Earthbound Zero for NES - what's your opinion?

[FirstxDegree]

I recently acquired Earthbound Zero for NES.

Before everyone jumps all over this,The version I have is a copy of the original cartridge, not a dump from the internet. It is a complete version of the game in English, not just a translation like the ROM's online. It has a professionally printed label and an offical Nintendo dust sleeve as seen in the pictures below.

It's my understanding that many of the ROMS online are translations where as this is the original intended US version. The US version has slightly different character sprites (anything resembling blood or violence was removed by Nintendo for US release). I have not noticed any difference in the translations, but I had only played a few hours into it. BTW, it's backup battery is a new one, not the original battery, so I have no worries about it dying.

I am just looking for some of your opinions. Thanks!!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero-1.jpg (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero.jpg)::http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero3-1.jpg (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero3.jpg)::http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero1-1.jpg (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero1.jpg)::http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero2-1.jpg (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero2.jpg)::http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero4-1.jpg (http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/PS1/EarthboundZero4.jpg)

**click for a bigger picture

[TheRedEye]

You've been scammed. The ROMs online are not amateur translations, they're from an official prototype Nintendo cartridge. That label is not the work of a professional graphic designer, it looks sloppily thrown together. Someone burned the ROMs onto EPROMs, stuck them in a homemade cartridge, and lied to you about its origins. I hope you didn't pay more than the $25 this site would have charged you:

http://nesreproductions.com/

[FirstxDegree]

http://nesreproductions.com/ is an interesting site. Seems like a good way to play some neat games on consoles (the way they were meant to be played)

And no I didn't pay a lot for it. But it is fun to have in my collection 8-)

Thank you for your input!

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah there is no way that this is a real thing. This looks no different than the vast amounts of reproductions you can by one the good ole internet.

[FirstxDegree]

Yeah there is no way that this is a real thing. This looks no different than the vast amounts of reproductions you can by one the good ole internet.

Oh I believe you, The real one(s) must be priceless and I think they look something like this:: http://starmen.net/merchandise/images/ebproto1.png

[jajaja]

Oh I believe you, The real one(s) must be priceless and I think they look something like this:: http://starmen.net/merchandise/images/ebproto1.png

Its doubt that this is the real deal too. Here is a real one:

http://pixpipeline.com/d/a3af40e40278.jpg

2 real protos were sold on Ebay some months ago, this is one of them :)

[FirstxDegree]

Its doubt that this is the real deal too. Here is a real one:

http://pixpipeline.com/d/a3af40e40278.jpg

2 real protos were sold on Ebay some months ago, this is one of them :)

How much did they go for???

[agbulls]

I've been thinking about picking up the first Earthbound repro for a few weeks now. Has anyone snagged one of these from nesreproductions? I would like a vouch for quality if possible.

This has got to be a better option than playing it on an emulator.

[Chrome]

I was the one who sold FirstXDegree this cartridge. I described it to him the way it was described to me when I purchased it. I bought it on an online forum, but cannot remember if it was here or elsewhere.

I did not claim this to be the original prototype, I said it was a copy. This is how it was explained to me as being different from the ROMs online.

FirstXDegree, if you feel like I scammed you, contact me. I did not intend to try to rip you off in any way and if you feel I did, I will try to make it right.

Later,
Chrome...

PS. I can't believe that site has it for $25, I paid well over that when I purchased it.

[jajaja]

How much did they go for???

The first went for about $2200 i think. The other was sold in a lot with other stuff like a grey NWC cart and 2-3 NES protos what i remember. It went for $4500.

Just a small comment on the $25 price over at NESreproduction. You also need to get a donor cart + pay shipping back & forth so totaly its more than $25. I'd say the total is probly around $35 incl. shipping. Just wanted to point that out ;) I've bought from this site myself and im happy with the stuff, great made! :)

[j1e]

Wow, I'd like to get my hands on one of these. I checked out the site nesproductions but would you know anywhere else I could get one of these? I have Paypal and could pay very fast. Thank you.

[agbulls]

The first went for about $2200 i think. The other was sold in a lot with other stuff like a grey NWC cart and 2-3 NES protos what i remember. It went for $4500.

Just a small comment on the $25 price over at NESreproduction. You also need to get a donor cart + pay shipping back & forth so totaly its more than $25. I'd say the total is probly around $35 incl. shipping. Just wanted to point that out ;) I've bought from this site myself and im happy with the stuff, great made! :)

So you're telling me that you have to provide the person who makes these with a donor cart for them to use? That seems weird that it isn't included for the $25.

[Jorpho]

This has got to be a better option than playing it on an emulator.

Y'know, a fanmade patch exists for the GBA Mother 1+2 cart that translates the version of EBZ contained therein. You could play it on a flash cart.

[TheRedEye]

I was the one who sold FirstXDegree this cartridge. I described it to him the way it was described to me when I purchased it. I bought it on an online forum, but cannot remember if it was here or elsewhere.

I did not claim this to be the original prototype, I said it was a copy. This is how it was explained to me as being different from the ROMs online.

FirstXDegree, if you feel like I scammed you, contact me. I did not intend to try to rip you off in any way and if you feel I did, I will try to make it right.

Later,
Chrome...

PS. I can't believe that site has it for $25, I paid well over that when I purchased it.

Well, in that case, you were scammed. Sorry, I didn't intend to pass the blame onto you personally. You sound like you were honest with the transaction.

[TheRedEye]

Y'know, a fanmade patch exists for the GBA Mother 1+2 cart that translates the version of EBZ contained therein. You could play it on a flash cart.

With that option you're still playing it on an emulator, except the emulator is coded for the GBA instead of the PC (and is much less accurate).

[jajaja]

So you're telling me that you have to provide the person who makes these with a donor cart for them to use? That seems weird that it isn't included for the $25.

Well.. yes, thats what the page says:


A donor cart is required to create the reproduction. Different reproductions use different donor carts. Unfortunately, retro gaming has become really popular lately. Finding donor carts locally has become very difficult and expensive for me! (especially in huge quantities). As such, you must supply the donor cart in order to get a reproduction. Next to each game listed below, you'll find a list of valid donor carts (click on the circuit board picture).

However (hence the "well.." hehe ;)) i think its possible to pay some extra dollars so you dont have to get your own donor cart. When i bought i didnt supply my own carts.

[ubersaurus]

I've been thinking about picking up the first Earthbound repro for a few weeks now. Has anyone snagged one of these from nesreproductions? I would like a vouch for quality if possible.

This has got to be a better option than playing it on an emulator.

It's a good game. It's also balls hard...whenever you enter a new region, expect all the monsters to promptly kick your ass.

You'll be spending a LOT of time in Magicant levelling up your new characters as you get them. And then more time trying to get your levels up fighting tough monsters just so you don't get plowed by everything else.

Still, it's a neat game. A bit more serious than the SNES one.

[agbulls]

Has the fan-translated version of Mother 3 ever been released? That would be perfect for my micro :)

[jajaja]

Not what i know. That stuff takes some time. It really sux that Nintendo didnt release the english version, was really looking forward to it :(

[Snapple]

Even thought it's been established that your cart is obviously not a real release, it's still worth hanging onto. EBZ is a good game, and I, like most people who have played it, had to play via emulator. You can do it on your tv.


Has the fan-translated version of Mother 3 ever been released? That would be perfect for my micro :)

The project is still active, and it's being worked on by two really great fan translation groups, one at Starmen.net and one at mother3.org.

[agbulls]

Even thought it's been established that your cart is obviously not a real release, it's still worth hanging onto. EBZ is a good game, and I, like most people who have played it, had to play via emulator. You can do it on your tv.



The project is still active, and it's being worked on by two really great fan translation groups, one at Starmen.net and one at mother3.org.

I'm extremely tempted to just buy the import on GBA and read a translation guide. Has anyone ever tried that? I can't imagine its real easy.

[mills]

All things aside I really did not enjoy this game. Nor did I enjoy the SNES release.

Just not my cup of tea?

[Snapple]

I'm extremely tempted to just buy the import on GBA and read a translation guide. Has anyone ever tried that? I can't imagine its real easy.


GameFAQs and Starmen.net both have guides to allow non-Japanese speakers to fumble their way through the game, for those choosing to import. There are plenty of people who didn't want to wait to play it, even though they can't read the text.

I think it's going to be worth it to wait though. A big part of Earthbound is the humor and charm, and you can't get that if you can't read the text.

The Mother3.org group seems like they're further along in the project, but they started earlier. I think the Starmen.net translation is going to be the better one, because it has an all-star team working on it. The who's-who of fan translations: Tomato, Demi, and the guys at Aeon Genesis are all in on it. Nintendo themselves couldn't make a better localization.


All things aside I really did not enjoy this game. Nor did I enjoy the SNES release.

Just not my cup of tea?

It's not for everyone. I tried to show my roommate in college the joys of Earthbound, but he didn't like it either. I think both of you are crazy. I don't know what's not to like about it, but even the most critically praised games have their critics.

[CastNoShadow]

You can pick up Earthbound Zero at www.gamereproductions.com without having to send in a donor cart. He charges $27.50 and shipping is included. Plus you can pick from 2 different labels. Good quality work too.

[agbulls]

You can pick up Earthbound Zero at www.gamereproductions.com without having to send in a donor cart. He charges $27.50 and shipping is included. Plus you can pick from 2 different labels. Good quality work too.

Apparently his site is down. Thats too bad, cause I would have jumped on it!

[CastNoShadow]

Damn, that is a shame. It was up last night... hopefully it will be up and running again soon.

[spunibard]

seems to be back up now- that site goes down all the time, he must get a bunch of work. i got Zelda Outlands from him and very pleased so far. i prefer emulation for rpgs tho, especially the older ones, because it often makes them portable and there really isn't any need for tight control. (own mother for FC)

but i will also second a disappointment in earthbound. i played it for a long time, but the plot just doesn't seem to grab me at all. someday hopefully i will finish it someday. (and earthbound 2 which i haven't even touched yet) but probably not until i finish the entire dragon quest series, which might end up taking forever.

[agbulls]

seems to be back up now- that site goes down all the time, he must get a bunch of work. i got Zelda Outlands from him and very pleased so far. i prefer emulation for rpgs tho, especially the older ones, because it often makes them portable and there really isn't any need for tight control. (own mother for FC)

but i will also second a disappointment in earthbound. i played it for a long time, but the plot just doesn't seem to grab me at all. someday hopefully i will finish it someday. (and earthbound 2 which i haven't even touched yet) but probably not until i finish the entire dragon quest series, which might end up taking forever.

How is the quality of the label and the build of the actual cart? Is the label shiny? I just want to make sure it looks exactly like a real production game when I put it in my NES library.

[jajaja]

How is the quality of the label and the build of the actual cart? Is the label shiny? I just want to make sure it looks exactly like a real production game when I put it in my NES library.

Yes its shiny. I've also ordered from this guy myself, good quality on the games :)

[leonk]

So you're telling me that you have to provide the person who makes these with a donor cart for them to use? That seems weird that it isn't included for the $25.

Hi folks! About a year ago, I used to provide the donor cart as well, and charge 35$ for the service. Here are some reasons why you must now provide your own donor cart:

1. It seems that the prices have gone up on NES carts in my neck of the woods (big city), but in many places it hasn't (small towns). Some people would prefer to to save as much $$ as possible. As a result, they buy the cart locally (or use one of their own) and ship it to me. This is much cheaper than me getting it for you.

For example, Tecmo Super Bowl (a "cheap" donor cart for EB) costs ~15$CDN locally! (That's ~12$US!) But I have some customers that find it for 0.99 cents locally, and they ship it to me for less than 2$! (I see the USPS shipping cost when I get the package). Total cost to customer: 28$.

2. Many collectors and gamers are very picky. They want a "mint perfect" cart. Different people have a different understanding of what "mint perfect" is. As a result, what you ship to me is what you get back. A lot of people have e-mailed me saying they like this idea!

I don't want to point any fingers, but I have heard of people that purchased reproductions elsewhere complain to me that the carts they got seemed "beat up with white marks all over the plastic, and black marker writing on the back of the cart". I guess you can never satisfy every one, so I adopted this policy.

Also, I had a couple of customers who wanted this cart in GOLD! So they send me a gold zelda as well, and I put the EB in the gold cart for them.

Another customer actually sent me a red cart! (which they custom painted themselves!)

Again, you can only have this kind of flexibility if you provide the donor cart yourself.

Hope this clears up some confusion.

[exit]

I've been considering getting a copy of Sweet Home off of there, hopefully I'll get around to it someday.

[ClockExplosion]

Is it just me, or did I know that this was a repro from the fact that Poo is on the label instead of Teddy or whatever that fourth character's name is?

[FirstxDegree]

I plugged in the game today and took some IN-GAME pictures of the NES Earthbound Game. Enjoy!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/EarthboundGAME.jpg
My Favorite food... CORN (lol - got to love user inputs)
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/EarthboundGAME1.jpg
It's a Hippie.... and yes, I named my character "Pants"...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/EarthboundGAME2.jpg
The Classic Death Scene...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/firstxdegree/EarthboundGAME3.jpg

I'm sure this will cause further bashing of the game (or at least this copy of mine... :sob: )

[rbudrick]

Anyone got a link to the translated 1+2 for GBA? Is the translation any good? Didi they just take the proto script for 1 and the release script for 2 and convert it to GBA rom form?

Just how far along are the M3 translations?

-Rob

[Jorpho]

Your one-stop shop for all your translation needs:
http://www.romhacking.net/trans/868/

[InsaneDavid]

Nice to see you enjoying the game, FirstxDegree. After all, that's what really matters - that the game is being played and that there are means to play it close as possible to how it was originally intended. I'm surprised (and happy) that the "That's a COPY! Charge for others work blah blah blah..." comments haven't blown into this thread.

One would think by now Nintendo would learn a few things but obviously they haven't which is why Mother 1+2 never was officially released in English - same with Mother 3. If Nintendo doesn't want my money then fan patches and reproduction carts it is. :)

[agbulls]

Nice to see you enjoying the game, FirstxDegree. After all, that's what really matters - that the game is being played and that there are means to play it close as possible to how it was originally intended. I'm surprised (and happy) that the "That's a COPY! Charge for others work blah blah blah..." comments haven't blown into this thread.

One would think by now Nintendo would learn a few things but obviously they haven't which is why Mother 1+2 never was officially released in English - same with Mother 3. If Nintendo doesn't want my money then fan patches and reproduction carts it is. :)

I think that is one of things that tends to be true about DP users. Yes, ideally, we want the original copies---for our personal use and our collections. But, we tend to be a very technically savy bunch that is willing to take reproductions if there isn't another legitimate option. In this case, I'll be buying a reproduction solely because Nintendo has chosen to forgo the profit. And, since I can't play an English version any other way, I don't have a problem with it.

[Mason P.]

I like all kinds of games. If I was to get one of these types of games, what reproduction should i get? I always wanted the NWC cart (not to resell of course) but didn't see it. I just wondered what games should I consider and which ones should I avoid.

[FirstxDegree]

Nice to see you enjoying the game, FirstxDegree. After all, that's what really matters - that the game is being played and that there are means to play it close as possible to how it was originally intended.

Thanks!
I really am enjoying it (for being an NES game) it's a nice break from the Wii and PS3 games. I just find all the enemies HILARIOUS! like the Hippie and the pseudozombie. Too Funny! ROFL

Also, in case anyone was curious, the system I am playing it in is called a YOBO. it's not really too much to brag about, but it keeps my NES from being used and getting wear-and-tear

[Cryomancer]

Is it just me, or did I know that this was a repro from the fact that Poo is on the label instead of Teddy or whatever that fourth character's name is?


Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.