Playing Mother 3, it’s not hard to imagine why Nintendo chose not to release it stateside. Though the graphics are, like EarthBound‘s, bright and friendly, with characters reminiscent of Bob the Builder, the game has one of the most emotionally devastating opening sequences in the history of the medium. It starts out pleasant enough, with the introduction of a genuinely loving family, but soon men in pig helmets arrive bearing strange technology. People die. Lives are destroyed. Your family is torn apart. Instead of elves, the game has magypsies–hermaphroditic immortals in fetish gear who love everyone they meet. Nintendo is extremely protective of its image as a family-friendly company, which means never taking the risk that American children would play such a weird and heartbreaking game, which means the rest of us almost didn’t get to play it either.