# GBAtemp Recommends! Golden Sun



## shaunj66 (Oct 22, 2008)

*GBAtemp Recommends! Golden Sun*
G.R. Issue #1 (GBA)


Welcome to GBAtemp Recommends! This is the first of a weekly magazine feature in which the GBAtemp Staff recommend classic Game Boy Advance titles. These titles are the best of the best from the GBA library, so dig out your GBA's and your Visoly's and relive GBAtemp's past with these top titles!

If you'd like to share tips, challenges, and generally discuss the GBAtemp Recommends! Game of the Week, feel free to join #grGBA on the GBAtemp Official Chat channel.

GBAtemp Recommends!

Golden Sun








Spoiler: Gameplay Video






What can we say about Golden Sun? This is a shining example of what could be done on the Game Boy Advance, and when released, was a breath of fresh air from all the shovelware that was finding it's way to the GBA so early in its life. Golden Sun is a great RPG with stunning graphics and a solid story line.

*#0171:* Golden Sun (U) (Mode7)
*Genre:* RPG
*Publisher:* Nintendo
*Dumped on:* 07/11/2001
*ROM Size:* 64Mbit



			
				Game Synopsis said:
			
		

> In a dark time, an epic adventure begins as evil slowly envelops the world! The forces of darkness are pursuing the lost art of Alchemy, and as they draw ever closer to their foul purpose, mankind's future hangs in the balance. You and your companions are the last hope: armed with noble weapons, mysterious Psynergy and a host of elemental creatures, you must find a way to stem the evil tide. Your ordinary life is over, as a Golden Sun rises above you and forever broadens your horizon!
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## JPH (Oct 22, 2008)

*loves the idea*

I actually bought a used copy of Golden Sun recently, and I'll be playing through this sucker soon. :yaygba:

Also, what do you guys think of having a IRC channel about GBAtemp Recommends - you can share tips, give each other different challenges, and generally just discuss the game while playing through?


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## Twiffles (Oct 22, 2008)

I got bored like... 2 min into it. >_>


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## Raven Darkheart (Oct 22, 2008)

cool concept. i actually passed on golden sun in favor of t.o.p 
but to each his or her own


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## GameSoul (Oct 22, 2008)

I've heard lots of optimistic ideas and thoughts on this game. I downloaded bought it. Played it, then never went back to it. I can never say I'm bored, because I have tons of good games I have never even played yet.


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## Toni Plutonij (Oct 22, 2008)

Great job shaunj66, I like how it looks......


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## TheSpade (Oct 22, 2008)

This is one of the must-own RPGs on GBA and even still today on DS.  It's still considered a standard for portable role-playing that publishers must recognize.  Hopefully, Camelot will once again grace the masses with another RPG someday.


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## Another World (Oct 22, 2008)

great idea to do old school recommendations. i tried golden sun, years later i sold it on eBay. i could not get into it and i went back to give it a go more than once.

-another world


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## Digeman (Oct 22, 2008)

I fell in love with this game after just playing it for a couple of minutes! Loved the graphics, the setting, story, combat system and one of the things i enjoyed the most was the soundtrack!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Anyways i think the whole gbatemp recommends is a cool ide and Golden Sun is an awesome game to start it with


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## noONE (Oct 22, 2008)

Awesome, i suspected something like this beeing done with the GBA portal, i guess i'll enable the GBA part again 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Good work shaunj (and all others involved)


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## HBK (Oct 22, 2008)

Wow, my favorite game of all time right on the 1st edition! Guys, you gotta be sincere, the GBA was an awesome console, no doubt, but Golden Sun was its golden child (pun fully intended). 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




*Edit:* Dumped on my birthday, too. xD I was...9 back then. Oh the good ol' days.


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## Jdbye (Oct 22, 2008)

Broken Skye said:
			
		

> I got bored like... 2 min into it. >_>








 Golden Sun is awesome!
Turn based RPGs FTW. I love nearly every single turn based RPG. Oh and ATB too.
Wish there were more of them 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Golden Sun is like early FF games, except better.


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## portezbie (Oct 22, 2008)

+1! The golden sun games are both really good turn based rpgs.


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## HBK (Oct 22, 2008)

jdbye said:
			
		

> Broken Skye said:
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You can say that again. Final Fantasy IV helped me think about this gem on the DS, and how it would be like, and I ended up loving the FF series too.


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## Gaisuto (Oct 22, 2008)

I've tried Golden Sun on two different occasions, it was just too slow for me. But then again I also say this about many popular RPGs I dislike (Dragon Quest, Earthbound...) If you're an RPG nut then this is for you.


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## HBK (Oct 22, 2008)

Gaisuto said:
			
		

> I've tried Golden Sun on two different occasions, it was just too slow for me. But then again I also say this about many popular RPGs I dislike (Dragon Quest, Earthbound...) If you're an RPG nut then this is for you.



Eh, well, I dislike both of the RPGs you stated, but Golden Sun is an exception...at least for me. xD


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## CockroachMan (Oct 22, 2008)

Cool idea.. Golden sun is one of the best RPGs I've ever played.. 

So, can members make recommendations!?


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## Law (Oct 22, 2008)

Whilst Golden Sun is a good game, how about something slightly more obscure next time? I mean, who _doesn't_ know about Golden Sun after asking for GBA game recommendations? It's usually the only reply they'll get. It seems to be the GBA's equivalent of Final Fantasy VII.

Since shaunj66 says after this post that members can make suggestions, I'm going to go dig through my folders.


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## shaunj66 (Oct 22, 2008)

CockroachMan said:
			
		

> So, can members make recommendations!?


Suggestions for the site are always welcome. Feel free to PM me.


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## AXYPB (Oct 22, 2008)

I'm going to pay attention to this feature.  My 3-in-1 doesn't see as much service as I would like.


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## MasterPenguin (Oct 22, 2008)

What an awesome game to recommend. Awesome idea too. =D


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## silent sniper (Oct 22, 2008)

byfar the best gba game I've ever played.


I like this idea =D


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## JPH (Oct 22, 2008)

Added a link to an online Guide. Enjoy! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




(Also, feel free to PM anyone on the staff with your ideas on how to improve the new idea, and what we should include for next week's G.R! game. However, we should change up the genre each week for obvious reasons).


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## Diablo1123 (Oct 22, 2008)

I sorta seen my friends play this in P.E. class.
Seen meaning saw them playing the game, not the game.

Heard that deaths are permanent
Which kinda sucks.

Love the idea of recommends, but eventually you'll run out of that too 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Might try this after Mother 3.
which should have been first


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## arctic_flame (Oct 22, 2008)

Camelot games on the GBA have the best soundtracks there are to be had.

If you're an RPG nut, You'll probably find Golden Sun short. This is coming from me, who played Golden Sun 2 first, which is far too long. I've spent over 100 hours on Golden Sun 2...



			
				Diablo1123 said:
			
		

> Heard that deaths are permanent
> Which kinda sucks.



Wrong, but near the beginning of the game you're going to have to walk back to towns and pay the healer to revive "downed" characters.


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## Psyfira (Oct 23, 2008)

Absolutely love this game, it's perfect for playing while travelling. Although playing on the bus means I'm *still* playing it, lol I'll finish it someday. Kinda wish I'd picked up the second one when I saw it in GAME before they emptied the GBA stuff from their preowned shelves. I wonder what they did with it all.


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## Law (Oct 23, 2008)

Psyfira said:
			
		

> Absolutely love this game, it's perfect for playing while travelling. Although playing on the bus means I'm *still* playing it, lol I'll finish it someday. Kinda wish I'd picked up the second one when I saw it in GAME before they emptied the GBA stuff from their preowned shelves. I wonder what they did with it all.



Probably attempted to reuse the Nintendium, since it's so hard to get hold of these days.


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## GamerzInc (Oct 23, 2008)

The Golden Sun series is one of the best and my most favorite and memorable games.  Everyone should give it a try.


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## CockroachMan (Oct 23, 2008)

JPH said:
			
		

> *loves the idea*
> 
> I actually bought a used copy of Golden Sun recently, and I'll be playing through this sucker soon. :yaygba:
> 
> Also, what do you guys think of having a IRC channel about GBAtemp Recommends - you can share tips, give each other different challenges, and generally just discuss the game while playing through?



I think we could do that in the forums.. every month, select a game and define a weekly objective, then every Monday or something people go to the thread of the game and discuss about it..


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## BestIntrest (Oct 23, 2008)

I used to play this game ALL night while I was in junior high. I'd stay up and not sleep lol


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## Dirtie (Oct 23, 2008)

Presentation wise it's top notch, and it started out awesome, but after getting further into the game it started getting kinda grindish.


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## r0ni (Oct 23, 2008)

Not a good RPG. And if this is old school, then your too young. Really GBA was the last portable before NDS, that don't make it old school.

This game is full of RPG cliche's and rip-offs of other SNES era games (read: Tales series) if you want to play those games, get them, not this crap.


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## ojsinnerz. (Oct 23, 2008)

I tried playing it, and I liked it.

Though I lost my save file after awhile, so I stopped playing from then......


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## juggernaut911 (Oct 23, 2008)

never been a fan of RPG's. play a few every now and then. but when I beat Golden Sun (along time ago!! 4 years I think) I loved it!!!! preordered the second one. LOVED THAT ONE 2!!!!!!


GREAT series. GBAtemp recommends Golden Sun 2!!


Fire Emblem


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## Edgedancer (Oct 23, 2008)

I have to say that this is a great idea for anyone that is remotely interested in classical RPG. I do hope that the Lost Age will also get a mention as it is even better. Felix>Issac


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## Vague Rant (Oct 23, 2008)

The Lost Age was horrible. In the interests of being "non-linear", nobody ever told you what you were supposed to be doing. So you would just sail all over the globe dropping into any place you saw and hoping a cutscene would start. And there was no reason to do this once you'd explored the world once, but you're forced to do it over and over just to figure out where to go next. Completely lame.


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## Hadrian (Oct 23, 2008)

I've always fount this series to be just ok and kinda genric.

I do hope there is a 3rd game one day just to shut the fanboys up.


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## Toni Plutonij (Oct 23, 2008)

r0ni said:
			
		

> Not a good RPG. And if this is old school, then your too young. Really GBA was the last portable before NDS, that don't make it old school.
> 
> This game is full of RPG cliche's and rip-offs of other SNES era games (read: Tales series) if you want to play those games, get them, not this crap.


When people refer to this game as "old school" it actually means what you mentioned, that it's cliche RPG with old school plying style, not that it's actually an old game..
And this game has better graphics than some NDS games!!

I've played trough many RPGs, and I found nice balance in this one, and since, this is my favorite game I've ever played...together with The Lost Age..


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## shaunj66 (Oct 23, 2008)

Just to reiterate... With GBAtemp Recommends!, the games aren't in any order. They are random, this isn't the top game, this is just one of many games we're going to recommend. The #1 just refers to issue 1 of G.R. (GBAtemp Recommends!)


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## Wabsta (Oct 23, 2008)

This is the best game on the GBA imo.
I sold all my old GBA games, because I just didn't play them anymore, but I couldn't sell Golden Sun, I just couldn't. It's too good!


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## papyrus (Oct 23, 2008)

No doubt, the best GBA game in terms of quality and gameplay. My cousins had this two carts and wish they were mine. I just borrowed them and played it long time ago(still dont have the NDS that time and a flashcart) and GS pushed the limits of the GBA graphicswise.


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## Mei-o (Oct 23, 2008)

Well, it was pretty cool, the only thing I found new to it is that it's the game that pushed the GBA's graphics hardware to the limits though, playing the sequel probably adds up to it but never had the time to try it out. It's a pretty good game, I don't like RPGs that much but I managed to finish this.


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## Flawsdraw (Oct 23, 2008)

Never played Golden Sun even though I had GBA since release in UK, allways wanted it but never got round to it, but now coz of the recommendation it's time to dig out my NDSL and play it I think.


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## Opium (Oct 23, 2008)

Golden Sun 1 & 2 are without a doubt my favourite GBA games, and I'd also rank them as some of my favourite RPGs of all time across any platform. I love 'em 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Tears for joy when a Golden Sun DS is announced.


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## lolzed (Oct 23, 2008)

Opium said:
			
		

> Golden Sun 1 & 2 are without a doubt my favourite GBA games, and I'd also rank them as some of my favourite RPGs of all time across any platform. I love 'em
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COOL Never knew that!gonna download it when it comes


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## Flawsdraw (Oct 23, 2008)

lolzed said:
			
		

> Opium said:
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think he meant IF not it has been


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## lolzed (Oct 23, 2008)

Flawsdraw said:
			
		

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nope,just searched it a few minutes ago,it's real,think its called"Golden Sun:The Solar Soochsayer"but it's not clear so I'm not sure about the soochsayer part


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## El Blacksheep (Oct 23, 2008)

Golden Sun is one of my favorites, and one of the reasons why I absolutely had to have the GBA RAM Expansion when I was seeking a slot-1 card!

As for the next issue? A couple of my personal faves: Sonic Battle and Yggdra Union are quite nice.


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## Toni Plutonij (Oct 23, 2008)

lolzed said:
			
		

> nope,just searched it a few minutes ago,it's real,think its called"Golden Sun:The Solar Soochsayer"but it's not clear so I'm not sure about the soochsayer part


Nope, I'm  sorry to burst the bobble, but it's fake!!







Spoiler











both fakes....here, link to site about fakes: http://kprs.laronmi.net/taow/speculation/fakes.htm


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## CockroachMan (Oct 23, 2008)

Hadrian said:
			
		

> I've always fount this series to be just ok and kinda genric.
> 
> I do hope there is a 3rd game one day just to shut the fanboys up.



The problem is that the ending of the 2nd was not very conclusive.. that's why everyone waits for a 3rd game :/

For those who doesn't know, the 2nd game is a direct sequel, I like consider both games as one big game actually 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





I remember hearing some time ago that Camelot had a Wii rpg project going on, some rumors were around that it was a new Golden Sun. Now it's been a long time since I've heard that..


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## xalphax (Oct 23, 2008)

i never played much gba, so this is a good starting point to see whats worth my time.


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## Satangel (Oct 23, 2008)

Great idea, and great game!
I'll send some titles in some time.

But maybe a nice idea to add a GameRankings link? So people can directly go to any preferred reviewsite that they want + they can see it's average score.


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## Law (Oct 23, 2008)

Toni Plutonij said:
			
		

> lolzed said:
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You were the one who made fanboys cry.

Of course, I could be totally mistaken. No, I'm not. It even says it on that website.


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## DragonStefan (Oct 23, 2008)

Congratulations on the designers of this fine masterwork!

One of the best games of the gba

Cheers!


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## NextStep (Oct 24, 2008)

no surprise there.

if i had to choose one GBA game as my favorite, it would be Golden Sun.

played it twice! thats one more time than i ever played any other games.


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## blitzpatzer (Oct 24, 2008)

Great game.  I have fond memories.  Actually, I enjoyed the first one more.


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## DeMoN (Oct 24, 2008)

My first RPG game ever (besides Pokemon?).  
I must say, if I started off with any other RPG game, I would not be into the genre at all. 

Definitely my all time favorite game.


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## ENDscape (Oct 24, 2008)

This was actually my first gba game 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




. Good ol' days.


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## tatumanu (Oct 24, 2008)

I really cant stand most turn based rpg, but this game was so well done, so freakin' fun to play that i loved it!! I liked both golden sun games ... i cant see them as seperate games cause  golden sun 2 is part 2 of the same adventure. 
Good choice, it is a gem of the gba system. 

Next week gotta be metroid zero.


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## Diablo1123 (Oct 24, 2008)

Toni Plutonij said:
			
		

> both fakes....here, link to site about fakes: http://kprs.laronmi.net/taow/speculation/fakes.htm


Says the makers are TakaM and Opium, aren't those two members here? xD

Is the Golden Sun Fake actually downloadable anywhere?


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## Shardnax (Oct 24, 2008)

Golden Sun 1 & 2 are both great. Also, the fake menu screen says Soothsayer.


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## Edgedancer (Oct 24, 2008)

Diablo1123 said:
			
		

> Toni Plutonij said:
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You would be right in speculting that. As far as I know it is in fact our own members that pulled the pranks mentioned.


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## D-Trogh (Oct 24, 2008)

Golden Sun is just awesome..
Don't play to long though (some hours.. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





), you might get a headache


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## Szyslak (Oct 24, 2008)

Very nice idea for a new site feature, and an excellent choice for the first recommendation.


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## cruddybuddy (Oct 24, 2008)

THANK YOU! I no longer have to look at the boxart for "Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone (Europe)."


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## juggernaut911 (Oct 25, 2008)

wow! hey Cruddy, long time no see!

maybe a RSS feed just for GR?


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## imyourxpan (Oct 25, 2008)

amazing game, played for many hours


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## granville (Oct 25, 2008)

I think my sig and avatar shows how much I love this game! My first GBA game and one of my all-time favorites. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




But where my Golden Sun 3 Camelot???


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## Diablo1123 (Oct 25, 2008)

Well I just palyed this game for a minute just to see how good it is.
Love the battle graphics =D 

So far the game seems pretty good.


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## granville (Oct 25, 2008)

There's only 1 single flaw in the entire game for me: the inability for characters to automatically target the next enemy when their selected target is defeated. It's not a game-killer by any means, but it's just the only flaw I can truly think of.

I even really like the story, despite the story scenes dragging on a bit.


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## frostfire (Oct 25, 2008)

Nice addition, but don't we have already the (insert console/handheld name) [Essentials] topics? 

Golden Sun rocks by the way.


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## Searinox (Oct 25, 2008)

Great idea!

And excellent choice for a first game too. The Golden Sun games do NOT disappoint, they are indeed few of the games that actually explore a GBA's potential to its fullest, in both terms of graphics aswell as the size of the map. I loved them, they are as long as I like my games to be, vibrant graphics and special effects, the storyline was okay though it doesn't rise up to some of the Final Fantasy games. However, it beats FFs at everything else including gameplay and interface, they added shortcut keys made an easy to use interface, simplified shopping alot and many things more. The music was enjoyable in the first and downright splendid in the second. The Djinn system and the Psynergy puzzles aswell as PP regeneration while walking and durability to items are all very welcome changes to the classical FF system that is getting boring.

Great pick for a first, I can say that ever since I got my DS and flashcarts I spent more hours on GBA games than on DS games, and I spent more time on GS than on any other game. If there are other attractive games to try out on the GBA I'll be sure to check your Recommends! for good games.


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## vdfritz (Oct 26, 2008)

i've finished golden sun, but i don't know where i get the code to insert in golden sun 2 :S where is it?

couldn't find it at gamefaqs either


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## granville (Oct 26, 2008)

vdfritz said:
			
		

> i've finished golden sun, but i don't know where i get the code to insert in golden sun 2 :S where is it?
> 
> couldn't find it at gamefaqs either


At the main menu (the one after the title screen with the black background), you are supposed to press L+R+Left+B (if I remember correctly). A new option will appear that will let you either link up two DSes to transfer the data, or an option to view a password to enter in GS2. You can choose a short, medium, or very long password depending on how much of your progress you wish to transfer. The long one will take FOREVER.


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## vdfritz (Oct 26, 2008)

granville said:
			
		

> vdfritz said:
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2 DSes? did you mean 2 gbas? o.o

thanks o/ i'm going to try it tomorrow morning


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## .TakaM (Oct 26, 2008)

Edgedancer said:
			
		

> Diablo1123 said:
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yup.

If I recall correctly, my original GSDS fake sparked a topic here that a friend informed me of, I think I was already registered but the topic basically caused me to become a regular here 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




I've done a few other hoax things since then, but none had been as popular as my original GSDS thing, gamefaqs went especially crazy over it back in the day


edit-
here's how I originally released the original hoax image:




I have no idea what the article says, it was the only one I could find that a DS screen fit next to nicely.
I don't know if it's even Japanese lol
Shortly after I revealed the source image just to prove it was a fake, but that kinda made it more popular and some people even made their own hoaxes with it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




And I dunno, you guys might get a kick out of this one too:




much less believable though


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## Issac (Oct 27, 2008)

Edgedancer said:
			
		

> I have to say that this is a great idea for anyone that is remotely interested in classical RPG. I do hope that the Lost Age will also get a mention as it is even better. Felix>Issac



You think Felix is better than me? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 boooh!







 Isn't he spelling "isaac" ?

anyway, Love this idea, and can't wait for the next part! The game is also great, good one to start out with!


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## Vague Rant (Oct 27, 2008)

People will play anything if it looks nice. Golden Sun did absolutely nothing interesting for the genre except look pretty on a handheld. It's depressing that it has such a following, even if it is only among teenagers who have never played a real RPG.


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## Raika (Oct 27, 2008)

i think i'll give this a try (didnt know this existed till this thread was made 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




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## granville (Oct 27, 2008)

Vague Rant said:
			
		

> People will play anything if it looks nice. Golden Sun did absolutely nothing interesting for the genre except look pretty on a handheld. It's depressing that it has such a following, even if it is only among teenagers who have never played a real RPG.


I like you, but you'd probably be wise to go to the nearest ticket office to an unknown destination, change your name to Bogon, and grow a beard because you're about to be harassed by everyone here.


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## Slowking (Oct 27, 2008)

Vague Rant said:
			
		

> People will play anything if it looks nice. Golden Sun did absolutely nothing interesting for the genre except look pretty on a handheld. It's depressing that it has such a following, even if it is only among teenagers who have never played a real RPG.


I for one really liked the Djin-system and found it really innovating. I have never seen something like it in other RPGs.
Ofcourse the story is opretty steriotypical but 90% of games are the same.

I found Golden Sun 2 fell short of the first one. It probably would have been better if they had followed their original plan and had made 3 parts with the same amount of story. That would have given them more time to focus on the individual parts...

But all in all I love those games and I really really hope that we will get a 3rd one. I mean we have to. We got end-data at the end of the 2nd. What are we supposed to do with that?


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## Diablo1123 (Oct 28, 2008)

Wow I'm already stuck at this game, I'm at the part right after the "3 years later", and some guy won't let me to the mountians =d



			
				.TakaM said:
			
		

> Edgedancer said:
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Take it thats more of your awesome graphics making skills at the bottom?


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## DeMoN (Oct 29, 2008)

GBAtemp Recommends! #2
*Golden Sun: The Lost Age*


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## Whiternoise (Nov 12, 2008)

I thought it was better than Final Fantasy to be honest..  I played it when i went camping once, just sat with my GBA outside the tent and cracked on with it - good times..

The story got really good after the first game, it was awesome transferring my party, and it was just a blast to play through.  I've tried to get into FF many times and it just bores the crap out of me.  I really need to try FF7..


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## ShAdOwFuRi (Nov 17, 2008)

i can't believe that haven't got golden sun on DS, it's so good. Best part was using algorithmic moves to make monsters drop rare items. Search it up if you don't know =P


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## mycellbay008 (Nov 26, 2008)

What can say about goldensun.it 's a great game ,i think.


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## fat3d (Nov 29, 2008)

The best portable game ever
i will say this to RPG Gamers
this game have it all
story and graphic and it have real cool summons effects 
even swords have summons
just play it 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	









and second part
"golden sun the golden age"


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