Golden Sun (Game Boy Advance) Reader Review

Yep, first GBA Game review. About time I got round to the last in the Gameboy line, I've neglected the poor little bugger for long enough. There ain't much better that I can start off with than Golden Sun, arguably the finest that the Game Boy Advance has to offer. And yes, I can say that whilst thinking of Advance Wars (tried and failed to get into it) and Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (I'll try my hand at that one in the future hopefully).
As they say, late is better than never.
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The Game Boy Advance got off to a good start upon its retail release, and quickly got into the hands of eager fans, although a port of one of the worser Super Mario games probably wasn't the best showcase for it. There were other ports to go alongside Super Mario Advance in the first few opening months, and many of them in good quality, but there was no single game that, built from the ground up, could really show what the handheld was capable of. Until Camelot stepped in.
Camelot, the developers of Mario Golf and Mario Tennis for the N64, pushed their gaming pedigree behind a new Role-Playing Title for the GBA, one that would prove the capabilities of hardware and developer alike, and add another staple of excellence to Camelot's record. That game was Golden Sun.

The first thing that hits you about this game, is the graphical detail (as should every game really, but here the host hardware makes it all the more apparent). Rich, finely detailed environments, excellent animations and effects, and a world to explore that truly feels like more.

Of course, an RPG without a great story would be like Ubisoft promising better Wii games, the thought is fine, the reality not so much.
The underlining name of Golden Sun's story is Alchemy, the magic property of Weyard, the world in which the game is based. As the plot unfolds, Alchemy has been sealed away from the potential misuse of humanity, and all that remains of it in the world are Psynergy-wielding 'Adepts' (Psynergy: a form of power weaker than Alchemy, but strong in its own right), of whom protect the 4 lighthouses that are capable of releasing the lock on Alchemy.
Your main character choice in Golden Sun is Issac, a young adept that lost his father in a tragic incident years before, when the keystones to the lighthouses were almost stolen from Mt. Aleph, the site that Issac's village protects. After a second (and successful) attempt years later from the game's two primary antagonists, Saturos and Menardi, and a kidnapping of two of Issac's friends, he and his friend Garet set out to stop them from reviving the destructive powers of Alchemy.

Golden Sun operates in a traditional way of exploration, battle, and puzzle-solving. Field Battles are Random-Encounters, and turn-based.
The meat of customization in this game lies with little creatures called Djinns. Each one of the members of your party (of which the maximum is 4, Issac and Garet meet two other Adepts on the course of their journey), can hold up a large number of Djinn, although the game demands Even distribution. There are 4 kinds of Djinn, corresponding to the 4 main elements of Psynergy; Earth, Fire, Water and Wind, and equipping a certain number of each, or all the same of one element on one character has varying and stat-altering effects, which gives player customization a real shot in the arm.
Each equipped Djinn also acts as a move technique in battle, with effects raging from protective shields and Hit Point Recovery, to Energy-Draining and magic protection. When used, the Djinn wait in standby mode, from which the player can unleash other, more powerful attacks.
So yeah, there's a fair bit battle-wise in this title, veteran gamers will be pleased to hear.

Accompanying great graphics, story and gameplay, is very enjoyable music. The GBA sound chip gets a real workout with this game, and the benefits are shown for all.

Past the main quest, which should eat up around 20 or so hours of your time, there is a link-up option for two players to go at it, so this game should last you a little while.

Criticisms-wise, there isn't much. The in-game text can be too frequent and long-winded, as the occurrence-rate of random battles seem to be as well. Also, there is an abstract and little-known way through Djinn combinations and abilities to make your party invincible, thereby ruining the rest of the game. An odd gripe I know, but not one traditionalists will want to stumble on. And no, I'm not telling you how to do it.

Overall then, an absolutely brilliant effort from the geniuses at Camelot, and one all DS owners should hunt down. Trust me, its a cracker.

Below is an English TV trailer for G.S, and as random as it seems, I reckon they did quite well. (would've stuck up some gameplay footage, but there really wasn't anything good enough )