Features
- More than 40 hours gameplay
- Support to carry over character data from Golden Sun
- Cartridge save (three slots)
- Link cable support for two player battles
- Only for Game Boy Advance
Though players can play the game by itself, Golden Sun: The Lost Age rewards players who have completed the original adventure by giving them the ability to move Golden Sun data into this sequel, either via two GBA systems and link cable, or an outrageously long password. Isaac, the lead character from the original game, will eventually return in The Lost Age...and players who have finished the original adventure can get the upper-hand with his original Golden Sun attributes. Without the transfer, players just get the standard Isaac attributes. This is a really excellent feature that encourages players to work through the original.
Apart from the prologue, most of the story reveals itself through extremely wordy conversations. These conversations are certainly necessary in offering all the details needed to follow the pretty convoluted plot, but Golden Sun has definitely been known for dialogue that goes on for just a little too long...and the same happens in The Lost Age, right down to the silly Yes or No questions that have no bearing on the plot and are there just to give the gamer a feeling of involvement to the storyline.
In fact, not much at all has changed from the first Golden Sun game, which is definitely not a bad thing considering it was, by far, the prettiest RPG on the system, with fantastic special effects and a powerful music soundtrack that really took advantage of the GBA's hardware. It's obvious that the Camelot focused more on the story side of things than on the graphics, since the graphic engine and music soundtrack hasn't been altered noticably. There are new events that happen during the overworld portions of the adventure (like rope climbing, a large part of The Lost Age's puzzle elements), and many of the ideas for puzzles established in Golden Sun are extended and used a lot more frequently in the sequel. Players will have to move platforms, leap over gaps, traverse weak earth, and jump on suspended pillars in order to get through several of the "dungeon" type areas just as they did in the original, but these challenges are a lot more difficult and more frequent this time around.
One of Golden Sun's main elements was its Pokemon-style collection of creatures known as Djinn. These critters are elementals that can be utilized in battle, altering a character's class depending on which Djinni he uses in a fight. But before they can be used, they must be caught, and one of the main challenges in Golden Sun: The Lost Age is locating and acquiring these creatures. The designers have incorporated these Djinn creatures within the standard puzzle design, and they're a lot more "alive" in Golden Sun: The Lost Age since there will be many times where you'll have to chase after an escaping Djinn in order to catch it. But you'll have to knock it out in battle before it'll leap onto your side, and there are plenty of opportunities for these Djinn to escape before they get caught; as long as you get them, they're yours to keep. But if it gets away, either in the overworld or in battle, that's the last you'll ever see of the creature. Helpful hint: save the game before you engage the Djinn...just in case.
With these Djinn come powerful attacks during the battle sequences, and deeper in the game players will be able to combine different types of Djinn to summon extremely powerful creatures and their attacks. It's certainly possible to go through the game without using a Djinn creature during the fight, but these creatures put forth some awesome graphical effects that just can't be missed. But overall, battle sequences haven't received much alteration from the original, as the designers stuck with exact same interface from the previous game...as well as recycled many of the same spell effect as well, both good (fire and lightning effects) and bad (earthquake's "bouncy" sprites). It's still based upon random encounters, meaning players will enter battle pretty much at any time, with no visual cue besides a startling flash before it spins players into battle.
But with the same interface comes the same annoying feature: if multiple party members target a specific creature in a group, and the first member kills it off before the second member gets off its attack, the second party member defaults to a defensive position instead of attacking the next monster in line. This is irritating residue from the first game, and goes against the mentality established in other RPG battle interfaces.
Verdict
Even with its already established dialogue and battle quirks, Golden Sun: The Lost Age is still a impressive GBA game, even with its first-generation GBA technology. Camelot made the Golden Sun engine one that would last through the rising expectations as the Game Boy Advance moves on in years, and other RPG designers on the handheld have yet to topple Camelot's original game. The sequel won't offer an entirely new experience on the handheld for players that have already made it through the first game in the series, but its extended storyline and slight additions to the gameplay are more than enough make it an extremely enjoyable (and lengthy) adventure on the Game Boy Advance.
