Yesterday, Nintendo surprised everyone when it announced it would be localising the original entry in the Fire Emblem series for the first time ever. Yes, that's right, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light will be released on the Switch eShop this year on 4th December.
As happy as everyone is about this, unsurprisingly it's now got many Nintendo fans wondering what else could potentially be translated for western audiences. If you know Nintendo, you should already know the most requested localisation is the 2006 Game Boy Advance title Mother 3, starring Lucas - or, that character in Smash with the snake.
Mother/EarthBound fans haven't wasted any time over on social media platforms like Twitter and got Mother 3 trending right away. Here's a round-up of some of the reactions:
While there's no guarantee this will necessarily get the attention of Nintendo, if there was any time to be showing your support for a Mother 3 localisation, now might be it. In saying this, in February last year, it was suggested localisation of this game was allegedly cancelled due to its controversial aspects. Is this maybe why Nintendo hasn't released it here yet?
Although Mother 3 hasn't been officially translated, it has received a fan translation that can be played via other methods.
Now that the original Fire Emblem is on its way to the west, would you like to see Mother 3 follow? Are there any other games you think Nintendo should bring across from Japan? Tell us down in the comments.
Comments 76
Hey, at this point, Nintendo may never need to advertise for Mother 3 as the fans will spread the news much better than they ever will.
With that said...Give us Mother 3, please.
Actually the official English localization for Mother 3was officially released TODAY...
It was just so much of a limited release that it was only up for 2.47 seconds.
God, just give us Mother 3 so we can stop hearing about it already
So Mario get a HD remaster fire emblem gets a re run in the west, SO WHERE TF IS MOTHER And earthbound I have never played any of them but I cant bc they wont bring it back! not fair and wile we are at it can we get paper mario back on trending.
As much as I would love Mother 3, the people campaigning for it have become beyond toxic, and make me wish to not associate myself with the community. Even if Mother 3 was released, people would STILL complain and say that the english fan hack is free and that Nintendo is scamming people. Then everybody will scream and cry when Nintendo takes down the fan hack for using property that wasn't theirs to begin with.
@Toy_Link LOL!
@PBandSmelly This is true they always complain, I'm just made cuz I never got to play any of the sires as I was born after.
Even tho its my least favorite mother game, my hope and hype for it is exhausted. I just finally want to see it out since it’s perfect dor the console
I feel like there being controversial parts of Mother 3 does not really matter because you would just be able to see it on an ESRB Rating
I love how nintendo canceled the localization of Mother 3 due to "controversial issues", when they touted SMTV as an exclusive on Switch, and sure, it isnt a first party title, but if youre a fan of SMT, you should know that the franchise has far more things that would be "controversial", than mother 3.
Well I seen this coming considering the overly toxic comments under the announcement on twitter(what a surprise!/s).. that being said I hate to be that guy but mother 3 being officially localized seems the most likely now; in the switch era. Next year marks mother 3’s 15th anniversary so I hate to look like a clown but I do feel like we might get that e3 announcement of a collection.. or just them separately.. either way I’ll take it!
@A_standard_idiot yeah I thought the same thing, it made me wonder what the problem was with them being so sensitive with kid icarus games for that reason. Either way I’m glad that we’re getting two of them next year!
They should have done the Snes game why the NES fire emblem? The Snes has the original game plus an extra full story.
What controversial issues are keeping us from getting it. Come on now the stuff in Mother 3 is tame compared to other games and even the only thing you could say is out of line is the mushroom drug trip.
Even then that's not much.
I wish they stop making excuses and give it to us without censorship
@LatsaSpege its is extremely controversial in a crap ton of aspects the way great ace attorney was (if you remember that was a Phoenix wright prequel that was rated T but has so many racist comments that it was never localized or just didn't have enough interest. The funny thing is, most racist comments were towards the japanese people who made it lol why.) Anyway, mother 3 would be rated T for the very small amount of blood in it but the controversial parts are things that aren't a part of esrb. Fir example, there are jokes about gay men somewhere in it which would only get crude humor (an e 10 and up worthy thing) even though it would start a frigging riot. I played the game a very long time ago forget how bad it was need to replay it. But I remember it being pretty bad and with todays sociopolitical climate it just can't happen. If that gay joke in persona 5 was bad this is mass genocide lol
@PBandSmelly
This is honestly what I hate about the Mother/Earthbound community, they can never just let another game have a moment. Seiken Densetsu 3 gets an English localization for example and the Mother fanbase starts screaming "WHERE IS MOTHER 3" and "should have been mother 3!". For SD3 it actually got pretty toxic with people saying they hope the game doesn't sell/fails and so on.. I think a lot of people do it as a joke but the Mother fanbase comes off as so bitter sometimes that it goes beyond jokes and memes. At this point I wish Nintendo would just give them Mother 3 to shut them up, and I say this as someone who doesn't even care about this release of Fire Emblem. I prefer the FE3 version which has Book 2 included.
Normally I love it when people are campaigning for a Japanese game to get an official translation but the Mother fanbase has definitely become pretty toxic about it.
I had a feeling this would happen. Give me Mother 3.
@Ghostchip I would think they would be able to censer it unless if it is a main story element to the game.
It certainly deserves to be localized already. I have a reproduction cartridge of the unofficial translation. It's a fantastic game from start to finish. I would gladly jump at an official release. Better yet, Nintendo should utilize the Link's Awakening engine and give the entire Mother series a full remake.
Mother 3's fan translation rom should be universally accepted as alright to run, regardless of how folks feel about emulation. Because Nintendo
Maybe Nintendo of America realized the villain of Mother 3 is Donald Trump.
as it should. Nintendo has sat on this one for too long. Let it free !!
We need a Mother/Earthbound Trilogy collection on Switch NOW
i still find it so weird how nintendo treats the mother series. fire emblem took off like wild fire thanks to smash. theyve drip fed mother and earthbound games throughout the 3ds/wii u era, but the series has stood the test of time and really shouldnt be this niche rarity nintendo dangles in front of us anymore
Just release it in america already Nintendo! I'm in my 40's and I'd like to be able to buy a legit copy before I'm old enough to collect my damn social security. Until then i guess emulation is the only answer. Yeah it's immoral and all that but if you'll sell it straight up I'll gladly delete whatever rom i may have downloaded.
I hated how l had to deal with the Japanese copy because l didn't know how to make it English...thank goodness l got help from my friend to guide me when l played it.
@PBandSmelly As much as I hate toxic fanbases, the Mother 3 fanbase are 100% justified, not just because Nintendo can't be bothered localising it, but also the fact that they've made fun of the community multiple times over the years, also they've never explained why they're not localising it. Nintendo deserve the Mother 3 fanbase honestly.
Legit response. Guess we all have to buy Fire Emblem wether we like it or not
"Don't do that, don't give me hope," in the voice of Marvel's Hawkeye
Of course nintendo refuses to make what could be one of their best selling RPGs to date out of stubbornness.
It seems that Nintendo look over easy wins. An actual Mario Rpg, an arcade style star fox game, a new version of Mario Kart. A new pilot wings, Wii sports style game to use with the joyconn, Mario Golf... I could keep going
Normally, I'd be down for getting Mother 3 localized ASAP, but the way Nintendo's been anti-consumer with their products as of late makes me want to wait until they realize they don't have to lock everything away in a Nintendo vault.
Mother 3 trending is fine and all, but what about the "limited time release". It's just weird... Weird is all I can think of.
I will honestly never understand people's love for this series. I tried Earthbound. Did absolutely nothing for me. Eh, to each their own....
Mother 3, coming next year only available for 3 hours on the third day of the year before being withdrawn from digital storefronts!
@pip_muzz the Nintendo vault has already existed a moment of silence for Famicom detective club and mysterious murasume castle.
This fanbase is truly the worst.
Mother 3 has been talk about since the 3DS that I actually thought it was gonna happen sadly it was just a rumor, but maybe one day will happen
@Aerona Mother 3 will never be unheard.
@LinkSword Liking a game is horrible ain't it? Now go on defending Nintendo's every decision like a TRUE Nintendo fan should, right?
@Maulbert Honestly, Mother 3 is a completely different game from EarthBound. Earthbound is experimental and weird, Mother 3 is much more appealing.
@LilMuku What would even be toxic about liking a game so much you want to...play it?
@Onion Trials of Mana deserved to be translated just as much as Mother 3. Doesn't mean Mother 3 fans can't wish for a translation of their game.
@Ghostchip It's not even about gay people. Your stereotyping is pretty funny, but it also kinda hurts.
If you've played Mother 3, you know why they haven't localised Mother 3.
The FE thing is so niche though, it's like releasing a demake because we only had access to the modern DS version. There's just so many Japanese-only games they can do and deserve it a lot more.
I'd like to see Famicom Detective Club a game that has no fan translation, and the SNES version of Metal Slader Glory, and The Legendary Starfy is also missing half the games in its series, and I think Roy's FE, aka FE6 is the best contender for a translation since he's the other Melee character with an inaccessible game, and that game is connected to the first FE released here.
If anything, Nintendo officially localizing the first Fire Emblem game 30 years later might mean we'll get MOTHER 3 in about...16 years.
@Noid plays OK the mgypsies could maybe be a little bit offensive but I don't think anyone would really flip if the text is sympathetic...
gets to the underwater bit OK, I can see that would be broadly seen as offensive in 2020 but that could be amended slightly and I'm sure the game will immediately go back into safer teritory...
walks out of the water onto the beach with no health. Sees some mushrooms to eat Oh...
The problem with releasing Mother 3 now is the community has pushed it front of so many people that have never played it, they'll be disappointed if it doesn't turn out to be the greatest game ever made.
I own a GBA reproduction cart with the fan translation, and it's a great game, but the hype surrounding it is way too high these days.
@Crimson_Ridley Exactly!
They had the perfect moment to release it: Around Shovel knight, right after Undertale.
Now the games that copied from this got a lot of attention, the whole retro thing isn't that special anymore, and it's so hyped that even I think the game couldn't deliver anymore.
A remake is the only thing I can see really working for this!
I'm super hyped for Fire Emblem, Mother 3 can take a hike. Its fans' tears sustain me.
Now the REAL QUESTION is what would the localized title be?
I'll never understand why I should buy a game I don't want, to show my support to another game that I want. Especially in this case, where we are talking about retrogaming. Nintendo doesn't need my euros to translate a 15-year-old game.
@Thirteen1355 man it's almost like he's having an opinion or something. Truly disgusting 🙄
Still chewing my way through the first Mother, which Nintendo surprisingly saw fit to translate and release on the Wii U eShop.
It's a pretty time-consuming game, and not always for the right reasons. ^^
Though I hear that each new entry has been a revelation in design improvements, so eventually, when I've also made it through Mother 2/Earthbound on my SNES Classic, I'd like very much to also play Mother 3. :3
@Thirteen1355 Being a whiny manchild for years about a game not being localized is pretty damn pathetic, yes. Especially when there's an absolutely fantastic fan translation for said game.
Anyone who still hasn't played Mother 3 yet endlessly begs for a localization (particularly in totally unrelated news) has no real interest in the game. And if someone has played it and still can't get over the fact it will never be oficially translated, then that's even worse.
And for the record, I dislike most of Nintendo's practices. Doesn't make you bandwagon nutjobs any less absurd.
@Zorox88 But it has cut content in Book 1 such as maps and recruitable characters. I'll accept it in the future now that FE1 is in the horizon as well as rereleases of FE 2-6 with quality of life features.
@Doofenshmirtz Now don't overdo it. I know dramatising things is a big deal here. People want a game and ask for it.
@LinkSword I've played the game five times, it's my favourite game of all time, but I still want others to play it. People who don't emulate etc. You really don't need to generalise people just because they want people to enjoy a game. Maybe it's a good idea to stop babying others around.
Mother 3 fans:

Considering the fan translated version is been around (for free) for a long time, Nintendo is probably being smart about not bothering to officially translate it since it most likely won't really sell that well cause people are stingy. Plus Nintendo would likely be forced to add some sort of censorship which will obviously result in negative backlash which at that point porting the game would have been mostly been a wasted effort. I don't think we may ever get an EarthBound 3 or as I like to call it "EarthBound Finale" (which fits well if you follow it after the first game "EarthBound Beginnings" if you think about it)
I wish they'd localize Mother 3 just so people would shut up about it. Better yet, release a Mother trilogy compilation, release it everywhere, then ignore any request to make another Mother game... unless the next one stars a girl. Why is the series called Mother anyway?
Paper Mario: Thousand-Year Door was trending a while back.
..Yup. You can see what came of it.
Mother 3 would probably sell 50,000 copies or so outside of Japan. But these 50,000 fans sure are vocal in their requests. I hope you all get it, just so I don’t have to hear anymore about it. I would rather see Nintendo throw money at EA and bring NHL to Switch, but that probably would sell just as much as Mother 3 or worse.
@Thirteen1355 well the gay people in the game are portrayed badly I don't have problem with gay people lol. If they were portrayed as normal people than there wouldn't be a problem but if you played the game you'd see that they are portrayed as creeps. Also they take literal drugs not implied drugs literally shrooms and also there is animal abuse, racist commentary, etc.
@Dman10 well the thing is that you can play NHL on other systems (you can do that right?) This is easily regarded by people who played the translated version as one of the best games ever made so it's just kind of sad to see a game up there with BOTW in quality not translated. Now, this is probably because of the inappropriate stuff in the game that is bad especially for the US.
@Ghostchip Except there's no gay people in Mother 3. There's one in Mother 2, and he's not badly portrayed at all. If you think Magypsies even CAN represent gay people, good or badly, then maybe you gotta have a talk with some gay people.
@Ghostchip Also they don't take the shrooms. Now I see what the problem is. You barely remember the game (or haven't played it, but I assume you have). YOU take the shrooms to restore your health and not even at the Magypsies'. They have nothing to do with it. They're not portrayed as creeps either. This is actually queer culture. That has little to do with being gay.
The only reason their portrayal would freak people out, is because queers tend to freak people out when they have no idea what it's about.
@Dman10 You're crazy. Stop generalising and who the hell would SUPPORT EA's garbage on the Switch?
Mother 3 and waluigi in smash might as well be one in the same at this point, people will never shut the hell up about them until Nintendo actually releases some kind of statement that absolutely crushes the talk, either by making them a reality or outright saying it will never happen.
I don't see why they will be releasing fire emblem exactly as it was as a purchase instead of putting it in the Nes app though and having a full remake in the eShop (because I'd definitely buy it then), but this would fuel mother 3 stuff even worse unfortunately.
@Ghostchip lol, I can play it on the big screen, but I want to play on the handheld on my commuter train. And no, streaming does not count.
Nintendo should just release another 3 in the west already. The people who’s be offended by it are not even close to the majority, and Nintendo would not have to deal with fans ravaging for Mother 3 anymore once they finally release it to the west.
I want MOTHER 3 (GBA), Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaio (N64), Cubivore (N64/Gamecube), Giftpia (Gamecube), Excite Bots (Wii), Captain Rainbow (Wii), Zangeki no Reginleiv (Wii), Chibi-Robo 2 & 3 (DS), and Tingle 2 & 3 (DS) in Europe.
There are also some Nintendo-made NES and SNES adventures I'd love to see, especially Famicom Detective Club (NES) and Hajimari no Mori (SNES).
Fire Emblem on the other hand, yeah, it's nice to have the first game and Marth's origin story available soon, but there are plenty better Fire Emblem games out there, literally any other, including a remake of this one.
If all that's gonna come of it being officially released is 1) People complain because they think it's making homophobic or racist social commentary (it's not) or 2) Nintendo censors to mollify those people, then I say nuts to that. It's a lose - lose.
Earthbound is my favorite game, but Mother 3 is like this weird illegitimate child Nintendo had. They'll talk to it on the phone but they won't invite it over for holidays because they're not sure how to introduce it to the rest of the family. I am tired of waiting to see if it shows up.
@Ghostchip Except they're not gay. Time to stop seeing every male who is feminine as gay, please. It's pretty offensive.
nintendo isnt gonna do an official release cause wierd he-she things would throw a tantrum. why not just play the translated rom? it's great. you can even play it on your phone if you want... for free! wowie!!!
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