When it comes down to the N64 console from the 90’s one of the biggest what ifs involves the unreleased and cancelled Earthbound 64 video game. At one point Earthbound 64 was supposed to be released fo the Nintendo 64 over 20 years ago during the year 2000. However, due to level of difficulties the developers had stumbled upon during the creative process Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata was unable to make 3D version of Earthbound. Earthbound has always been one of those video game franchises that was more appealing to the public when it was presented in 2D opposed to 3D. Originally, Earthbound 64 was supposed to be Mother 3 until it was scrapped and re-released in 2D for the Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan back in 2006. Mother 3 was obviously not a not a commercial success because it was never released outside of Japan and by the mid 2000’s a majority of Nintendo fans from the west had forgotten about the series by then. Its a shame that we never got to see Earthbound 64 for Nintendo’s fifth generation game console especially since it was lacking in high profile RPG’s between ’96-’00. If Earthbound 64 had been fully completed and released for the n64 it could have saved the franchise altogether going into the GameCube era from ’01-’06. While Mother 2 from ’94 mainly gained a positive reception from gaming publications and is seen as a cult classic it fell below Nintendo’s desired expectations in relation to sales. Earthbound 64 could have possibly sold somewhere around the ballpark of one to three million in sales on the N64 but it would not have surpassed the likes of Super Mario 64 or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in terms of popularity.