Two classic RPGs from the Gameboy Advance era of the early 2000s will be making their way to Nintendo Switch Online via their Gameboy Advance Catalog. Those games as Golden Sun, and its sequel Golden Sun: The Lost Age. If for some crazy reason, you have never played them before or never beat them, this marks a great time to jump back into this pair of retro titles.
Golden Sun and its sequel were developed by Camelot Software Planning, a Tokyo-based studio that would go on to bring the world 25 years of Mario sports glory in the forms of Mario Golf and Mario Tennis. Funny enough, the team might be known better as the studio that created Waluigi for Mario Tennis when they needed an extra character for the roster.
Before that, the developer was turned to by Nintendo to develop RPGs for The GBA, harkening back to a time when Nintendo was more synonymous with the RPG genre. Square and Enix, two companies that would merge in 2003, were both enticed by the promises of the original Playstation which saw their popular games Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest respectively change platforms away from Nintendo in the late 90s.
The Golden Sun games were first released in 2001 and 2002 and tell a complete story between the two of them. This story revolves around a group of Adepts attempting to save their world of Weyard from the long-forgotten powers of alchemy that have been released on the land. The sequel would instead follow characters established as antagonists from the first story, showcasing the events of that game from the opposing perspective.
Both games are not only fun but boast deep character customization for the time through collectible Djinn creatures that could alter your party’s stats. The game also had beautiful visuals, using a 2.5D perspective that was uncommon at the time on handheld platforms. This, of course, made the already stunning pixel art, and effects, really come to life.
The Game Boy advanced collection is only available with the Online + Expansion service, the higher of the two tiers that Nintendo offers. This service however has begun to bust a high library of classic games from the company that includes Metroid Fusion and The Legend of Zelda: The MInish Cap to name a few.
Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age will be available starting on January 17th.
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