It's not one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, but it's easily one of its most beloved. The EarthBound series, known as Mother in Japan, has a complicated history. The Mother franchise didn't arrive in the west until Nintendo decided to localize EarthBound, Mother 2, in 1994. It would take over 20 years before the first game, Mother, would be released in the west, rebranded to Earthbound Beginnings. Even then, many Nintendo fans never got the chance to play either game due to their limited availability. That's about to change for Nintendo Switch owners.