Mother 1+2 is a compilation of the first two installments of the Mother series, MOTHER and MOTHER 2: GIYGAS STRIKES BACK! (known outside Japan as EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound, respectively). Mother tells the story of Ninten, a 12-year-old boy who journeys around the world using his psychic powers to collect eight melodies in order to save the planet from an evil race of mind-controlling aliens. Mother 2 tells the story of Ness, a young boy who journeys around the world also using psychic powers to collect eight melodies in order to save the future from an alien of pure evil, intending to sentence all of reality to the horror of eternal darkness. The version of Mother included in this bundle has a special item that can be used to change the difficulty of the game, since it lessens the amount of random encounters and modifies the overall status of the enemies.