Play Earthbound Online

Earthbound came out for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994, developed by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory. It was part of that wave of 16-bit RPGs that felt ambitious, trying to tell a bigger, weirder story than many of its peers. Instead of a fantasy kingdom, the game drops you into a version of suburban America that's been invaded by something alien.

You control a boy named Ness, traveling with a small group of friends you meet along the way. Your main goal is to hunt down eight sanctuaries to stop an extraterrestrial threat called Giygas. You explore the world screen by screen, fighting enemies in turn-based battles where you can see your health tick down on a rolling counter, giving you a chance to heal before a character is defeated. You also use a unique telephone system to save your game and call for hints. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes slow, with difficulty spikes in certain dungeons or against specific bosses. Playing Earthbound feels like taking a strange, sometimes melancholic road trip through a world that is both familiar and deeply odd.