During a Nintendo Direct broadcast in Japan today, Nintendo announced that Mother 3 – the third entry in the EarthBound series – is headed to Wii U Virtual Console in Japan.
The game will cost 650 yen (roughly $5.30) and will launch on December 17 – the same day Japan get its Lucas amiibo.
amiibo『マリオ（ゴールド）』、『リュカ』12月17日に発売決定。amiibo『リュカ』の発売に合わせてWii Uバーチャルコンソール『マザー3』を配信。#NintendoDirectJP pic.twitter.com/R5VpEemyVf
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) November 12, 2015
Mother 3 was originally released for Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2006 and has never been released in the West. Back in 2013, a group of EarthBound fans led by professional translator Clyde Mandelin offered to translate the game for free, but Nintendo never took them up on it.
Super Nintendo game EarthBound (known as Mother 2 in Japan) made its way to Virtual Console in 2013, and the original Mother made its way West for the first time as EarthBound Beginnings in June of this year.
Mother 3’s main character Lucas, of course, can be seen as a playable fighter for Super Smash Bros. on Wii U and 3DS. His amiibo will launch in January in North America. Will a version of Mother 3 for Virtual Console come along with him? We’ll have to wait and see.
Andrew is IGN’s executive editor of news and really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really hopes Mother 3 gets released in the West. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter.
