So you’ve finally decided to play that most fabled of RPGs, Mother 3. Maybe the Mecha-Drago kicked your ass in the first chapter, and you found out the hard way that you don’t get your bombs back if you use them in a battle and die. Just me? Ok, well, regardless, I didn’t want to let my Thunder Bomb supplies dwindle ever again. And thankfully, there’s a glitch for that. Or maybe it’s intentional? Who knows, at this point. Call it anti-fun all you want, but when I’m playing a game that’s nearly twenty years old and requires a handbook, I’ll take all the advantages I can get. In any case, here’s how to get unlimited Thunder Bombs by using the ‘Crossroads’ trick in Mother 3.
In the interest of provenance, I’d like to dedicate this guide to Tomato, PoeTrader, and poik007, the users credited with writing the Starmen.Net Mother 3 Walkthrough, uploaded on October 17, 2008. In that beautiful tome of game knowledge, there’s a section where the writers suggest players should “stock up on lots of free Thunder Bombs using the Cross Road trick,” but crucially, there are no instructions attached, which is probably why you’ve been googling about it in the first place. Let me fix that!
Where to find Wess’s Thunder Bomb in Mother 3
At the beginning of Chapter 2 of Mother 3, you’ll be playing as Duster instead of Flint. You’re tasked with sneaking into Osohe Castle by Duster’s father, Wess, who provides Duster with a basement full of thief’s tools. As you leave his house (which is to the east of Tazmily Village), Wess will also note that a secret gift box containing an extra tool to aid in your excursion is hidden around the back of his home.
Sure enough, if you walk around the back of Wess’s house on the left-hand side and hit the action button when you’re just past the fence, you’ll open a clandestine gift box containing a Thunder Bomb, an item you can use in battle to deal electric damage to all enemies.
The Mother 3 Crossroads trick
However, as the Mother 3 community has since found out, you can reset the ‘opened’ state of Wess’s Thunder Bomb Gift Box by travelling to the Cross Road area in Tazmily Village. If you open up the map, the area you’re aiming for is denoted by an enormous cross, so it’s not that hard to find. But in the interest of transparency, you get there by following the path down to ground level from Wess’s house. Then you head west across the bridge, and into the Tazmily Town Square. From the well in the centre, head north, through the golden arches and past the save frog to the next screen.
With that, you’ve made it to The Cross Road. The transition from the town square to the crossroads resets the Thunder Bomb gift box, so now all you need to do is turn around and head back the way you came to the container behind Wess’s house. If you follow these instructions correctly, you’ll be able to open the box and receive another Thunder Bomb. Now, all you need to do is repeat this process as many times as you like to flush Duster’s inventory with Thunder Bombs, which you can then use to decimate enemies across Chapter 2.
