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| EarthBound owned by Nintendo. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Snow Wood Boarding House
- After a bit of a cut scene you’ll wind up in at the Snow Wood Boarding House in Winters, playing as new character Jeff. Jeff cannot use PSI attacks, but he makes up for it with technical aptitude, the ability to fix items for himself, and a variety of hard-hitting special weapons that only he can effectively use.
- Attempt to leave Jeff’s room and his roommate Tony will join you. In the next room over you’ll find a bundle of presents, all of which contain Cookies. Don’t bother taking any - Cookies are pretty worthless as healing items, even now, and you need the space in Jeff’s inventory for other stuff.
- Go downstairs. Speak to Maxwell, the dude in the first room, and he’ll give you a Key to the Locker. Try to use it on any of the lockers next door and it won’t work. Take it back to Maxwell and he’ll give you a Bad Key Machine instead. Use it to pop open the lockers. You’ll find a Holmes Hat, a Pop Gun, and a Broken Air Gun. Equip the former two items, and keep the third in Jeff’s inventory. Once his IQ gets high enough (12) he’ll repair the Broken Air Gun into the Magnum Air Gun when you sleep somewhere. The same goes for any ‘Broken’ items you find on your journey.
Winters - Enemies
- Head outside. Tony will help you escape the Boarding House. Once you have, head immediately east to find a Drugstore. Use the phone to save, then speak to the woman in red. She’ll give you a Pak of Bubble Gum, and the Bubble Monkey, for $1. You need the Bubble Monkey to progress, so make sure you take him along. He’ll contribute somewhat failingly in battles for a while.
- (For the record, you can purchase the ridiculously-priced and power items in this Drugstore… you just need to collect dropped items from the enemies nearby and sell them. The T-Rex’s Bat is the subject of a challenge to EarthBound players with too much time on their hands, and makes a fantastic weapon for Ness at this point in the game.)
- Follow the path that zigzags east and west and you head south. This area is populated by Runaway Dogs and Spiteful Crows as well as a new enemy, the Gruff Goat. No special moves needed, just attack it normally. Along the way you’ll find a tent where you can restore your health.
- Eventually you’ll reach the base camp of the Tessie-Watching Club. Check the tents and chat with people until you find the cook. You’ll stay overnight, and when you wake up a brisk wind will be blowing. Head east towards a bare patch of ground on a tiny cape (Jeff will get photographed along the way) and Tessie will escort you across the southern water.
- On the opposite banks you’ll find perhaps the oddest dungeon in EarthBound, filled with helpful signs and some weak enemies. You can rip your way through here pretty easily, and the maze-like nature of the place shouldn’t confuse you too much. The presents in here contain a Bread Roll, an Insecticide Spray, a Broken Iron, a Croissant, and a Stun Gun. There’s a phone for saving at the end, and just outside the maker of the dungeon, Brickroad, will restore your health.
- South of Brickroad is the entrance of a ‘proper’ dungeon, though the enemies aren’t much stronger. Head west through the first passage and you’ll find a Hamburger at the end.
- Continue west until you reach a rope. You’ll find a Cheap Bracelet inside. Return to the bottom level and head as far west as you can go to find a Bottle Rocket, then look to the heaped rope on the nearby cliff. Use the Pak of Bubble Gum and the Bubble Monkey will push the rope down for you. At the top is the boss of another Sanctuary location, the easiest Ness will ever have to reach, though Jeff can’t fight it right now. (Good thing, too. He’d be whipped badly.)
- To the left is the exit of this cave. Leave and the Bubble Monkey will find a distraction outside. Off he goes. Stonehenge sits nearby, because why not, and the area where it stands is patrolled by Cave Boys. Though strong, these brutes are quite inaccurate, and can be killed by Jeff solo. They also drop
Picnic Lunches, a great restorative item. Don’t fight one yet, however.
- South of Stonehenge is the lab of Dr. Andonuts, Jeff’s scatterbrained father. Here you can save and restore your health via the Instant Revitalizing Device, and Andonuts will offer to let you use the Sky Runner, a flying device on the left side of the lab. Look upstairs for a Broken Pipe, then, assuming you want to leave (you won’t get to come back for a while), approach the Sky Runner to step inside. Jeff will get whisked away…
- … and join the party. Woo! Using his Bad Key Machine you can escape Ness and Paula’s enclosure and return to the adventure in Threed, one party member heavier.