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.

Third week is underway, yos! Here is the topic for you to write in! I double dare you to beat lewahi. I bet you don't!

This Week's Topic:
Throughout the course of the game, you have various people join your party temporarily. My question to you is this: If you could keep any of those characters throughout the game, who would you take? And more importantly ... why? Or, if you could take someone who is NOT in your party at any point in the game, who and why?

I would keep Picky for the whole game for these reasons:

1. He can chant magic spells.

2. He is extremely awesome, and actually helps in battles

3. He could have a cool dialogue with Pokey at the end of the game.

Picky is brave for the youngin' that he is. While Pokey causes a lot of trouble, Picky tries to make things right. I like that. I would not mind having Picky on my squad.

Hmmm... which of the temporary peeps who join your party would I keep? I gotta say that it would be the coolest to keep Picky. Seriously, just look at him all small and tough-ish! Plus, it would be dramatic... and rather like another game some of us know (hint hint) to have the brothers fighting each other at the end of the game! SWEET MOTHER OF PSI LOVE! Just thinking about it excites me!

I hope you didn't just spoil a bit of Mother 3 for me. I think you did! You're lucky I like you, Derek. Oh so very lucky.

So far it's two votes for Picky. Surely there must be other characters we could have on a squad ...

Buzz Buzz.

Unstoppable Sheild Sigma.

That is all.

Ah yes, Buzz Buzz! Agreed, my friend. That shield would be very useful in late game. Buzz Buzz would be unstoppable.

I personally do not want to have anyone else join the party, for two reasons.

First of all, I don't think there are many characters that are really useful in this game, except for Buzz Buzz. Especially Pokey/Picky are anything but helpful, and the Balloon Monkey and King aren't really better either. Perhaps Dungeon Man or Flying Man could be of help to the party...

However, the real reason why I don't want anyone extra is that I think the chosen four is the perfect and complete set for Earthbound. Of course any less than that, and I kind of have the feeling that there is someone missing. However, any more than four, and I think it is a crowd, rather than a group. The Chosen Four are specifically chosen by fate (and to a certain extent, Buzz Buzz) and I would like to keep this speciality of the group, consisting of Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo.

Okay, maybe I haven't answered the question fully. I would choose Buzz Buzz as my fifth(?) escort. It wouldn't be too bad to have him guide Ness and his friends to the sanctuarys. He would be quite useful throughout the game, and it would be cool to have a 'wiseman' or a 'wise bug,' guiding the Chosen Four to victory...

So, if you seriously insist... Buzz Buzz. Otherwise, don't!!!

Ah, a long letter! I was wondering how long I'd have to wait.

Well, Henry, I can see where you are coming from. In battle, there are not many characters who would be useful. Dungeon Man, Buzz Buzz and to an extent Flying Man are the obvious choices. HOWEVER, you failed to answer one half of the question! What about characters who are NOT in your party throughout the game?

I'm the world's biggest Guardian General fan, so I'd love to have him in the group. But then again, Carpainter is pretty sweet too. That Crashing Boom Bang would be useful against a lot of enemies!

Oh, and Frank Fly with Frankenstein Mark II would be fun as heck, too!

And although I didn't make it clear at all, King would be my choice.

I would have Flying Man be in my party. The poor birds give their life for you, and just die. It's kind of depressing when you think of it, really. That, and Flying Man is just awesome.

As for the person who never joins your party, I would prefer a Starman. Not only are they powerful, but the fact that the Starman itself is with you can call for extensive storyline, slightly like what happened on Mt. Itoi in the original.

So, Flying Man and Starman for me.

Flying Man is a very useful character in Magicant, in my humble opinion. They fight to the death for you, and that's exactly the heart, soul and determination needed to stop Giygas. One of the reasons I would love to have them in my Chosen ... Nine?

I may not agree with your Starman mention, but hey. Opinions are opinions for a reason! It'd be a great storyline, but I wouldn't dig it too much. I'm sure I'm in the minority here though.

Starman on the Brawl? That'd be neat ... (A bit random, but think about it.)

pokey...

so that none of his EVIL PLANS ever made it past a second thought.

I love your thought process. The world would have been safe if Pokey was a good guy. Oh well. Sometimes we don't get what we want ...

Dungeon Man, definately. Even if it's just for the humor of him trying to fit throgh the hole going to Lumine Hall. The fact that he does crazy amounts of damage doesn't hurt, either.

LOL. I'd rather get stuck in Lumine Hall than a bunch of trees. Both places have a great view though. This may be a mailbag question at some point. Where would YOU rather be stuck?

Out of all the characters that join your party, I'd pick Flying Man to stay simply because he's the strongest, except for maybe Dungeon Man, but there's something cool about Flying Man. Perhaps, if he survived your fight with Ness' Nightmare he'd be able to travel back to the real world with Ness. (I've only actually beaten Ness' Nightmare with a Flying Man surviving maybe twice, both during low-level runs.)

As for what NPC I wish would join the party, I'd probably pick Frank. You'd get him early in the game, and he'd be an interesting contrast to the other characters. I think he'd play like Teddy from Mother and his special ability (like Pray, Spy, or Mirror) would be called "Taunt" and it'd lower an enemies stats. He'd equip knives and would be very physically oriented.

I'd love to have all five Flying Men in one big group. It'd be fun to swarm enemies like that.

Frank would be so much fun. And you know what? "Taunt" would be GREAT. That may be the single-best idea I've ever read in mailbag. You have changed my vote from King to Frank. Oh, man. I wish that could be PK Hacked into EarthBound.

Oh, here is something I wanted to mention. Whenever I do something in EB, I take Super Plush Bears with me. I literally consider them members of the party. Anyone else do this?

I would probably take Pokey. It would be interesting to see how he makes plots to stop his own party.

... What? As in, Pokey being a good guy and trying to stop his ... second personality? I smell Springer!

Well, practically speaking, I'd either keep Buzz Buzz or the Flying Man.

Having Buzz Buzz...uh...cast, or will (It IS psychic, right?) them spiffy PSI shields on my party wouldn't be a bad deal. Not only that, but I don't believe that Buzz Buzz can be targeted by the enemy. So, you got yourself an invincible little shield Generator. The only real draw back would be that the physical damage he inflicts is...well, lame at best, so all you'd have is a shield generator.

The Flying Man wouldn't be too terrible either. The damage he can inflict is fairly decent, and would be a nice little addition to the damage total for each turn. The only thing is, he CAN be targeted, and dies quickly. Imagine the hospital bills!

You know what though? I wouldn't actually mind having Pokey along. The party the game gives you is 100% of what you need afterall, so why not have him along for the comedic value? Pokey was quite a trip in the Roflcopter. Not only that, but just IMAGINE the alternate story you'd get for actually having him in the party. Out of all the characters, I believe that having either Pokey or Picky in the party would most dramatically change the plot. Carrying along Picky would make for an interesting brother VS. brother plot! (Although if it DID go down like that, well...let's say a certain sequel would probably be quite a bit different.)

Picky in the party would be the best for the storyline, if you do not count Buzz Buzz. However, if Buzz Buzz is to be in the party, he must be able to be targetted. He may be more defensive, but that's not that big of a deal.

So far, if I had to choose a new Chosen Four, I'd have Buzz Buzz leading the group with Frank with Frankynstein Mark II, Dungeon Man and the Flying Men. Oh, and a Super Plush Bear of course. How fun it'd be to play through that game. And you know what? It'd be entirely possible for someone to PK Hack this. Anyone want to give this a shot?

Okay, so you weren't specific here, so I'll just be different and say EVE. EVE was a character that I really felt deserved more developpment. I mean... where did she come from? What was she made for? That robot is downright mysterious, and so little is revealed about it in the game.

As for EB itself, I'd go with King. To me, there'd just be something awfully neat about bringing the family dog on your worldwide adventures in thwarting evil.

Eve? Mother ... 1, right? I really need to play through that game.

Everytime I played EB on ROM, I took King with me via Walk Through Walls. The game would always crash as a certain spot, but I didn't care. Having King on the journey that far into the game was fantastic.

Buzz Buzz. Seriously, read my name..Why would I wanna flipping ressurect him?

Buzz Buzz can use PSI, he supports the team with powerful PSI Sigma shields and has enough power to hold his own in a physical brawl.

Even if his 100+ damage become outdated to your party a little later in the game, he still acts as a great shield generator.

Buzz Buzz also wins the just plain awesome award.

His backstory, being a rebel fugitive on the run from Giygas' men is awesome too.

Sigma shields are useful all through the game. If his physical strength develops and he starts off doing 100+ damage to enemies with his best attack, then he would become a huge help in battle in the later stages.

If not him, I would keep Picky. Besides being an awesome guy and outshining his evil older brother in every way.

If you want some stuff on how he would help in battle, sure he starts off with a 1 damage attack, but he could develop.

You know those failed magic spells he keeps casting, at a certain level, those might turn into PK Fires!

I also want the invisible guy. He dosen't fight, but, hey, unibrow.

Who would I not pick?

Bubble Monkey.

He's dumb.

Sure, he could develop and evolve into Bubble Gorilla or something, but, his stopping to smell flowers every 4 seconds would get pretty aggravating.

If I could pick someone who's not in my party? I have a few choices.

Dr.Andonuts: My idea of having the Doc in my party is that he will have better handyman abilities than Jeff, and an array of sweet gadgets. Maybe a new type of bottle rocket...An Accurate Bottle Rocket!(I stole that ABR thing from somewhere.)

Mr.T: I bet everyone said that..focuses on physical strength. No PSI.

Venus: Using her singing, she could use PK Hypnosis Alpha and Omega.

Mr.Saturn:Can you say BOING?

Tenda:Death rays!

Tracy:She would be useful. Escargo Express wherever you go.

The Photo Man:PK Flash! He could specialize in PK Flash!

The Hint Man:I imagine him having the spy technique..

The members of the Zombie Relief Corpse:Imagine leading the Threed Resistance into a final trade of blows with the zombie army.

The Runaway Five:PK Hypnosis, and musical weapons (Guitars, Drums...Yes, I am ripping this stuff off from my old Sonic Underground videos. Bite me.)

Monotoli:He could maybe sic his hordes of Sentries and his Clumsy on those pesky enemies that dare to challenge the Chosen Four.

Apple Kid:Handyman abilities. Bottle Rocket compatiblity. Calling his pet Rowdy Mouse. Can you say awesome?

Orange Kid:I imagine him having some groovy spying tricks up his sleeve, as well as a fairly solid physical status. Occasionally pulls a Suporma on the enemy..but he makes up for it by...TURNING BOILED EGGS INTO RAW EGGS!....Maybe he could have PK Magnet or something? A slime generator?

Noble Warrior:You could buy him spear weaponry.

The "We'll Laugh About It Tommorow" kids:Why can't Ness' clubhouse buddies come along. They could swarm people..

Frank Fly:Knife Brandishin' action...

Mr.T pities the foo who didnt send a letter as long or longer than this!

OH. I FORGOT ABOUT THE EYEBROW GUY. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.

Seriously. Having him in your party psyching out the enemy would be great.

I also forgot about the Runaway Five. I'd lovde to have them on the team.

I "rofl-ed" at Bubble Gorilla.

I also love my enter key.

Only because he's my hero, but Dungeon Man would come home with me to do the laundry, bake, do the bills, and make potholes for insurance purposes.

That man is a godsend, I must say. Too bad he couldn't fit in my house. Maybe he could just be in my backyard?

Wait a second, if Dungeon man was built by Brick Road, and Brick Road is stuck inside of Dungeon Man, how did he get in there, and more importantly, how does he get out? I would probably need him more than I need Dungeon Man.

And how does he eat? or sleep? Does he just stick his head through a hole in the wall? Or what? Maybe I'm forgetting stuff from the game.

... Gah, enough of this, I'll just figure this out some other time.

Final verdict: Dungeon Man/Brick Road

Dr. Andonuts helped him create it. Brick Road built the big suit, and designed the layout of the dungeon, while Andonuts probably fused the two together.

He probably sleeps like a horse: Standing up, while eating hay.

Ack! I'm stuck in pressing enter mode. I must try and fix. I agree with everything you say about Dungeon Man being useful. Not just in battle, but elsewhere. Now, I have NEVER went to visit Dungeon Man after the battle with Giygas. Has anyone else done so?

This topic almost seems to be moving into territory more suited for PK Hackers or Fanfic authors. Truth be told, there are some great supporting characters in EarthBound (my love for Dungeon Man burns eternal), but keeping any of them permanently would really deviate from the "group of heroic children" formula that had been established by the original Mother. EarthBound wasn't meant to be the game that would change that formula.

Mother 3 was :D .

Mother 3's cast of playable characters is fantastically diverse. The characters themselves are really fleshed out, specifically in the attention payed to the spritework. One character taps a foot when talking, giving her the appearance of being impatient. Another character has a sort of gimp leg, and through the entire game runs around with a limp (even when in disguise).

On a related note: did we pass that designated spoiler day yet? It's kind of annoying to think that some sensitive people might read that above paragraph and think "Oh no! There's a female playable character! And a sequence where a character wears a disguise! What horrible spoilers!" I really think that the spoiler alarm can be toned down considerably. It's hilarious when Fan Art gets updated and every entry is something like:

(enemy)

The (place)

(character) in pastel

And check this out! There's some late breaking news! NOA Treehouse reports "Huh? There's a Mother 3 now?"

Gah, that just tears it. I find it very hard to believe that NOA does not have some sort of personal agenda against the Mother series.

It looks like reid is taking this probably worse than I am. You know what though? At this point in the site's history we have more inflowing talent than ever before I think! Maybe Starmen.net has enough force to bust out Petition 3: Back to Perfection.

Or maybe not. Either way Starmen.net isn't going anywhere and there's always that Mother 3 Fan Translation that was supposed to be out like 3 months ago.

RECAP:

-Brick Road is (heart sign)

-Mother 3 is still great

-Lighten the heck up on making everything a (spoiler)

-Get some fresh ideas in your mind, so that when the time comes you'll be prepared to pummel NOA to the ground with fandom

Hahaha. We HAVE passed the spoiler day. A "gimped" character? I hate the term, but I think that's awesome. I cannot wait to play through this game. I refuse to go through it until I can understand the dialogue. As for people being offended by spoilers, don't read my first response to eb_rules. ;D

Starmen.Net does have a lot of talent, and that new translation is going to be unbeliveably wonderful. If they get it done by Christmas, it'll be one of the best presents ever.

I would totally keep Dungeon Man. Even though he's really big and would probably get stuck way too often, it's just really cool to see a huge dungeon following you around. Plus, his walking music is awesome (but I bet it'd get annoying after a while).

"Okay, guys! Let's go beat Titanic Ant!"

"Uh, Ness. My body won't fit in the cave."

"Oh, okay. Wait here."

"..."

I have a feeling Dungeon Man's walking music COULD get annoying, but we should have the opportunity to toggle the various music if we could actually add him to the game. Oh wow, how sweet it would be. I'm so very pumped.

Carparama summarizes:

Great turnout this week. Appears every playable character in the game got a mention, which is always good.

Oh, and if I ever made a wrestling federation, and needed a tag team gimmick: Runaway Five VS Flying Men. PATENT PENDING.