This is a great chance to catch up (or revisit) two of the best role-playing games of the early 2000s. golden sun and its sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Agecoming to the Game Boy Advance Collection on Nintendo Switch Online (with the Expansion Pack tier) next week, on January 17.
The Golden Sun games were created by Camelot Software Planning, the Tokyo studio best known for its 25-year run of the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis games (which, incidentally, makes Camelot the studio that founded Waluigi). Early in its relationship with Nintendo, Camelot also created these beautiful portable RPGs for GBA, reminiscent of the Square and Enix classics of a decade earlier.
golden sun And The Lost Era, first released in 2001 and 2002 respectively, together tell a single story about a battle between magically attuned adepts to protect the world of Weyard from the power of Alchemy, a powerful but potentially destructive force that has long been sealed away. The twist is that the second game is told from the perspective of the first game’s antagonists, whose goal is to unlock the power of Alchemy.
That’s interesting, but that’s not what people really like about Golden Sun. Rather, the games’ deep systems – including collectible Djinn creatures that can change character classes and abilities – and beautiful visuals are the main draw. Despite the GBA’s small, low-resolution display, both games feature particularly rich and colorful pixel art and some dazzling effects, including a driving pseudo-3D camera during battle scenes.
Added to the premium Expansion Pack tier of Nintendo Switch Online last year, the GBA Collection is perhaps the star of Nintendo’s subscriber-only retro catalogue, with gems like WarioWare, Inc., Metroid merger, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Capand much more. golden sun is another feather in his cap.