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Nintendo Switch Online adds Mother and Earthbound today

The first two Mother games will be playable on Nintendo Switch's online service.

Ozzie Mejia

February 9, 2022 2:38 PM

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Wednesday's Nintendo Direct presentation moved along with the latest update for Nintendo Switch Online. Those looking for a fresh playable version of the Super Nintendo classic, Earthbound, won't have to wait anymore. Nor will they have to wait for the original story, Mother. Both are on their way to Nintendo's online service.

The Earthbound series has had a unique place among Nintendo first-party titles here in North America. The 1995 Super NES turn-based RPG was actually the sequel to the original game, which was never released in the west. In fact, the SNES Earthbound was the only piece of the series available to play in North America until 2015 when the original Mother released as Earthbound Beginnings on the Wii U Virtual Console.

It should be noted that while hardcore Mother fans might feel excited about this upon first glance, the elusive unicorn known as Mother 3 remains nowhere in sight, nor does it appear that Nintendo has any plans to bring it out west. Mother 3 has been a hot topic for a long time, even if former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime noted that the series is quite niche.

Both Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings ("Mother" in Japan) will be available to play today on Nintendo Switch Online. Since they're Super Nintendo and Famicom titles, respectively, no need to worry about having to invest in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?