I have come to appreciate Mother/Earthbound Beginnings more on my second playthrough.

The game is beautiful from start to finish, with an unforgettable soundtrack and iconic moments that I will always remember, such as the Live House song and Ninten and Ana's dance. And the final boss is one of the most memorable boss fights I've ever encountered.

The emphasis here is not on the story, but on the journey the characters go through and the adventures they have in each town they visit. The game didn't lose its steam very much and each quest you go through was pretty fun.
You go in a zoo filled with mad animals, a desert with a singing cactus, a haunted mansion and you climb a mountain at the end.
The dungeons were good, and I didn't dislike any of them, except maybe for Duncan's Factory and the Mt. Itoi caves.

The difficulty spikes weren't all bad, there were only maybe two of them that impeded my progress, those being the enemies in Duncan's Factory and The Swamp. Mt. Itoi was not that bad at the beginning, but then you have enemies like the Grizzly Bear, which you can just skip entirely, and after that it's smooth sailing thanks to EVE.

My only gripes are the constant visits to Magicant whenever a character dies, as there is no revival item, and having to climb Mt. Itoi twice, as well as the couple of bullshit enemies that one-shoot you. Oh, and the random encounter rate was infuriating at times, but I kinda have a resistance to this sort of thing so I understand why someone would be put off by it.

The journey the game makes you go through is very lovable and I understand why someone would pick this entry as their favorite in the Mother trilogy, and the game has its unique charm among the three entries and it certainly is a game that deserves to be played even today.

An absolute delight from start to finish.
The game just oozes joy from the beginning cutscene with colorful characters and goofy anime voice acting.
Liked the lush art style and the cute-looking enemies, and you fight an inflatable dinosaur as a first boss, so that's a win in my book.

The weapons were all pretty good, although not on the same level of usefulness. Being able to change to a certain weapon at the press of a button without having to cycle through them made the gameplay that much more enjoyable.

The game was a little on the easy side for a shmup (It might as well be the only shmup I'll ever beat without using continues), but that didn't make it any less fun.