Mother (video game)

Mother (マザー Mazā?), often referred to as "NES Earth Bound" outside of Japan, was a game released only in Japan for the Famicom (FC). The original plan was to release the game in the USA, but Nintendo of America, after fully translating the game, decided not to release it. A few internal review copies were leaked and subsequently sold in auctions. In 1998, one of these copies was acquired by a ROM translation team, who released the game on the Internet. A hacked ROM was also released to the public to make it easier to work on the current emulators. This version was renamed "Earthbound Zero". The game was later bundled with its sequel, Mother 2 (known outside Japan as EarthBound), in a compilation known as Mother 1 + 2, which was also released only in Japan. The unreleased American version of Mother was censored for American audiences. This included the removal of crosses and blood, and changes in character sprites such as removing cigarettes and knives.