Welcome to the Starmen.net Mailbag! The mailbag is your chance to sound off on various topics and ask the questions you want to know about the site and other happenings in the EarthBound world. Updates are made every week so check this space to see if your letter was posted! Before you submit make sure to read the submission rules.

This is the first mailbag topic that I did my replies for. Congrats to lewahi for sending the very first letter, and hope you dig your responses!

This Week's Topic:
EarthBound is a great game. One of the appealing aspects to this game for me is the travel! Of every place you get to visit, which is your favourite? Why? What does your town have that no other town does?

Personally, I like exploration in Mother 1 much better. The town of Reindeer, and entirely optional town in Mother, is huge and so cool. I love talking with the people and just exploring. I mean, the game makers made a huge town. It's a shame not to explore it.

In that mind, I also enjoyed my Earthbound exploration quest. I mainly enjoy the Lost Underworld. It's big, but very cool and nice to look at. The music also helps greatly here.

I bet you feel special, lewahi. You're the first ever person to send a Mailbag letter in to me, Carparama! Man, there are so many people who wish they were in your shoes.

One deep regret I have about this community is that I never actually beat Mother 1. I KNOW. I SUCK. But Reindeer? That's awesome. I may just play this game because of that name!

You make an interesting point as well. Developers spend so much time creating huge worlds, and some gamers will just rush through to try and get to the next storyline. We must join together against these people to make sure nobody ever does that again.

Lost Underworld is HUGE. I can't get over how big it is. I mean, sure your sprites are smaller giving Lost Underworld the illusion that it's the biggest town, but I don't care. It was a really innovating thing to do in my opinion, and with the exception of the big dinosaurs I love it. Also note the Lost Underworld may be in my bottom five, and I still love it. That says a lot about Earthbound.

For me the greatest area in the game is Fourside. When you first arrive in the town and the Fourside theme begins to swell it always brings the greatest memories of the game for me.

The memories of playing the game as a young child with my dad, with my sisters. This is a feeling that is not easily duplicated within life. So i can always treasure Fourside for the times it reminds me of.

Ooo. Only the second letter. Bet you wish you had sent your entry an hour earlier, eh?

I totally see where you're coming from. As a kid, both my sister and I played EarthBound. (Fun fact: She was ONE pray away from beating Giygas but I stopped her. It still bugs me that she never beat it because of me.) My mother was the one who first got me to play the game by telling me how cool the box looked, and my father was the one who drove a few hours to find the game to get it for me for Christmas. If I asked my family what my favourite video game of all time was, they would definitely know to answer EarthBound.

Let's see ... EarthBound is right up there with Bomberman on the Turbo Grafx 16. My mom bought Bomberman for my dad for his birthday, and I used to play it BEFORE his birthday because I was so pumped about it. My sister would play it often too. My mom used to watch us play. Any game that involves the whole family like that is amazing. The Bomberman music fits my vision of the game in my head, and I may have to agree with your Fourside theme statement.

Great letter, and thanks for letting me take a trip down memory lane!

You know I think that Twoson is one of my favorite towns. You know it is really big and has a lot of new things to do after coming back from the small town of Onett. On your way in there is already a Bicycle shop. It is so cool that you can get a Bicycle so that you can travel around the city faster. There is a bus station! How cool is that? It doesn't really even serve a purpose as far as the game goes but it is cool that it exists. Then Burglin Park is an open market that has a shady character named Everdred over it. The two inventors live there and they are in constant competition (not really, Orange Kid automatically sucks). Then there is the Polestar preschool. It's so cute to talk to the little kids and to see them learning. I also love Paula's family. As well there are performances happening at the theatre where a scam is happening with the boss.

As well Twoson is an important milestone for the game. It is there where you get Apple Kid, Paula, Everdred, Mach Pizza's phone number, and the Runaway Five's as allies.

It just so much is happening that is plot thickening. I like going to Twoson.

Of course I would of somehow made the Bus Station a little larger part of the game.

The letters get better and better this week. If every week is like this, I'm going to absolutely love this job ten times more than I thought I would.

Twoson would be up there for me, as I agree with everything you said. The one thing I do not like about Twoson, is it has the second worst part of the game: Going to Happy Happy Village. For somebody who used to use the name Carpainter, I hated that journey. (If you're curious, Stonehenge is my least favourite.)

One thing I must say, is the Bus Station could have been so much cooler. It makes Twoson totally unique, and even a little quest would have sufficed. The Onett Library got action, the Fourside Bakery even got a little action, but the Bus Station got nothing. It just stands there with so much potential and does nothing. Yuck. Maybe some PK Hackers could do something about this ...

If I was my old English teacher with a terrible Greek accent, I would say "You used 'me!' You get F! Let's all eat goats is very good! This is formal writing, peoples! Formal writing!" For you. What about other people? I like the part where you eat hamburgers.

And EarthBound? Come on. What about EarthBound Zero? My favorite place in EarthBound was Moonside, yadda yadda. That's all everyone's gonna say. So I'm doing EarthBound Zero. To quote the old Mailbag, "You can write letters on whatever sparks your interest!" And this is setting my interest on fire. So here we go.

My favorite place in EarthBound Zero would probably be, you know, Mt. Itoi. It's really stupid. All you do is get on and the overpowered enemies kill you while you wander around. In addition to the enemies being overpowered, they also hand out very, very little EXP. Like, there are these two guys named Titanian that hang around and... okay, I'm just gonna list all the (-----)s that hang out on top of the godforsaken rock a lot of us like to call "Holy Roly that is a lot of monsters Mountain".

Titanian - These guys suck massively. Actually going into combat into them instead of fleeing is like taking a pair of pliers to your nose and applying a lot of force in all directions at once and you accomplish about as much by fighting them. I mean... 420 freaking defense points?! COME ON! And 180 EXP? Divide that by three. To top it off, "check"ing them yields the following message: "If you can beat it, that is great." NO. IF YOU CAN BEAT IT, IT SUCKS. Go home, Titanians.

Juana - Mary Jane here tries to trip you up by using "Darling Smile", which raises her already in the 200s DEFENSE by like three-hundred. Pretty much the best strategy is "run away."

Gargoyle - Gargoyle's only strategy is "use Stone of Origin and PK Fire Omega." Okay, get this: Stone of Origin turns your party members to stone, which is essentially being Diamondized. PK Fire Omega is the last PSI move you learn in the ENTIRE FREAKING GAME. It kills all enemies INSTANTLY. As you can imagine, this is not a fun enemy to fail to run from. (ps - 110 EXP? NO.)

So, why the heck would I like Mt. Itoi? I'll tell you why: it contains the only semblance of character development throughout the entire game. Also, Love Dance is a kickbutt song. "Do you love me...?" Classic. And Teddy dies. And then Loid saves the day. And then you fight THE FINAL BOSS. So it's awesome.

CARPAINTER NEVER BEAT THE GAME, THOUGH! I'M CALLING YOU OUT, CARPAINTER! Seriously! Who do you think you are, runner of Mailbag or something?

also what's up with you people, you think I'm serious or something

that's your problem!!!! italics!!!!

Verdict: HOLY ROLY CRAP!!!

And now, we have a man who is very passionate about mailbag. How do I know about it? I hear about it EVERYDAY. OH MY GOODNESS, WILL IT EVER STOP?!

Since it probably won't, I had better do a good job on the reply.

Having all the great food at your disposal is a good thought, but think of the prices. $14 for a Hamburger? I'd totally pay that, but not all of North America would. What about the overseas ladies and mens? Would they?

Teddy dies? And Loid saves the day? I hope you didn't just spoil Mother for me. I totally will not forgive you ever.

Anyway, as I've said plenty of times, I've never beaten EB0. I think it's awesome there is a Mt. Itoi, and you got to love enemies who are tough, but worth no experience. (Did they make it up to us in EarthBound with the Criminals?) Still doesn't beat Reindeer though.

Your favorite place? For me, there's no question - Twoson. Why? Several reasons.

First off, I love the music. It's just one of those tunes that I can listen to and I instantly start to smile, and even after more than ten years, it still does that.

Second, it exudes that small town feel that I love. It just kinda makes me think of home. Third of all, I remember distinctly in third grade renting the game, and after two or so days of trying tirelessly to get to Twoson, then I finally do, it kinda holds a special place in my heart.

Love Twoson, always have, always will.

I had so much trouble with the Kraken the first time I ever played the game. The person who rented the game before me got that far.

Onett has a special place in my heart because I was elated to finally start my own file. Frank was so hard, and I had so much trouble with him. To finally beat him was such a big deal to me. Thinking of that brings a smile to my face.

Music-wise, all of the tracks make me smile. Time to listen to the EB Soundtrack!

For the topic in question:

All of the cities in Earthbound inspire me very much. I am one of the people who have a strong desire in travelling (and who have actually been to a few places around). However, if I have to make a choice, it would be Summers. The port town next to the beach especially gives me a feel of a romantic voyage, and the cool sea breeze. The beach itself is also a beautiful place, with the calm waves, and the warm sun... (Imagine the town in real-life to get this feeling!) In terms of reality, I have never been to Southern France or Italy, which I wish to visit next; I hope that I would be able to witness Riviera or Marseilles as I have mentioned...

Ah, comparing travel in EarthBound to real life. One of the things that appeals to me so much about this game are the little things which are realistic. Given, I don't think I've ever met too many violent hippies, or talking dogs, but hey. That has its charm too.

Summers is GORGEOUS. I absolutely adore it for the same reasons, and a few more. The Museum in Summers has some interesting pieces, and the Stoic Club has a nice feel to it. Also note that Summers is the first place where your party of four is completed. This was a huge deal to me.

One thing that always let me down in Summers was the lack of a Runaway Five performance. They hint at one a little bit, and I remember being disappointed. No town is perfect, I guess!

I like my town the most because the animals are nice and the beach is close to my house . My towns name is Nejepapo . My favorite place to visit is the Museum because of all the cool dinosaurs!

Waiiiit. Waiiiiiiiit. Nejepapo? That's not a city in EarthBound. Is it a city in Mother 1 or 3? Is it a Japanese name for Summers? It's GOOGLE TIME!

Google tells me nothing. Oh man. Now I have no idea what you're referring to! For the sake of argument: That sounds like Summers, and Summers is great.

What are fanvatars and how would I make them and put them in a contest or something to win the Man-Mani statue forum badge?

Hey, you three. Read the forum rules. THIS IS MAILBAG! I could see how there could be confusion, as both of these have ... uh ... text on them, but come on. :( You make me cry.

This is an example of a letter which SHOULD not be sent in to Mailbag. Letters like this in the future will be avoided.

My initial reaction to this was "Onett, and maybe Twoson". The two cities seem to compliment each other to make an area that has everything one could ever need. Between Onett's educational/recreational/dining ventures and Twoson's robust supply of stores (a mall, an outdoor market, AND a bike shop), you really can't go wrong.

But I punched up EarthBound on a whim today, walked out of the Saturn Valley Hotel and opened up the Teleport menu, trying to decide a destination.

And the first thought to come to mind was "Well Fourside, duh".

I never realized until today that I actually like that sprawling metropolis. I used to label the stretch of game from Dusty Dunes until making it back to Winters "The Fourside Slump" because on more than one occasion, I'd stop a playthrough somewhere in Fourside due to frustration/dis-interest.

But it's not Fourside's fault. It just worked out that there it would play host to a clean 4-5 dungeons in rapid succession (including the nefarious Monkey Cave, which after 10+ years I think I've given up on memorizing).

Fourside is the hub. It has a bigger shopping mall, a theater that can keep an act without resorting to extortion, the game's only two story bakery, lots of parks, a hipster's cafe, the eternaly VIP-only planning meaning for the sequel (what's going on in there now? a giant hangover?), and a DINOSAUR museum. And it has kickin' music.

Clearly I need some sleep.

P.S. Also I totally picked up Contact, and it feels like the game I would have made when I was 12 years old and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

I remember the first time I saw the "EarthBound 2" comment. My sister and I freaked out. That was ten years ago.

Fourside does have some of the most tedious tasks (see what I did there?) in the game, and yes, I also stop playing sometimes because of it. That's just because there is so much to do in Fourside. Once you get to Summers, you CAN'T stop playing because you're too close.

Maybe I'll memorize the cave just to spite you, buddy.

Threed totally has holloweyed gaping terrible ghosties and dudes who are out trick or treating for BLOOD, and decaying doggies. Holy god! People with their flesh rotting off are AWESOME. How can you not love the only town with zombies in it? STARING INTO YOUR SOUL and RETURNING TO THE DUST OF THE EARTH are pretty epic too. And there's a graveyard. And a skanky zombie chick. So yeah, Threed.

"Trick-or-treating for blood" sounds a lot cooler than I bet you intended.

Threed was a GREAT town the first time I played through EarthBound. I stayed up until I got through it. Onett and Twoson took two days, but Threed was so awesome I couldn't go to sleep until I was in the Desert.

I really liked the big Circus Tent. No other town has one, and think of the possibilities. We could have had an acrobat team perform for us or something. Heck, even some clowns would have been AWESOME.

You seem to really like the Zombie Chick. *thumbs up*

Great job this week, you guys. All in all, EarthBound's cities and towns are amazing. There was a lot of love out, but not one of you said Winters. That makes me cry.

So yes, Winters will be labelled my favourite for now, but I assure you that will change somewhere down the road.