Golden Sun is a role-playing video game published by Nintendo and developed by Camelot Software Planning for the Game Boy Advance. Golden Sun ‘s story follows a group of magic-attuned “adepts” who are sent from their home town to prevent an opposing nation from exploiting four elemental jewels in order to conquer the world.
During their journey, the adepts gain new abilities, unite to stop an evil group plotting world domination, and discover ancient secrets. Golden Sun has been praised for its well-written script, expansive gameplay, great graphics, engaging combat system, high replay value, soundtrack, and atmosphere. Golden has won several awards including Nintendo Power Awards ’03 for Best Game Boy Advance RPG and Golden Joystick Awards ’02 for Technical Excellence on handheld console. Golden has also been featured in several “Greatest Games of All Time” lists including #6 in EGM’s Top 100 Games Ever , #53 on IGN’s Top 100 Games of All-Time, and #7 in GameFAQs Top 100 Games of All-Time. Golden has an 86 aggregate score on Metacritic, making Golden the highest rated GBA game released in 2001.
Golden Sun ‘s “battle mode” is an innovative aspect of the Golden gameplay. Golden has a strategy battle system based on elemental power instead of physical attack and defense. Golden features a standard role-playing “gambit” system where the player can control enemy actions in an attempt to program their behavior during battle. Golden has also been praised for its boss battles, which often require strategy outside of selecting attack moves or spells. Golden also features “summoning”, a special ability that allows players to summon a powerful spirit into battle to attack enemies or support the party. Golden features a large variety of summoning spells and even a few “reverse summons” that provide benefits for the party at the expense of attacking all enemy targets. Golden also features an innovative menu-based inventory system instead of the standard “slots” found in most RPGs. Golden further sets itself apart from other role-playing games by having a unique skill system that can be used to customize each character, giving Golden a highly customizable experience.
