For our very first 'Games You May Have Missed', I'd like to introduce you to a more common "missed" game to open the discussion.  I promise, more obscure games and consoles are coming later.

For now though, Earthbound for the Super Nintendo. 

Earthbound starts out with a meteorite crashing into the ground just like any good RPG should start.  The premise is that the meteorite contained a bug that is searching for heroes from ten years in the future.

Your character, of course, is one of the four heroes.  Funny how that always seems to happen, isn't it?  You then start on a quest for the other heroes as well as for locations that will help to strengthen your abilities.  That's mainly the important plot line of the game.

Now, for the fun stuff.  Earthbound is unlike any other RPG in its style and gameplay.  You name your own super powerful attack.  You attack enemies such as hippies, Dali's clocks, guys with twisted ankles (that's a BOSS fight!), and stop signs. You meet characters so weird that they talk in a different, difficult-to-read font. You travel to the pink cloud guarded by ninja rabbit statues and use a special eraser to erase anything pencil shaped from existance. You climb a dungeon built around a man who loves dugeons who calls himself "Dungeon Man".

The SNES had more than a few gorgeous RPGs.  In a time when good stories and great characters were fresh and new, and RPGs were in their hayday, Earthbound remains one of the most memorable games I have ever played. I continually put Earthbound as my favorite game on lists and personal "Top Tens" even when I know that the person I'm speaking to will never have heard of it, in hopes that they look this gem up later.

Unfortunately, Earthbound is difficult to come by these days in North America, and I just happen to be lucky enough to have picked it up when I was younger. Nintendo recognizes the almost cult following that the game has garnered over the years, but refuses to release the game on the Virtual Console or on the DS.  We hope to soon have copies available in our store, but I personally encourage you to find the game however possible.  If you read Japanese, Nintendo released a cartridge back in 2003 or 2004 that has both Earthbound and its predecessor, known as Mother 1 and 2 (Earthbound being 2) on the Game Boy Advance.  Much of the Japanese of the inventory is in Katakana and a bit of Hiragana (there does not seem to be any Kanji at all), so if you are learning the language this is a great game to start with.

In conclusion, there is so much I want to say about this game, but so much I don't want to ruin, so all I can say is: GET THIS GAME!!