Golden Sun was the first RPG that I was very excited about on the Game Boy Advance. I am not saying that this was THE first RPG to be released for the system, but it was certainly the first one that had a ton of hype behind it. Released early in the systems life, even all these years later it remains one of my favorite RPGs for the GBA.

Golden Sun is the story of a group of teens thrust into a quest to save the world. It was followed by Golden Sun: The Lost Age, also for the Game Boy Advance.

Stop Evil

Talking about the story of Golden Sun is rather tricky to do. You see on one hand it is way more complex than I can do justice and on the other, it has some awesome twists and turns that I do not want to spoil for you guys. The basics of it are that we have two friends who are what is called in the game “Adepts” and they along with someone else who joins your part, need to stop this group of evildoers who plan to break into this place called the Sol Sanctum where they will take the secrets of alchemy and use it for evil!I found the story to be fantastic and very, very well written. It is the kind of story that is best experienced for yourself rather than just reading about online. It was epic, fun and even dark in places too.

Turn Based Combat

As a JRPG which was released in 2001, Golden Sun for the Game Boy Advance has a turn-based combat system. I love this kind of combat system and it is very easy to get to grips with. You pick what attacks you want to use (or guarding, items and so on) and then you wait for it to happen. You need to deal with enemy attacks and so on and in general, the combat is a great deal of fun.

Part of what people love about the Golden Sun series is the Djinns. Think of these like summons in Final Fantasy. These are creatures you can call into battle which can dish out way more damage and they look really cool too. There is a large selection of these and it was always exciting when you would get a new one to use.

Psynergy

If you talk to any Golden Sun fan about the game, you will hear the word Psynergy time and time again. Think of this as the magic of the game. While it can be used in battle, it can be used to solve puzzles in the overworld and it even has mind-reading abilities and a few other secrets too. It is a really cool and unique system that is not just great from a gameplay point of view. It is also pretty essential to the plot of the game.

This Was Made In 2001?

One thing that really grabs you with Golden Sun the first time you play it is just how good the game looks. Considering this is a very early title for the Game Boy Advance, Golden Sun still looks great, the better part of 20 years later. It has amazing 16-bit style sprites. The overworld looks great and I like how when characters talk there is a portrait that helps add emotion to the story.

The battles look amazing and I like the way that they are quite dynamic. Some of the larger enemies and Djinn have a kind of pre-rendered look to them which really helps make them stand out and appear much larger than the regular characters.

I love Golden Sun; I would even say that I prefer this one slightly over its sequel which was also released on the Game Boy Advance. If you love JRPG’s then you will have an amazing time with this one. It has a great setting; awesome story and the gameplay is a ton of fun too.

8.5/10

Pros:

• It has a truly epic fantasy style story
• Fun and interesting characters
• I love the Djinn in the game
• Some of the puzzles are a lot of fun to do
• It looks fantastic

Cons:

• The music could be a bit more epic
• Some battles later in the game can last way too long