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Looks great but not my thing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 10
Date: July 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Don't get me wrong. I love RPGs and building up custom characters but I don't like them in the 2D world of the GBA. On the PC I have played awesome games like Dungeon Siege, where the RPG element is at it's best but I found Golden Sun to be really slow.

It took ages to get going and there is an unbelievable amount of dialogue in it. But there is no way to skip past it. You will literally be sitting there hitting the button for 10 minutes reading bland word bubbles. Some have given this game a great review but I'm afraid this RPG just didn't do anything for me and I won't be checking out the sequel.

Graphics A
Sound A-
Gameplay C-
Lasting Appeal C-

RPG fans rejoice!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is phonomenal! Me and my friend bought the day it came out. The graphics are simple and smooth in towns, a little lower in quality is the world map graphics, but in battle is where GS really shows what a GBA can do. You are Isaac a Adept of Earth from the town of Vale, you go on a quest with your best friend Garet an Fire Adept to save the world. So the storyline isn't anything really special but the gameplay is excellent. You will meet 2 other friends who will join you on your quest Ivan and Mia. The 4 of you go off on a quest to try and stop evil Adepts from lighting the 4 lighthouses which if lit will give the evil adepts the power to destroy the world. You go from town to town killing monsters, learning spells and moves, going on sub quests and adventures, finding djinn(little monsters which you can summon in battle to fight with) with one ultimate goal of saving the world. This game has stunning graphics, awsome game play, decent replay value, and isn't too challenging. Let me correct amazon.com, they say at the top of this page it's 4 players, it's not, but it is 2 player, both players must have a GS cartridge to play though. A masterpeice of a game! Anyone who has a GBA, loves RPG's, and likes to have fun should purchase this. It's worth the (money)!!!!

Very impressive RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Ever since I purchased my Gameboy Advanced, I have been waiting for a well-written RPG. I read the previews of an upcoming game called "Golden Sun". These reviews were raving, so I just had to pick up a copy to see if it truly lived up to its name.

Im happy to report that it does! The story-line is very involved (be prepared!), putting it up there with many of the best console game series (Zelda, Final Fantasy, Crono Trigger, etc). This game is not simply scaled down to "fit" into the GBA by any means.

The sound is crisp and lively. The internal speaker simply does not do justice, so wear headphones for the ultimate effect. The sound reminds me of some of the best super nintendo games and with a wonderful score too! The water sound effects could use a little work, though.

Graphics are very intense. All scenes are color-shaded and well antialiased, giving the gameplay a very high quality feel. Some of the highlights include pseudo-near-3D fight scenes (FF7-like), 3D overhead map, smooth player animation, full screen plasma/alpha effects when casting spells, and multi-background parallax scrolling animation (multiple layers of moving clouds, etc). The framerate was perfect - I never once noticed jerking or slow-down.

If you ever liked zelda or FF, this should be the next game you buy. I cant wait until the next release of Golden Sun!

Good start to GB Advance RPG's

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 12, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Golden Sun is what I would call a good starting rpg for GBA. Okay, there might not be alot out there if at all by now, but Golden Sun should be one title to buy if you are an rpg fan. It has the standard complement of four characters in your party. Of course, you can customize your characters professions depending on the type of Psynergy you equip them with. You also find a whole slew of special items and weapons in the game that'll help you in your quest. Storywise, it's a pretty average tale. Young hero sets off to right wrongs. No big deal, but it's not a boring tale so it'll keep you entertained. Graphics-wise, it's one of the better looking games out there. The summons are done pretty well for an Advance game although like the FF games, I got tired of doing summons and opted for just the regular critical atacks. One word though is that the game won't seem complete as you only really finish half of your mission. Supposedly, there'll be a second part soon. But don't let that stop you from buying this game as it easily takes about 20-30 hours to complete. A far cry from some on the newer, more "good looking" games that only last 4-8 hours at most. Buy it. You'll like it and really have time to enjoy it.

Good, but with flaws

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I'm just going to discuss the problems with this game and why I gave it four stars instead of five. The worst part of this game is the long conversations that go on. If this were on another console, it wouldn't be that bad, but because this game operates on batteries, these conversations can prevent you from saving your game in time because they can last up to 20 minutes. I know this because as I had just started the final battle, my GBA red-light came on and I almost did not have enough time to save my game due to the long battle and longer conversation at the end. Which brings me to my second point on why this game is good and not great: back-tracking is almost impossible. In my haste to save my game after the final battle/conversation had taken place, I saved over my old data assuming that I would be able to go back and find all the items I missed during my initial run, but to my dismay, I found out that I couldn't backtrack. It seems that once you leave certain areas, you cannot go back, which means that in order to get all the items that you may have missed during the game, you need to create a new character and replay the entire game.

Other than that, the game is a good game. I still recommend it, and I'm sure the other reviews you will read will be enough convincing to get the game. I am looking forward to the sequel when it comes out.

Excellent, but not perfect.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The GBA has gotten a much-needed shot in the arm with the release of Golden Sun, fulfilling a system's early RPG need. Golden Sun is highly addicting and fun to play. The battle system is excellent. There are your typical basic attack, defense, item, and flee options. Then you have "Psynergy", which is Golden Sun's term for magic. Your other option is to use Djinn somehow...and these Djinn are what's unique about Golden Sun. You can find Djinni in a myriad of ways, but you nearly always must solve some sort of puzzle, and you must occasionally battle them. Once successful, they will join your party. From here, you have lots of options. By "setting" Djinni to one of your characters, you will improve his/her stats, and possibly change his class. The importance of Class is that it determines many of your attributes and nearly all of your available Psynergy. Once Set, you can "unleash" them in battle, and they will benefit your party somehow. Once Djinni have been unleashed, they are put on standby. From here, you can Summon powerful deities which deal much damage to your enemies. The battles never get tiring, and neither does the basic gameplay of talking to people and exploring. The puzzles are well-designed, and are never too easy or too hard. The graphics and sound in Golden Sun are both excellent. The graphics are top-of-the-line for current GBA games, with the only exception being when monsters are so big they become pixelated. The music is excellent, and must be enjoyed through headphones to get the full effect. Now, to the cons of Golden Sun...specifically, the plot and the characters. The plot is hackneyed, to say the least. It boils down to the stereotypical "stop evil guys from taking over the world!" Your two main characters, Isaac and Garet, are poorly designed. Isaac can't say anything other than "Yes" or "No", and Garet is just an idiot. That said, Golden Sun is a must-own for GBA owners who are RPG fans. You'll have a blast through your 25-30 hours.

Classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game has everything you need for a classic RPG, good graphics, great story line and your classic take turn battle system. The only thing that dissapointed me, was the fact that it had an ending (if only it could go on forever).

My favorite rpg !!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I thought this game was going to be boring when I first got it but it was awsome! IT had really cool graphics and a great story line .I was so excited in my first fight the characters had awsome attacks and the bad guys werent wimpie!The towns were really cool all with their own hidden caves.I would give this game 1,000 stars if I could. I recommend this to any rpg fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only half a game!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Despite being a great game graphics-wise, the biggest problem I had with this game is that it does not stand on its own. I thought I had gotten a great deal on a good game only to find out that the game "ends" in such a way that you are only half finished with your quest and have to buy the next one - Golden Sun: The Lost Age if you ever want to get to the actual ending. A great tactic by the makers but very frustrating for someone who was just looking for a good game and only got half of one.

Any RPG loving GBA owner should buy this.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Created by a little know developer called Camelot (they made some Mario Golf and Mario Tennis games, as well as Shining Force before they joined Nintendo), Golden Sun is one of the GBA's more exceptional games.

Golden Sun has one major achievement it had for the GBA. It pushed the limits of the system in terms of graphics. While the visuals for wandering around seem rather easy for the system to create, the battles are a spectacular achievement. Even though the characters and enemies are shown as animated sprites. The sprites themselves are not much to write home about, but regardless they are quite convincing and suit the battle setup more than you might expect. The battle screen is sort of a "quasi-3D" setup. The background and sprites are 2D, but they are executed in such a manner that they look 3D. Not only that, battle effects, such as spells and simple attacks, add wonderfully to the setup. The only real problem I can see is that some spell effects slow down the framerates (how fast or smoothly it runs) noticably, but it's all handled so well that it doesn't even seem like a glitch, and out of sheer irony it adds to the effect of some of the spells (hence, it may have been done that way on purpose).

The sound is a mixed bag. The music score part is excellent. Everything from the main menu music, to town themes, and the grand world map music is great both technically and melodically. If any songs do get on your nerves, they either won't last long or are done in such a way that you can tune them out while playing. Sound effects, however, are very standard. A lot of them are recycled so much that it's practically mind numbing. However, none of it seems completely out of place, and there isn't much that will hurt your ears, so that's something to be happy for.

The gameplay itself only has one real flaw in my opinion. The battles are too easy. With the exception of most of the boss battles, regular battles tend to be so easy that the thought of using the run option will never occur to you (they also go so quick that there's not really a time issue involved either). There's also an issue where, if you set all of your characters to attack one enemy and that enemy is destroyed, the characters that attack him later have their attack wasted. This really isn't too much of an issue, though, and Camelot was smart enough to make the character automatically defend if that should happen (which means damage to that character would be halved... though I think that only refers to physical damage).

The story has gotten a lot of bad press in my opinion. However, it should be noted that if you play this game, the story alone may persuade you to buy the next game, GS: The Lost Age (which is already out). While that's not particularly a bad thing, as the combination of the two stories is really awesome, just be aware of the extra expense that may cost for your wallet. Also, it should be noted that this game is a bit on the short side (roughly 20-25 hours), but that's still not much of an issue in my view (just so you know, the second game in the series is roughly 40-45 hours long, so that one is lengthier).

All in all, the game is quite fun. However, there are a few quirks that I mentioned above that may get on some people's nerves, so just know what you're getting into.

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