Nintendo’s struggling console is definitely easier to find than an SNES copy of “EarthBound,” and it might even be cheaper. Now all you have to do is buy a Wii U and download “Earthbound” for $10 through the Wii U’s eShop. Critics loved it, rabid fans called it one of the best games Nintendo ever made, but to play it legally here, you had to spend hundreds for the original SNES cartridge. Characters and levels from “EarthBound” have popped up in the “Super Smash Bros.” franchise, but otherwise, “EarthBound” itself has been invisible. This beloved Super Nintendo role-playing game was the second of a three-game series, but neither of the other games was ever released here. For some reason, though, one of its most acclaimed games has been unavailable in America for almost 20 years.ĭespite the company’s constant stream of sequels, reissues and remakes, Nintendo has never revisited “EarthBound,” at least in this country.

It rarely lets a popular or successful franchise die. Nobody loves Nintendo’s history more than Nintendo.

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