how to... progress through Earthbound

how to progress in...

The saturn valley waterfall

by tristen cortez

When it was released in 1995, Earthbound was a commercial stinker. The game failed to meet internal expectations at Nintendo’s sales division, and was met with confusion by the general public for its odd premise and baffling marketing campaign which involved scratch-n-sniffs (vomit flavored). The commercials literally proclaimed, “This game stinks!” as a quirky way of asserting the game’s image to those who might be intrigued. For those that followed the rabbithole and played it, they came to find that Earthbound is one of the most delightful and innovative role-playing games this side of the gaming sphere.

It’s design and aesthetic have paved the way over the years for many other titles, from Undertale to South Park: The Stick of Truth, to further develop the game’s themes and ideas and weave them into a more modern context for players. One such evolution might come in the abandonment of Earthbound’s notoriously unclear and befuddling puzzles. Having come from an era where games expected the player to really experiment and figure it out on your own, Earthbound has become a bit difficult to progress through for some nowadays.

Enter the Saturn Valley Waterfall, a moment in the game so obtuse you might wanna sit down when you hear how you have to progress through it. Here’s a breakdown and tutorial for those who may not understand what to do in this section of the game.

So by now you have Paula and Jeff in your roster and you’ve arrived to Saturn Valley, home of the weird and wacky Mr. Saturns. You’ll make it to this part that leads you into a waterfall before you find the base behind it. There is only one problem. Going inside the waterfall does nothing...

Unless you press up on the d-pad upon going inside. Okay, standard procedure. Anyone fiddling with the controller would figure it out. But here’s where the real fun part comes in.

The entity asks for a password. At this point you may be compelled to try and type something in, but it won’t let you. You may leave and go looking for clues in one of the many Saturn huts. You may go stumblng around for hours not knowing who to go to or what to do. Maybe there’s some button combination like the Contra code?

Alright, get ready for this.

So, turns out there is a Mr. Saturn in the cave near the middle-left of Saturn Valley. If you find him, he’ll tell you that in order to pass through, you have to wait three minutes... so what does that mean? Go to the waterfall, press up, when the creature asks you for the password, put your controller down for three minutes, and voila, he’ll let you in. Thats how you progress through the Saturn Valley Waterfall. Unbelievable. 13