Earthbound for the SNES still haunts me.

LOVED IT. Amazing RPG. However, nearing the end of the game, it went like this:

I skim through the game pretty fast, not really concerned with lvl'ing up. To beat the game, you have to take a spaceship up to the moon and defeat the end boss. So, I get to the moon, save the game cause I'm all "omg i think i'm almost done!", then die vs the end boss. No big deal right? No. I'm stuck on the moon, can't get back to Earth, and barely have enough juice to begin a fight, let alone finish it, sort of like a death loop. *Game is thrown across room*