10 Genius Ways Video Games Fought Pirates
8. Enemies & Erasure - Earthbound
Released in Japan in 1994 (as Mother 2) and in the United States in 1995, Earthbound is in the upper echelon of both SNES games and RPGs in general.
Considering how devious and inventive its world, story, and gameplay become by the end, perhaps it’s not too surprising to learn that it also has at least a couple of truly twisted ways to thwart illegally copied playthroughs.
For one thing, the game’s pacing slows down – and its difficulty ramps up – due to a persistent increase in enemy encounters. In fact, enemies that don’t usually appear in that environment could show up. (Hey, if you don’t have to play by the rules, why should they?)
Beyond that, particular areas will trigger the game to freeze, and if it does during the final fight with main alien antagonist Giygas, you’ll be forced to reset the game. Once you do, you’ll be treated to the usual start-up screen before realizing that your entire save has been deleted. All of it. Gone. Gone-diddly-on.
In the immortal words of Bill Paxton in Aliens: “Game over, man! Game over!”