EarthBound roughly takes place in the 1990s. Throughout the game, four characters, known as the Chosen Four, come to compose the party in the game. The player is able to change the default name of these four characters.
The player controls Ness, a young boy possessing strong psychic abilities. Early in the story, he meets an alien named Buzz Buzz with the appearance of a bee, who explains the quest that Ness must embark on. Over the course of his quest, Ness is joined by three other children his age: Paula Polestar, another powerful psychic; Jeff Andonuts, a mechanical genius and child prodigy; and Poo, a martial arts master with some psychic ability.