Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe’s guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo’s download service. Written by Sam C Gittins

If you're a fan of a certain lesser-known cult classic RPG series then you've come to the right place as this release was certainly the pre-E3 highlight of 2015. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!
 
Available for download this week we have...     

Earthbound Beginnings
 


Price: GB £5.99, EU €6.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 1989
System: NES
 
Most people who have either owned, played or even just heard of the original EarthBound on the SNES will at the very least be aware of the "Zero" entry in the series which was made on the Japanese Famicom yet it had been entirely translated into English making it more than playable; it was completely ripe for release yet it never happened until a load of series fans obtained a beta cartridge from a well-known auction site which then led to it being "released" on the internet as what we now know to be "EarthBound Zero" but never before has it been legitimately playable on a Nintendo console until now. EarthBound Beginnings as it is now known is set in the year 198X as you take on the role of Ninten who is a young boy from Podunk who happens to have the gift of a psychic ability, plus a baseball bat to hand for when you come into contact with Crazed Hippies, Magic Snails, Zombies and even a Lamp?!? He is on a quest to locate the Eight Melodies in order to aid the Queen of Magicant along with several allies met along the way including Lloyd/Loid, Ana and of course Teddy; as you PSI battle across a vast game area which almost seems too big to have ever fitted on a NES cartridge as you save the world!   



Clearly this title is eerily similar to EarthBound in many respects which is to be expected, even then though there are plenty of unexpected moments too but largely for anyone who has played the SNES game first - which is how it should be - then it can just feel like you're playing the same game but shrunk down to fit on a NES even though this description is selling it short a little. It definitely feels like you're playing an RPG from the Eighties as all of the refinements came with the more widely known title, there is definitely a huge amount of charm to it though in addition to the difficulty level being punishingly high at times especially if you are defeated in battle so don't forget to either make use of the ATM's or be tactical with your use of Save States - if you believe in them - also don't be afraid to use a walk-through as some things are really not explained very well at all; but if you enjoy wandering around enough then go on a magical mystery tour because there really isn't one finer than this!

If you didn't enjoy the menu system on the original EarthBound then prepare for a treat as here you don't even get any of the refinements that game had but they are at least still servicable, one saving grace is that for all the time you may waste in the menu's you can almost make up for by holding down "B" to speed up the game which is a very handy feature indeed especially for some sections. It must also be mentioned that while the whole game is there, it has been translated reasonably well though some aspects have been changed but if you'd never played the game before then you wouldn't notice so I won't mention these minor aspects here; instead enjoy this fabulous title and spread your love for it via miiverse because who knows we might even end up with Mother 3 yet... or "EarthBound Endings" perhaps if it were to be rebranded. (credit to Cube for the name suggestion)



Visually you have a nicely presented world for what is a NES title, when in battle of course all you get is text with the various selections you may or may not be acquainted with yet, a black screen with your enemy on plus some basic animations, it's part of the charm of what is a well-established and brilliant battle system. All od the soundtrack was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka along with Keiichi Suzuki who I must say have certainly managed to create a staggeringly beautiful set of songs on 8-Bit hardware which is for the most-part a very enjoyable listen indeed, you might even recognise a particular track from Super Smash Bros. if you have a keen ear.

Essential for fans of the series and Nintendo in general, EarthBound Beginnings is a very important release indeed as it represents a very important step being taken by the company to preserve one of its most obscure franchises which should be held in equally as high regard as any of the big name series such as Zelda or Metroid. So by all means please buy it as this sends out an important message that this series is very much in the forefront of our mind as gamers still, it also happens to be a very enjoyable if only a little crazy experience by any standard of games regardless of the era in which it was released; let us hope that this is indeed the beginnings of a new Nintendo initiative which will eventually see many more obscure but beloved titles being released and localised  so that the entire VC library may be prepared for future platforms, to that end let us hope that Mother 3 isn't far off from being released in whichever form it eventually gets bestowed unto us.   

Verdict : The mother of all Virtual Console releases.

Image credit to Dcubed for the screen-shots.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!