I find cancelled games to be so interesting. So many games have been developed almost to completion, only to get cancelled and put all of that hard work to waste. Sadly, Earthbound for GameCube did not have that luxury.
Earthbound for GameCube was pitched to Nintendo in summer 2003 by Yasuyuki Honne, the director of Baten Kaitos. Not much is known about the game, since it didn't make it into development. The most interesting part of the whole thing is the direction of the art style.
Image source: Unseen64.net
Earthbound for GameCube was pitched as having a "crafty" style. Clay models and felt are all that can be seen from the only two images of the game that exist. It was intended to be almost like a diorama. Anyone who's fallen in love with the styles of Yoshi's Crafted World or Kirby's Epic Yarn will adore these images as much as I do.
Image source: Unseen64.net
You can definitely see the felt shine in the battle screen above. I can't help but wonder what the backgrounds during battle would've been like. Were they going to be showing just the local scenery while you duke it, out or were they going to keep the tradition of the funky, whirling backgrounds seen in Earthbound (Mother 2) and Mother 3? Also, why does the main character resemble Ness so much? Quite a few sources who've written about the game say that it was intended to be a remake of Earthbound Beginnings (Mother) or Earthbound (Mother 2).
If this was going to be a new original game in the series, I'd love to know what other goofy enemy designs they had in mind for the game. Who was going to be the main antagonist? Was it Giygas and Porky again? What were the party members going be like? For that matter, was combat going to be strictly first-person, like always? I bet the animations for the attacks would look so awesome with the crafty style!
Could you imagine PSI Freeze with sequins or little rhinestones? I bet PSI Thunder would've looked so cool if they'd used tinsel or tin foil or something like that.
I'd really love to know what they had planned for the soundtrack!
Unfortunately, we'll never know. After 3 years of planning, the game was scrapped. Godspeed, Earthbound for GameCube (or whatever your name was going to be). We hardly knew ye.
If you'd like to read more about it (what little there is), check out Unseen64.net.
If you'd like to read about more cancelled games in our blog, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think!
I'M OUTTY.
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