you never asked.

Actually I did.  Twice!

When I was younger and replayed this game frequently I always tried to get the Sword of Kings and that special bat that are both rare drops but I never could.  I don't know if the developer really intended for people to *try* and get the items, but rather intended for a very small portion of players to luck out and happen to get them without realizing how rare they are.

I think I was probably around 7 or 8 so the strategy guide was a must. I'm really glad I had it as it helped me get through the harder parts like Threed and that god-forsaken desert dig thing. Actually the whole game was pretty hard, but I loved the greater part of it.

Man I don't know if the VC version would be the same without the guide.  I hope (though I doubt) that they scan the entire strategy guide and include it as the electronic game manual in the VC version.  They have done similar things before, such as including in the VC version of Star Tropics' electronic manual the puzzle solutions that required referencing the original printed manual (wow guys what a sentence).

I wonder what was in the original strategy guide. The nerd in me is contemplating a search through ebay for a good condition copy so I can frame it and mount it on my wall.

If you bought the game from a store it comes with the guide.

its pretty cool, though.  It's your average strat guide, but there are some pages that are dressed up as newpaper pages or something like that and give you information about the next area.  Also some of the enemies have some claymation like pictures to go with their stats and descriptions.  For a strategy guide it's pretty cool.

its pretty cool, though.  It's your average strat guide

It's an important distinction between an average strategy guide and an average Nintendo strategy guide.  The guide had the aforementioned flavor bits like fake newspapers and clay art and the rest, but if I recall the entire guide was written with this sort of irreverent attitude and generally had a lot more style than most guides.  The guide was sort of like old issues of Nintendo Power where it was a pleasure to just read the guide on its own as it did a lot more than just present you with maps and data.  It wasn't just a strategy guide but I feel that it was core to the entire experience (this may be why it was packaged with the game).

Man I am ridiculously jealous that you get to write the music for this game and that Marcus won't let me.

Well I remember HOMEBOUND from like 5 years ago and you did some music for that; and it was the shit might I add

A putrid mushroom and a dog made out of carbon ought to smell bad.

Use your brain a little.

That game is so broken, like the rolling HP bar counter is so needed for those tougher bosses like The Clumsy Robot, and Ness' Nightmare I'm sure there were other bosses, but those were the ones I could think of that always did crazy amounts of damage to me... I remember though I 1 hit KO'd Starman Deluxe with a Multi Bottle Rocket, that was hilarious, I was in shock for 10-15 minutes, it was then I began to realize that Multi Bottle Rockets are so broken in this game.

Yeah man it's not easy it's fucking broken man

I took so much damage off one set of rockets I was like "what ME???" cause I'm such a great Gamer and it shocked me. Those rockets are broken. I'd say the whole game is broken.

After doing a bit of research, I found the original idea behind that fight.

spoiler (Click to reveal)

Lucas, having killed his own brother, enters a trauma-enduced state of mind where he only sees the vision of his brother and witnesses a series of symbolic images.

It starts with Claus as an angel, which happens at the game's beginning. It then follows with him as a "robot", having been rebuilt as the Pig Army's general, an option forced upon him by Pokey after he died. It then transitions to several images of Claus and Lucas being compared as one, as twins. Finally, striking red bolts appear followed by the last image of Claus Lucas will remember: his dead face. It then proceeds to burn the face in a very eerie manner, the most resemblant scene to Giygas.

It was removed despite being so brilliant because some pissy-pants testers had nightmares. :x

I did spoil myself the end a while ago and found it brilliant like it was, but this...

this is brilliantly traumatizing.

I'll try to pick this up when it comes out on VC, but I have absolutely no spendable cash until like, October, so I'll probably have to wait until then.

also the mother 3 translation patch is coming out in about a month or two

[citation ][/citation]

It's BS. I'm on the site several times a week and there has been no such talk.

Well, I would ASSUME it's CLOSE to completion, if you check the list. How long the rest'll take is a mystery, but they seem to be getting loads more  confident with every update.



GOD I CAN'T WAIT


GOOOOOOOOD


GOD PLEASE GOD DAMNIT


I just realized when this comes out I will drop everything I am playing and just play this.

The thing that pisses me off about the way Nintendo is handling this franchise is that Mother 3 seriously is the best GBA rpg if not the best 2D rpg of this decade.  I mentioned this over at rmxp.org but Mother 3 is on the same vein as Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6 in that it doesn't really REDEFINE the genre so much as it is incredibly designed and feels complete.  You can tell when a game is half assed or rushed but playing Mother 3 feels like you're playing a game made with ACTUAL LOVE AND CARE. 

I secretly think that Japan holds back all of their good games from the American audience and force feeds us this generic trash full of big eyed blonde 12 year olds and harem houses because if anyone played Mother 3 when it came out they probably wouldn't have cared about Mario RPG Brother's in Time or Swordcraft Story or Summon Knight or Riviera whatever.

You know.... I think you're on to something. Why else would they let games like fucking Dancing with the Stars Wii and Ponyz slide while they refuse to translate a game that already has a cult following and a feature in their cash cow, Brawl.