The fact that Earthbound has a large cult following has next to absolutely nothing to do with SSB.

But yeah, it sold badly. And we all know good sales are indicative of the quality of a product. Take a look at the billboard charts or the top selling movies in the last few years.

Used to, it was cool to drop Earthbound into a discussion. It's what the cool kids did. Like listening to the Velvet Underground or Sonic Youth or something. Lately, I've noticed things have turned around and now the cool thing to do is bash Earthbound or call it overrated. It's funny how things change.

To be fair, I can see how the constant praise the game gets can get annoying. It gets somewhat annoying to me even, for very different reasons.

At any rate, Earthbound has always been and always will be one of my absolute favorite games. It was one of my first experiences with RPGs. When I was growing up, My parents weren't about to just buy me a 60 dollar game whenever I wanted, but they did let me rent a game every week or so. I rented Earthbound no less than a dozen times before they finally decided it was financially wiser to just buy me the damn thing. Earthbound came in an awesome oversized box that also contained the strategy guide. I don't remember details about any birthday or Christmas present I got growing up, but I remember every detail of opening that box. Earthbound was a game that somehow managed to feel incredibly unique despite the fact that it's gameplay was rigidly conventional. The game just oozes with charm and sappiness. Every time I play it these days I feel like the Grinch looking down on all those merry fucking Whos.