Rewind to 2006. The Nintendo DS has been out for a few years and is selling like hotcakes, but over in Japan, one small development studio hasn't forgotten what came before. So, they release one last game for the console: its swan song, if you like. That game was called 'Mother 3'. You might have heard of it. Well, it also happens to be one of my favourite games ever. Sure, the story/gameplay ratio isn't as large as in Earthbound, but I happened to like the plot of this one better. It also has better combat, graphics, and it's the only game that ever made me cry before the ending. That's an accolade that I doubt any other game, regardless of its graphical power, will ever share.
(That was with the English patch, by the way: I don't know that much Japanese.)