PROTIP: Get all the cookies
So here’s the first real trick you can pull in Earthbound. I’m not sure if I’d suggest this for first time players, because it kind of breaks up the flow of the beginning of the game, and you might end of a little over-leveled. Some people might like that.
What you want to do is fight a lot of Spiteful Crows. Spiteful Crows, as you know, always drop cookies. What you want to do is fill your inventory with cookies.
Once your inventory is full, then you can head for the meteorite and trigger the rest of the events that will lead to Buzz Buzz’s sad end.
Normally, the Sound Stone, like your ATM card, is not an item you can ever remove from your inventory. However, in these situation, Buzz Buzz simply has no other choice. Since your sister acts as your store box for extra items, she can keep it indefinitely for the entire game.
You have just permanently liberated a free spot in your inventory for the rest of your game. If you ever retrieve it from your sister, though, it will be permanently stuck amongst your stuff.
It delights me to no end that, not only is this possible, but it’s pretty illuminating for Buzz Buzz and the writer.
1. Buzz Buzz knows you have a sister willing to hold onto your stuff and is able to send things to her telepathically.
2. Shigesato Itoi, the creator, clearly did not want to have to disrupt the dramatic flow of Buzz Buzz’s death by making the player go through their inventory and throw something away, so he just rewards the player’s ingenuity by suddenly making up more stuff that Buzz Buzz can do.
I love this script.