10 Rare Video Games That Survived Development Hell
2. Mother 3 - 12 Years
Mother 3 had such a unpredictable production, Nintendo changed which system it was supposed to feature on three-and-a-half times. (Don't worry, all will be explained.) When the producers, Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata, began development in 1994, they envisioned the whimsical RPG on the Super Nintendo.
Over time, Iwata and Miyamoto repurposed Mother 3 for the Nintendo 64, believing it would work better in 3D. As the project grew in ambition and size, it was decided to turn the Earthbound sequel into a launch title for the N64 peripheral, the 64DD. (That's where the "a half" comes from.)
When the 64DD bombed, Mother 3 was repurposed (again) for the GameCube. After years in development with little to show for it, the game's writer, Shigesato Itoi, announced Mother 3 had been shelved.
So, when the cutesy role-player was announced for the Game Boy Advance in 2003, the public were readying to hear the word "cancelled".
But for the first time since production began, the odds were in the developers' favour. Mother 3 suffered no more hiccups, allowing Nintendo to release it on the GBA in 2006.