On a day in October 2002 I went to the mall and looked between the games. I met quite some games like Final Fantasy X and such, but I didn't have a PS2, so...well, I found this, and I DID have a GBA. Bought it. After that, I was amazed. It started with the climax of a volcano having an outburst, and having to go save friends until one was swept away in a storm while it was raining...the climax was broken, and then you met the two villains in the game; they noticed you eavesdropping and then they knock you out. After that you get to see the town again, this time it is not raining and everything is sunny, and your main character is working on a roof of your main character's house. Then two of your friends come and accidentally ruin the roof by standing on it...foo. In the end, you get invited by a scientist named Kraden (Sclater in Japanese version) to visit the temple which is based upon the mountain which was disrupted in the beginning. OK. You get to put some time into puzzling, which is in my opinion, very good, because there is a good balance between puzzling and battling, though sometimes there are just too many random battles. Finally you get to solve it, and you arrive in a room in which the essences of the four elements (air, earth, water, fire...) are sealed, but you are quickly forced to give them to the villains that beat you up in the beginning of the game and an unexpected guest. Finally, you are involved in a quest to save the world by stopping Saturos and Menardi, the villains, in unlocking the Power of Alchemy, the 'magic' of that game's universe. But do they really have to be stopped? Is it really their purpose to destroy the world? A lot of things are found out in the second part. Graphical wise, I have to say this is the best game ever for a 64-Megabit cartridge. Battles and the world map are in Mode 7, and the overall is well-animated and coloured. Musical wise, this game is alright. With a score composed by Motoi Sakuraba, the music is not always 'good' but it mostly does fit with the situations in the game. There are no slowdowns so far I noticed, and the learning curve isn't very long. Also you can collect up to 7 Elementals of each elemental force, which also enables more skills and also summons in battle, which can get to be VERY powerful to fight with. Also, quite a few side-quests, and they could get vital to the second part also. Overall, 9/10 for me. I hope there are going to be more games like this in the future. And 'coloured' is NOT a spelling mistake.
Review of Golden Sun
