Screenshots
Most of the graphics and text that were determined to be too dark or violent were modified.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "Gang Zombie" | "Gang Zombie" |
| Mother | EarthBound |
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| "Violent Zombie" | "Nasty Zombie" |
The bloody gunshots on the graphic for the Gang Zombie and Nasty Zombie enemies were removed and replaced with a tie.
Phil Sandhop: "A detail you noted shows Nintendo's overall commitment in the localization. It sure would
have been easier to just touch up the characters to remove the blood, but they went the extra mile and added
the tie."
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "Dr. Distorto" | "Dr. Distorto" |
A small bit of blood was deleted from Dr. Distorto's lab coat.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "Bloody Zombie" | "Shroudley" |
The Shroudley graphic was touched up to remove the blood dripping from its hands.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "B.B.'s Boss" | "B.B.'s Boss" |
In the Famicom version, B.B. Gang is also referred to as the Burabura Gang and the Black Blood Gang. The only
name they're given in the prototype is the Bla-Bla Gang.
In general, NOA tried to avoid religious text and imagery in their games. This can be seen in releases as early as The Legend of Zelda, in which the "Bible" item was renamed "Magic Book". Any and all references to religion were removed from EarthBound's graphics and text.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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The cross was removed from the roof of the churches, which were called chateaus in the prototype. For example, the third party member's father is a priest and their family lives in Snowman Church, but the name of the church was changed to Snowman Chateau in the English script.
Sandhop: "My intention - Remove the overt references and let the player draw their own conclusions."
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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The large cross inside the church was turned into a stained-glass window.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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The priests no longer wear crosses around their necks in the prototype.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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The graves and coffins in the cemetery were modified to remove any crosses.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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Once again, the team replaced the original cross graphic used to mark the Flying Men's graves to an inoffensive tombstone.
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "Crow" | "Crow" |
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| "Burabura Guy" | "B.B. Gang" |
These two enemies lost their cigarettes in the transition between the Famicom version and the prototype.
Sandhop: "Use of tobacco was right out! If I recall, California had on the books a law that might have
caused a problem. Much easier to get rid of them."
| Enemy Names | |
|---|---|
| Famicom | Prototype |
| Death Barbot | Ultra Barbot |
| Death Truck | Maniac Truck |
| Devil Car | Psycho Car |
| Devil Truck | Psycho Truck |
| Satania | Rockoyle |
| Item Names | |
| Famicom | Prototype |
| Fairy Bracelet | Brass Ring |
| Angel Bracelet | Silver Ring |
| Goddess Bracelet | Gold Ring |
| Angel Seed | Noble Seed |
| Death Beam | Plasma Beam |
In regards to renaming the bracelets: "This was done more to give them a logical ranking than anything else."
| Mother | EarthBound |
|---|---|
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| "Jen" | "Nancy" |
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| "Caroline" | "Kelly" |
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| "Susie" | "Juana" |
The reflection on the female robot enemies' breasts was removed because it looked too much like a nipple.
Sandhop: "I'll claim that one. While I personally have nothing against nipples, they are robots and carried no function other than to suggest female-ness. Smoothing down the ol' sheet metal sounded like it would be easier and look better than having them wear a top."
The robots were also "re-named in honor of our department's administrative Nancy and then Licensing Department's Director and Assistant Director Juana and Kelly."
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