Mother 3 Trex (Image credit: Eyepatch Wolf on YouTube) Would Nintendo be willing to make this many changes on a game series that historically hasn't done well outside of Japan? It would be a lot of work on a gamble. While the name itself uses a derogatory term for Romani people, they can also be seen as transphobic or homophobic stereotypes since they're seen wearing dresses, sporting facial hair, and are othered by the game.Īs McDonald said, 'some of these elements could be removed from the game with relative ease, but the removal of other parts would necessitate new sprite artwork and animations.' Former Game Informer editor Imran Khan seemed to confirm this on a ResetEra thread where he stated that, 'it was full steam ahead for a while but upon re-evaluation there were aspects of the game that weren't going to go without controversy.' Another big thing is the representation of the Magypsies. For one thing, the game is dark and sometimes addresses themes like drugs and alcohol. While Mother 3 is charming, unique, and at times ridiculous there are some things in the Japanese version that likely wouldn't have been received well in 2006.Ĭonnor McDonald of GameRant put together a well-thought-out list of reasons why Mother 3 would be controversial to many audiences. So what kept Mother 3 from coming to the West anyway? It likely had to do with tone and timing. As many of us know, Nintendo isn't the best when it comes to game preservation so many figured we'd never see these games on a current-gen console. So when EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings landed on Nintendo Switch Online in mid-February it was a big deal. Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé revealed that he was given a localized version of Mother 3, but it was never released to audiences at large.

However, no official release has ever dropped outside of Japan - well, with one notable and extremely limited exception. Over the years, some folks have attempted to rectify this by unofficially translating Mother 3 to English.

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