue started to swell, and my throat closed up. I started to panic, and woke up my parents to take me to the hospital (magazine still clutched tightly in my hand), where we determined I had a reaction to the scents on the EarthBound ad!"
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Following its discovery, the bug, popularly known as the "Threed Tent Glitch" and the "Check Area Glitch," became a key asset for speedrunners, as one possible effect gives players access to a debug menu, from which they can warp directly to the game's epilogue. Its utility only further increased after players discovered that it can be triggered very early in the game by using additional glitches to reach the top-right corner in Onett's map, which similarly gives access to an out-of-bounds area.
YouTube videos showing the glitch in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPCFmr3Itog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu6G_QTg9zY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htkuzxxTV24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWAvpeYgwY
TAS Videos page explaining the glitch:
https://tasvideos.org/GameResources/SNES/Earthbound#CheckAreaGlitch
The Cutting Room Floor article about the in-game debug menu which mentions the glitch's ability to open it:
https://tcrf.net/EarthBound/In-Game_Debug_Menu
YouTube videos showing how the glitch can be used to speedrun the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tliMUZG1QY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am3A3kQE2U8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPCFmr3Itog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu6G_QTg9zY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htkuzxxTV24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWAvpeYgwY
TAS Videos page explaining the glitch:
https://tasvideos.org/GameResources/SNES/Earthbound#CheckAreaGlitch
The Cutting Room Floor article about the in-game debug menu which mentions the glitch's ability to open it:
https://tcrf.net/EarthBound/In-Game_Debug_Menu
YouTube videos showing how the glitch can be used to speedrun the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tliMUZG1QY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am3A3kQE2U8
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The music that plays in Onett's Arcade contains brief snippets of the main theme of Xevious, and of the bonus theme from Nintendo's 1979 arcade game Sheriff.
Onett's Arcade music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFLlLia5TU8
Main theme of Xevious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Sec5rv8WU&t=7s
Bonus theme from Sheriff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgfs4dYEWto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFLlLia5TU8
Main theme of Xevious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Sec5rv8WU&t=7s
Bonus theme from Sheriff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgfs4dYEWto
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In a 1997 interview with the game's composer Keiichi Suzuki published in the GSLA, he stated that him and his team did an about-face in their approach to composing the soundtrack, from attempting to create vocal-oriented pop music like in Mother, to concentrate on making solid instrumentals:
"At the time, ambient music was very popular, so I wanted to try incorporating ambient, and also world music as my touchstones. Nevertheless, despite my thematic intentions, I ended up getting a lot of requests for specific types of songs for certain scenes. They wanted Arabian music for the desert area, or rock and roll for the scene where you enter a club and there's a band playing. And for the overworld where you're walking around, they wanted music that would feel like its spurring you onwards."
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If you have a full inventory up until the point where Porky's mom squashes Buzz Buzz, he will notice that Ness can't hold the Sound Stone right now and won't give it to him. Instead, he will transport it to Tracy, meaning that you don't have to hold the Sound Stone in your inventory for the entire game and it will still record the melodies of the "Your Sanctuary" locations even in Tracy's possession. Normally, the Sound Stone remains in your inventory for the whole game and cannot be held by Escargo Express. If you do wish to have the Sound Stone back from Tracy, you must talk to her in-person.
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By plugging in a second controller and pressing Select during the cutscene where Ness, Porky and Picky encounter the Meteorite and Buzz Buzz, the direction and length of the light that shines from it can be changed. The height in which the cutscene is activated seems to affect how the light behaves, and it seems to be intrinsically linked to where Buzz Buzz's sprite moves on-screen as the light will sometimes follow his looping animation by extending or retracting slightly.
GameXplain video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZpJBl33zDA
NintendoLife video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t93yD2_j14o?t=65
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZpJBl33zDA
NintendoLife video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t93yD2_j14o?t=65
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The director for the United States localization needed a name for Porky's father so he named him "Aloysius," a reference to Looney Tunes where Daffy Duck gives the name to a giant to save himself from being giant food, because he thought the name was "dumb and funny."
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The fetch and progress system in the Monkey Cave is similar to that of the "Beneath the Well" mini-dungeon from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It's possible that Nintendo was referencing this system in Majora's Mask.
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Paula's Theme is a remix of the theme of Youngtown from the original Mother.
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Storing a damaged Teddy Bear with the Escargo Express or Tracy after it is damaged, and then checking it out again will restore it to full health.
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The last scene of the game's opening cinematic features Ness approaching Giant Step, alone, at nighttime. However, this is impossible to do in the actual game. The only two times that Spoiler:Onett (the town where Giant Step is located) can be explored at night time are at the meteor crash, the search for Picky at the very beginning of the game, and Spoiler:Giygas's last-minute invasion of Onett near the end of the game. During the former, Spoiler:Ness cannot obtain the key to the Shack, which is required to access Giant Step. During the latter, Spoiler:Ness has a full party of four, meaning that he cannot access Giant Step on his own.
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Using the Pencil eraser on Ness's Nightmare outside of battle, a dialogue box will say, "Do you really think this look likes a pencil?". Using the Eraser eraser says, "It looks like some sort of primitive human statue if you look at it from the right angle... But it definitely doesn't look like an eraser... does it?"
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If there is second controller connected, it's possible to control the game with both controllers.
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The four major cities in EagleLand are all named after numbers: Onett, Twoson, Threed and Fourside.
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If the player talks to the trumpet player in Onett, he will play "Symphony No.9 Movement 2" composed by Antonin Dvorak.
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