Golden Sun
Encyclopedia
Golden Sun, released in Japan as , is the first installment in a series
of fantasy role-playing video game
s developed by Camelot Software Planning
and published by Nintendo
. It was released in November 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
and was followed by a sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age
, in 2003. The game is notable for certain distinctive game elements, such as the use of special "Djinn
" that empower the player and can be used against enemies.
Golden Suns story follows a band of magic-attuned "Adepts" whose purpose, as it is revealed early on, is to protect the world of Weyard from alchemy
, a potentially destructive power that was sealed away long ago. During their quest, the Adepts gain new abilities (called Psynergy), assist others, and learn more about why alchemy was sealed away. The story continues in The Lost Age, this time from the perspective of the antagonists.
The game was highly praised by critics; IGN
's Craig Harris said that Golden Sun could "arguably be one of the best 2D-based Japanese RPGs created for any system." The game has sold more than one million copies in Japan and the United States. A third game in the series, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, was released in 2010.
Golden Sun is a contemporary presentation of the traditional console role-playing game formula, in which the player controls a cast of four characters as they journey through a fantasy-themed world, interact with other characters, battle monsters, acquire increasingly powerful abilities and equipment, and take part in an ongoing narrative. Although many of the player's actions are compulsory, Golden Sun often allows the player to visit previous locations and complete certain objectives out of order.
Much of the time spent outside of battle takes place in dungeons
, caves, and other locales, which often feature puzzles integrated into their layout. These puzzles require the player to perform a variety of actions, such as creating makeshift bridges by pushing logs into rivers, or shifting the track of a mine cart to gain access to new areas. Many of these puzzles require use of the game's form of magic spells
, "Psynergy" ("Energy" in the Japanese version); this is in contrast to many RPGs, which often restrict magic to within battles and post-combat healing. Psynergy, however, is used for both purposes; for example, the "Whirlwind" spell that damages enemies in battle is also used out of battle to remove overgrown foliage blocking the player's path. Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus
(manipulation of rocks and plants), Mars
(revolving around fire and heat), Jupiter
(based on wind and electricity), and Mercury
(concerning water and ice). Players can return to previous locations in the game to finish puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of a specific Psynergy spell.
Golden Sun contains both random monster encounters
, featuring randomly selected enemies, and compulsory boss battles that advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up in which the player's party faces off against the enemy. During a battle, the characters and the background rotate to offer a pseudo-3D
effect. In each battle, players must defeat the enemies by a variety of measures while keeping their own party alive through items and Psynergy that restore life and supplement defense. The player receives a "Game Over" if each character's hit points are reduced to zero; if this happens, the player will incur a monetary penalty and the party will be returned to the sanctum in the last visited town. After winning a battle, players receive experience point
s, coins, and occasionally items.
Golden Sun also features an optional battling mode accessible from the menu screen. In this mode, players can enter a team from their saved game files into an arena environment where they battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies. Additionally, players can select three of their four characters to fight another player's three-character team. The player does not receive any reward or punishment for participating in these battles.
One of the most distinctive features of Golden Sun is the collection and manipulation of creatures called Djinn
. The Djinn are scattered in hiding throughout the game; once found, they can be allocated to each character. They form the basis of the game's statistic enhancement, as well as the system that dictates the character's Psynergy capabilities. Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies that character's character class
, subsequently modifying hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, as well as determining what Psynergy the character is able to perform.
Djinn can either be "Set" to a player or put on "Standby". When a Djinni is Set, it gives bonuses to the stats of the character it is on, and may change the character′s class or usable Psynergy. Set Djinn also have abilities that can be used in battle to attack, heal, or otherwise affect the battle, however using these abilities causes the Djinn to move from being Set to being in Standby mode. There are seven Djinn of each element, and these Djinn can be mixed and matched to the four characters, allowing a large array of possible class setups and a variety of combat options.
In combat, a Djinni has several uses. Each Set Djinni has a special ability which can be invoked during combat by the character it is attached to, which can include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing/debuffing spells, healing/restoration spells, and other effects. After a successful invoke, the Djinni shifts to "Standby" mode until it is "Set" on the character again. While in standby, the Djinn do not contribute to statistics or change character classes, but can be used for summon spells, which are attacks where the player summons a powerful elemental monster to inflict damage on every enemy. This is the game's most powerful method of attack, but the required switch to Standby mode is a risky trade-off: Djinn used for summoning must rest for several turns before reverting to the Set position, during which time they cannot bolster statistics or classes. There are sixteen Summon Sequences in Golden Sun—four for each element—and each summon sequence requires between one and four Djinn of the same element on Standby.
world of "Weyard"—a massive, earth-like environment with several major continents and oceans. It is revealed in the game's sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age
, that the setting is based on the flat Earth
concept; it is a flat, roughly elliptical plane whose oceans perpetually spill off the edge of the world's perimeter into an endless abyss. The plot progression of Golden Sun spans the two largest continents in the world's central region: Angara to the north and Gondowan to the south.
Weyard is governed by the mythological concept of the classical elements. All matter on Weyard consists of any combination of the four base elements: Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, or earth, fire, water, and wind, respectively. These four building blocks of reality can be manipulated by the omnipotent force of Alchemy, which reigned supreme in the world's ancient past. Alchemy was sealed away in the past, however, and the world in the present age has become seemingly devoid of this power. However, in various places throughout the world, people demonstrate an aptitude to manipulate one of the elements through a form of magic called Psynergy. These wielders of Psynergy, called Adepts, usually refrain from displaying their talents to outsiders.
The primary antagonists of the game are Saturos and Menardi, a pair of immensely powerful and talented Mars Adepts of a foreign race hailing from Prox, a town in Weyard's frigid north. Their goal is to restore Alchemy to the world, and they are assisted by the powerful and mysterious Mercury Adept Alex, who is of the same heritage as Mia; and Jenna's older brother, the 18-year-old Venus Adept Felix, who is indebted to Saturos for saving Felix from death.
Three years later, Isaac, Garet, and Jenna join their teacher, Kraden, in his research of Mt. Aleph. Their research coincides with a second raid of the sanctum by Saturos and Menardi, now assisted by Felix and Alex, who coerce Isaac into giving them three of the four stars. The volcano erupts before they can retrieve the final star, but before escaping they capture Jenna and Kraden as eventual bargaining chips. The guardian of Mt. Aleph, the Wise One, appears before Isaac and Garet and instructs them to prevent Saturos' group from casting the Elemental Stars into their respective Elemental Lighthouses across Weyard; if this happens, Alchemy will be restored and the period of instability will begin anew.
Isaac and Garet pursue Saturos' group to the Mercury Lighthouse, joined by Ivan and Mia. Despite their best efforts, they fail to prevent Saturos from activating Mercury Lighthouse with the Mercury Star. Saturos' group leaves for the next Lighthouse with Isaac's party remaining in pursuit. In the ensuing chase, Isaac learns that Saturos has taken another Adept hostage: the female Jupiter Adept, Sheba. Saturos and Menardi activate the Venus Lighthouse with the Venus Star, and are confronted by Isaac's party immediately thereafter. Attempting to annihilate their opponents, Saturos and Menardi magically merge to form a massive two-headed dragon, but Isaac's party slay Saturos and Menardi for good. The remnants of Saturos' group, headed by Felix and Alex, continue their quest to light the remaining two Lighthouses, with Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden still with them. The game ends as Isaac's party boards a ship and sail out into Weyard's open seas to continue their mission.
for Sega helped Camelot develop a gripping RPG for the handheld.
Camelot originally planned to create a single title instead of a series, and in the extremely early stages of their project they had created a game design document for the one Golden Sun game to be on the Nintendo 64
console. When it became apparent the N64 was to be superseded by the Nintendo GameCube
, Camelot shifted their focus to making a game on the handheld Game Boy Advance
. Golden Sun was still intended to be a single game, but due to the hardware limitations of putting the game on a single Game Boy Advance cartridge and the developers' own desire for what they wanted to do with the game, it was expanded to become two successive games, Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age
. Scenario writer Hiroyuki Takahashi and director Shugo Takahashi had previously designed Shining Force III
, where the story involved playing through the perspectives of both the "good" and "bad" characters. Thinking that it was an effective way of conveying the full story of a fictional game world, they incorporated elements of this storytelling methodology into the two-game setup of the Golden Sun series, having the player control the "good guys" in Golden Sun and some of the antagonists in The Lost Age.
and GameRankings, respectively. Many reviewers praised the game's graphics, sound, and varied yet refined RPG gameplay, with particular emphasis on the Battle Mode and Djinn system. Certain critics felt that, despite the technical limitations of its 32-bit cartridge, the game's graphical quality was still extremely high; GameSpot
wrote that "Golden Sun is a throwback to some of the SNES
's best." Complaints generally focused on a perceived overuse of text dialogue in the game's cutscenes—particularly during the prologue section. Some faulted the game for relying on the "wander around, get into a random battle, win battle, wander around, random battle, etc." mechanics present in many other role-playing games.
G4 TV
stated, "It's the best original (nonport) GBA RPG to date", while GamePro called it a "huge, fantastic, creative, and wickedly fun RPG that doesn't seem to care that it's 'just' on a GBA". Game Informer
called Golden Sun "a visual treat", and said that its graphics "would have amazed Super Nintendo owners back in the day". Noting the game's similarity to previous Japanese role-playing games, the reviewers believed that it was "easily the best original RPG on the GBA", and the "new ruler in the GBA RPG realm". Advance compared the game to the Pokémon series, and considered its graphics "luscious" and sound "incredible [and] cinematic". Despite describing its plot as "Cliche City", the magazine hailed the game as "the best handheld role-player ever".
In 2001, Golden Sun won the Nintendo Power Award for best Game Boy Advance
game of the year. Golden Sun was ranked 94 on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever. In 2007, it was named 24th best Game Boy Advance game in IGN
's feature reflecting on the Game Boy Advance's long lifespan; the website also named it Game of the Month for April 2003 because it had "amazing graphics and sound presentation, as well as a quest that lasts for more than thirty hours." It was rated the 31st best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power
s Top 200 Games list.
Golden Sun (series)
is a series of fantasy role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and produced by Nintendo. Golden Sun follows the story of a group of magically-attuned "adepts" who are charged with preventing the potentially destructive power of alchemy from being released as it was in the...
of fantasy role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s developed by Camelot Software Planning
Camelot Software Planning
is a Japanese video game developer established in 1990 under the name Sonic! Software Planning and to date is best known for partnering with Nintendo on many of Nintendo's spin-off franchise games such as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, as well as the role-playing game series Golden Sun...
and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. It was released in November 2001 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
and was followed by a sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
is the second installment of a series of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun...
, in 2003. The game is notable for certain distinctive game elements, such as the use of special "Djinn
Jinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
" that empower the player and can be used against enemies.
Golden Suns story follows a band of magic-attuned "Adepts" whose purpose, as it is revealed early on, is to protect the world of Weyard from alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, a potentially destructive power that was sealed away long ago. During their quest, the Adepts gain new abilities (called Psynergy), assist others, and learn more about why alchemy was sealed away. The story continues in The Lost Age, this time from the perspective of the antagonists.
The game was highly praised by critics; IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Craig Harris said that Golden Sun could "arguably be one of the best 2D-based Japanese RPGs created for any system." The game has sold more than one million copies in Japan and the United States. A third game in the series, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, was released in 2010.
Gameplay
Much of the time spent outside of battle takes place in dungeons
Dungeon crawl
A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinthine environment, battling various monsters, and looting any treasure they may find...
, caves, and other locales, which often feature puzzles integrated into their layout. These puzzles require the player to perform a variety of actions, such as creating makeshift bridges by pushing logs into rivers, or shifting the track of a mine cart to gain access to new areas. Many of these puzzles require use of the game's form of magic spells
Magic (fantasy)
Magic in fiction is the endowing of fictional characters or objects with magical powers.Such magic often serves as a plot device, the source of magical artifacts and their quests...
, "Psynergy" ("Energy" in the Japanese version); this is in contrast to many RPGs, which often restrict magic to within battles and post-combat healing. Psynergy, however, is used for both purposes; for example, the "Whirlwind" spell that damages enemies in battle is also used out of battle to remove overgrown foliage blocking the player's path. Psynergy comes in four elements: Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
(manipulation of rocks and plants), Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
(revolving around fire and heat), Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
(based on wind and electricity), and Mercury
Mercury (planet)
Mercury is the innermost and smallest planet in the Solar System, orbiting the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury has the highest eccentricity of all the Solar System planets, and it has the smallest axial tilt. It completes three rotations about its axis for every two orbits...
(concerning water and ice). Players can return to previous locations in the game to finish puzzles which they could not solve earlier because of the lack of a specific Psynergy spell.
Battle and Djinn
Random encounter
A random encounter is a feature commonly used in various role-playing games whereby encounters with non-player character enemies or other dangers occur sporadically and at random...
, featuring randomly selected enemies, and compulsory boss battles that advance the story. When a battle begins, a separate screen is brought up in which the player's party faces off against the enemy. During a battle, the characters and the background rotate to offer a pseudo-3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
effect. In each battle, players must defeat the enemies by a variety of measures while keeping their own party alive through items and Psynergy that restore life and supplement defense. The player receives a "Game Over" if each character's hit points are reduced to zero; if this happens, the player will incur a monetary penalty and the party will be returned to the sanctum in the last visited town. After winning a battle, players receive experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s, coins, and occasionally items.
Golden Sun also features an optional battling mode accessible from the menu screen. In this mode, players can enter a team from their saved game files into an arena environment where they battle increasingly difficult CPU-controlled enemies. Additionally, players can select three of their four characters to fight another player's three-character team. The player does not receive any reward or punishment for participating in these battles.
One of the most distinctive features of Golden Sun is the collection and manipulation of creatures called Djinn
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
. The Djinn are scattered in hiding throughout the game; once found, they can be allocated to each character. They form the basis of the game's statistic enhancement, as well as the system that dictates the character's Psynergy capabilities. Attaching different Djinn to different characters modifies that character's character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
, subsequently modifying hit points, Psynergy points, and other statistics, as well as determining what Psynergy the character is able to perform.
Djinn can either be "Set" to a player or put on "Standby". When a Djinni is Set, it gives bonuses to the stats of the character it is on, and may change the character′s class or usable Psynergy. Set Djinn also have abilities that can be used in battle to attack, heal, or otherwise affect the battle, however using these abilities causes the Djinn to move from being Set to being in Standby mode. There are seven Djinn of each element, and these Djinn can be mixed and matched to the four characters, allowing a large array of possible class setups and a variety of combat options.
In combat, a Djinni has several uses. Each Set Djinni has a special ability which can be invoked during combat by the character it is attached to, which can include enhanced elemental attacks, buffing/debuffing spells, healing/restoration spells, and other effects. After a successful invoke, the Djinni shifts to "Standby" mode until it is "Set" on the character again. While in standby, the Djinn do not contribute to statistics or change character classes, but can be used for summon spells, which are attacks where the player summons a powerful elemental monster to inflict damage on every enemy. This is the game's most powerful method of attack, but the required switch to Standby mode is a risky trade-off: Djinn used for summoning must rest for several turns before reverting to the Set position, during which time they cannot bolster statistics or classes. There are sixteen Summon Sequences in Golden Sun—four for each element—and each summon sequence requires between one and four Djinn of the same element on Standby.
Setting
Golden Sun takes place in the fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
world of "Weyard"—a massive, earth-like environment with several major continents and oceans. It is revealed in the game's sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
is the second installment of a series of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun...
, that the setting is based on the flat Earth
Flat Earth
The Flat Earth model is a belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Most ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period ...
concept; it is a flat, roughly elliptical plane whose oceans perpetually spill off the edge of the world's perimeter into an endless abyss. The plot progression of Golden Sun spans the two largest continents in the world's central region: Angara to the north and Gondowan to the south.
Weyard is governed by the mythological concept of the classical elements. All matter on Weyard consists of any combination of the four base elements: Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, or earth, fire, water, and wind, respectively. These four building blocks of reality can be manipulated by the omnipotent force of Alchemy, which reigned supreme in the world's ancient past. Alchemy was sealed away in the past, however, and the world in the present age has become seemingly devoid of this power. However, in various places throughout the world, people demonstrate an aptitude to manipulate one of the elements through a form of magic called Psynergy. These wielders of Psynergy, called Adepts, usually refrain from displaying their talents to outsiders.
Characters
The player controls four characters in Golden Sun. Isaac, the game's silent protagonist, is a seventeen-year-old Venus Adept from the village of Vale. Garet, a seventeen-year-old Mars Adept also from Vale, is Isaac's closest companion. Ivan is a fifteen-year-old Jupiter Adept who has lived with a famous merchant in the town of Kalay his entire life. Mia, a seventeen-year-old Mercury Adept from the wintry town of Imil, is a gentle healer from a heritage of Mercury Adept clansmen. A fifth character seen and playable in the game's exposition sequence is the 17-year-old Mars Adept Jenna, another childhood friend to Isaac.The primary antagonists of the game are Saturos and Menardi, a pair of immensely powerful and talented Mars Adepts of a foreign race hailing from Prox, a town in Weyard's frigid north. Their goal is to restore Alchemy to the world, and they are assisted by the powerful and mysterious Mercury Adept Alex, who is of the same heritage as Mia; and Jenna's older brother, the 18-year-old Venus Adept Felix, who is indebted to Saturos for saving Felix from death.
Plot
The prevalent force of Alchemy in Weyard's ancient past enabled the development of great civilizations. However, this thriving period eventually gave way to worldwide conflict that subsided only with the sealing away of Alchemy. The keys to unlocking Alchemy, the four Elemental Stars which hold the pure power of the four elements, are hidden within the mountain shrine, Mt. Aleph, which in turn is guarded by the town of Vale at the mountain's base. In the game's prologue, Saturos and Menardi, with help from a raiding party, storm Mt. Aleph with the intention to seize the Elemental Stars for themselves. They fail to solve the riddles guarding the stars and are driven away by the mountain's trap, a magically generated thunderstorm and rock slide.Three years later, Isaac, Garet, and Jenna join their teacher, Kraden, in his research of Mt. Aleph. Their research coincides with a second raid of the sanctum by Saturos and Menardi, now assisted by Felix and Alex, who coerce Isaac into giving them three of the four stars. The volcano erupts before they can retrieve the final star, but before escaping they capture Jenna and Kraden as eventual bargaining chips. The guardian of Mt. Aleph, the Wise One, appears before Isaac and Garet and instructs them to prevent Saturos' group from casting the Elemental Stars into their respective Elemental Lighthouses across Weyard; if this happens, Alchemy will be restored and the period of instability will begin anew.
Isaac and Garet pursue Saturos' group to the Mercury Lighthouse, joined by Ivan and Mia. Despite their best efforts, they fail to prevent Saturos from activating Mercury Lighthouse with the Mercury Star. Saturos' group leaves for the next Lighthouse with Isaac's party remaining in pursuit. In the ensuing chase, Isaac learns that Saturos has taken another Adept hostage: the female Jupiter Adept, Sheba. Saturos and Menardi activate the Venus Lighthouse with the Venus Star, and are confronted by Isaac's party immediately thereafter. Attempting to annihilate their opponents, Saturos and Menardi magically merge to form a massive two-headed dragon, but Isaac's party slay Saturos and Menardi for good. The remnants of Saturos' group, headed by Felix and Alex, continue their quest to light the remaining two Lighthouses, with Jenna, Sheba, and Kraden still with them. The game ends as Isaac's party boards a ship and sail out into Weyard's open seas to continue their mission.
Development
Camelot Software Planning spent between twelve and eighteen months developing Golden Sun, which is considered a long time for a handheld video game; the finished product was described as a testament to the positive results a long development cycle can bring to a game. In August 2000, Camelot showed an early but playable version at the Nintendo Spaceworld Expo in Japan. North American previewers received the game a few weeks before the release, and IGN noted that the experience of developing Shining ForceShining Force
Shining Force, known as in Japan, and otherwise known as Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention, is a 1992 turn-based strategy role-playing video game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console...
for Sega helped Camelot develop a gripping RPG for the handheld.
Camelot originally planned to create a single title instead of a series, and in the extremely early stages of their project they had created a game design document for the one Golden Sun game to be on the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
console. When it became apparent the N64 was to be superseded by the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Camelot shifted their focus to making a game on the handheld Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. Golden Sun was still intended to be a single game, but due to the hardware limitations of putting the game on a single Game Boy Advance cartridge and the developers' own desire for what they wanted to do with the game, it was expanded to become two successive games, Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
is the second installment of a series of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo. The game was released in April 2003 for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, being a sequel to the Game Boy Advance Golden Sun...
. Scenario writer Hiroyuki Takahashi and director Shugo Takahashi had previously designed Shining Force III
Shining Force III
is a video game designed for the Sega Saturn by Camelot Software Planning. It is a continuation of the Shining series. Comprising three separate but overlapping storylines, the Japanese version of Shining Force III was released in three volumes, known as:...
, where the story involved playing through the perspectives of both the "good" and "bad" characters. Thinking that it was an effective way of conveying the full story of a fictional game world, they incorporated elements of this storytelling methodology into the two-game setup of the Golden Sun series, having the player control the "good guys" in Golden Sun and some of the antagonists in The Lost Age.
Reception
Golden Sun sold 740,000 copies in the United States and 338,000 in Japan. It was received positively by critics; the title is ranked 91% and 90% on the review score aggregator sites MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and GameRankings, respectively. Many reviewers praised the game's graphics, sound, and varied yet refined RPG gameplay, with particular emphasis on the Battle Mode and Djinn system. Certain critics felt that, despite the technical limitations of its 32-bit cartridge, the game's graphical quality was still extremely high; GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
wrote that "Golden Sun is a throwback to some of the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
's best." Complaints generally focused on a perceived overuse of text dialogue in the game's cutscenes—particularly during the prologue section. Some faulted the game for relying on the "wander around, get into a random battle, win battle, wander around, random battle, etc." mechanics present in many other role-playing games.
G4 TV
G4tv.com
G4tv.com, also known as G4tv: The Show or simply G4tv, is a weekly video game talk show that aired on G4 and was produced by Laura Foy. The questions and polls used on the show were from the G4tv.com discussion forums live chatroom and were on any topic concerning games or the technology of gaming...
stated, "It's the best original (nonport) GBA RPG to date", while GamePro called it a "huge, fantastic, creative, and wickedly fun RPG that doesn't seem to care that it's 'just' on a GBA". Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
called Golden Sun "a visual treat", and said that its graphics "would have amazed Super Nintendo owners back in the day". Noting the game's similarity to previous Japanese role-playing games, the reviewers believed that it was "easily the best original RPG on the GBA", and the "new ruler in the GBA RPG realm". Advance compared the game to the Pokémon series, and considered its graphics "luscious" and sound "incredible [and] cinematic". Despite describing its plot as "Cliche City", the magazine hailed the game as "the best handheld role-player ever".
In 2001, Golden Sun won the Nintendo Power Award for best Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
game of the year. Golden Sun was ranked 94 on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 games ever. In 2007, it was named 24th best Game Boy Advance game in IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's feature reflecting on the Game Boy Advance's long lifespan; the website also named it Game of the Month for April 2003 because it had "amazing graphics and sound presentation, as well as a quest that lasts for more than thirty hours." It was rated the 31st best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
s Top 200 Games list.
External links
- The official Nintendo Golden Sun website (English) (Japanese)
- The official Camelot Golden Sun website
- Golden Sun Universe