Lost Gaming Gem: Golden Sun

This is going to be a new series that I am going to start, and I guess, expand over a certain amount of time, so, pretty much until I get bored with it, or I run out of things to write about. This week, I’m going to write about the RPG series Golden Sun for the GBA. You can check out my dedicated Golden Sun blog at http://goldensun3.wordpress.com. Also, if you have an idea for a lost gaming gem that I should write about, leave a comment here or hit me up with an email at tips@defaultprime.com.

You owned a GBA, I owned a GBA, and everybody owned a GBA. Also, there were tons and tons of role-playing games coming out on the console from (at that time) RPG behemoths like Square Enix, Camelot, and even Nintendo! With all of these great RPG’s coming out on the system, there were a lot that were overlooked, and that were also extremely good games.

One possibly overlooked, or just forgotten about gem in the GBA age was the Golden Series developed by Camelot, and published by Nintendo. Golden Sun came in two parts on the Game Boy Advance, one in the form of the first game just entitled Golden Sun, and the second in the form of Golden Sun: The Lost Age, a sequel to the first game.

Now, let me give you a little back-story on the first Golden Sun game. Here’s how it goes: The whole “universe” that the Golden Sun series takes place in that is fairly typical to that of classic Final Fantasy games. You yourself walk on the world, known as Weyard, and can go into towns, go boat in the sea, go into towers, and the like. All of your characters can use an ancient magic called Alchemy, which is how you will fight the majority of your battles, while also using various weapons.

In the first game, you play as the main characters Isaac, Garet, and Jenna, who are all adepts (people who can use alchemy). The story revolves around the two antagonists in the game Saturos and Menardi, whose goal is to restore alchemy to the world. You pursue Saturos and Menardi through various caves, towns, and lighthouses (which signify the various elements of alchemy).

You are also introduced in the first game to the D jinn system in the game. What this system is, is the idea of collecting and manipulating of magical creatures called Djinn. Each Djinn represents one of the four basic elements of alchemy, and throughout the game, you can find them in various places, some of which take a lot of thinking to get to, while others you have to battle before they join your group. Attaching different Djinn to characters can change the characters class, which modifies that characters hit points, magic points, agility, and all of the standard RPG character stats. You can also use Djinn in combat to enhance magic spells, change character stats like healing, and probably the most important of all, attack the enemy, which in the game, is the most powerful method of attack.

The second game in the series, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, takes place in the same world as the first game, with the same locations and most of the same characters (albeit the main characters are different in the beginning). The main characters in the game are Felix, who was the antagonist in the first game but in the sequel Is not the protagonist. His younger sister, Jenna, a younger girl named Sheba, and further in the game a powerful Mercury Adept named Alex. Felix and his pals were at first trying to activate all of the lighthouses of alchemy to restore alchemy to the world, which is what the protagonists in the first game were trying to stop. Eventually, after battles here, bosses there, talking here, the characters finally meet up with that of the main characters of the last game, and persuade them to join them. That’s all I’m going to tell you, because I don’t want to ruin any of the story for you guys, because I know how you get pissed easily.

Both games have been praised by websites and gaming magazines everywhere, with IGN saying: “arguably be one of the best 2D-based Japanese RPGs created for any system.” Reviews have been great for both games, ranging at average 8.5/10-9.3/10 on the most common rating scales for reviews. Golden Sun was ranked 94 on IGN’s Readers Choice Top 100 games ever. The game has also been praised for using all of the GBA’s 32-bit graphics to it’s highest power, with a beautiful world, characters, and visually-pleasing visual effects when fighing. Personally, it’s my favorite series that has originated on the Gameboy, and both games are in the top 5 favorite games of all time on the console. The game is definitely a one-of-a-kind in the RPG genre in gaming, especially for the GBA.

So if you’re interested at all in RPG’s, you own a console capable of playing GBA games, then this is a must-play and you will have one hell of a time playing it all until you get through the game, and you will leave you asking for more. Maybe a sudden spike in sales of the games will finally persuade Camelot to create a third game, hopefully for the DS or maybe even the Wii. Either way, play the games, and have tons of fun.

Buy:

Golden Sun From Amazon ($8.45)

Golden Sun 2: The Lost Age from Amazon ($9.99)