The third and final game in the Mother series, Mother 3, was released in Japan only in 2006 for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.

Nintendo published the game, with development by Brownie Brown and HAL Laboratory – directed by Nobuyuki Inhoue and written by series creator Shigesato Itoi.

The story of a young boy (called Lucas) with psychic abilities, Mother 3 is another party-based level-grinder with endless random combat and nice typography.

Mother 3 was a critical and commercial success in Japan when first released, although Nintendo didn’t even bother with a North American or European release, which is strange considering that EarthBound (aka Mother 2) got an official translation.

Anyway, it didn’t really matter because translation groups soon hacked the roms and gave us the full game in English, unofficially.

Mother 3 is arguably the best game in the entire Mother trilogy. All the characters and enemies are better developed and drawn in this game, and also the game mechanics and menus benefit from previous experience. There’s a real sense of quality in every aspect of the game and the subtle satire helps the story from going stale as you progress. Combat is as mesmerising and as challenging as ever, and the enemies are just as weird as we’ve come to expect in a Mother game. Barking.

Otherwise, Mother 3 is essentially the same great game as one and two, only with all the details changed and the graphics, animation and sound enhanced. 🙂

More: Mother 3 on Wikipedia