Working on my personal game project has once again led me to contemplate one of my dream games: a Golden Sun party brawler game in the style of Super Smash Bros.

I've seen people, myself included, pine for a Golden Sun character or two to make it into the Super Smash Bros. series as a playable fighter -- yet, all the series' fans have gotten is one little assist trophy in Brawl, and I'm not optimistic about any series characters making it into the new Smash. A mere assist trophy doesn't cut it when such a character would fit perfectly in the roster and bring more attention to one of Nintendo's less well-known properties.

Having gotten nothing satisfactory included in Brawl, I considered the fact that there could easily be a Smash Bros.-type game composed entirely of the main Golden Sun cast from the existing three games in the series. To get some of my point across, I'll quote myself from a message I sent to one of the developers of the as-yet-unreleased fan game "Golden Sun Battle Revolution" last year, on Golden Sun Realm.

Hey, I just happened upon the thread about GSBR. A GS fighting game is something I've wanted for a while now, and I applaud and thank you all for working to make one. I had some ideas concerning the combat and music that I'd like to contribute, though I'm mindful you have a good portion of the combat finalized.

First, collected Djinn could change character class (and therefore stats and/or available Psynergy special moves) while they're just "sitting there" (i.e. prior to being summoned). This could influence a player's Djinni-collecting strategy, as changing class may or may not be desirable. Djinn could appear seemingly randomly like assist trophies in Smash Bros. Brawl, and you could have the option of either collecting the Djinni, leaving it alone for the other player to get, or somehow disposing of it so the opponent couldn't collect it.

Second, though this is more suited to a pure Smash Bros.-type game, there could be moves to return characters to the stage. Examples:
Earth adept: A vine shoots out of the stage and pulls him/her back.
Fire adept: An explosion in the opposite direction would provide propulsion.
Wind adept: Well... wind, of course. Maybe even a small tornado for more lift.
Water adept: Condenses moisture in the air and freezes it into a temporary platform.

Third, some normal attack Psynergy moves and/or combos. Imagine Felix/Isaac using a quake-series move to propel the opponent into the air, where Odyssey is then used. Swords hold the airborne enemy in place while the Earth adept does a downward/forward slash (direction depending on if the Lost Age or Dark Dawn version is preferred) through them, accompanied by the Odyssey sword graphic. Ragnarok or the horizontal version of Odyssey could be a ground-based move. For Piers, the puddle-freezing move knocks the enemy into the air, where Diamond Berg then crashes onto the enemy's head, propelling them into the ground, where Piers then finishes the combo off in the usual fashion by chipping the iceberg apart with his sword. Wind adepts would be masters of the sky, Earth adepts masters of the ground, water adepts masters of any water on the stage or moisture in the air, and fire adepts masters of... er, lava and the the air's combustive qualities, I guess.

Fourth, powerful weapons. The Gaia Blade, Sol Blade, Masamune, and Tisiphone's Edge, as examples. They could be used as normal weapons until the player decides to use the unleash, at which point the weapon is either discarded and the player returns to using a "normal" weapon, or the weapon is kept but left unable to unleash again. This could be comparable to Brawl's Final Smash moves. The only hard part would be making the unleashes noticeably better than a normal Psynergy attack such as Ragnarok or Odyssey.

Finally, I've been meaning to go to OverClocked Remix to request more Golden Sun remixes. I'm sure someone there could cook up some excellent remixes for the game. Right now, the only GS song on the site is a guitar version of the Elemental Stars chamber song, which really doesn't fit a fighting game too well. T_TAngry_Beaver

The preference for the first two games isn't uncommon. Dark Dawn didn't have anywhere near the quality of the first two, IMO, and from what I've read on the Golden Sun Realm forum, it seems many other people have the same opinion. One would need to factor in that much of the preference for Dark Dawn over the first two is likely due to the fact that seven years have passed and Dark Dawn is many people's first GS game. I'm hoping that the fourth game, if it does get made, will be more like the first two than the third, but it'll of course be in 3D.

I get tired of seeing so little enthusiasm or awareness for this series. Hopefully that's only because it's been exclusive to handhelds so far.

The first two Golden Sun games were iconic RPG's on the GameBoy Advance. With the attractive graphical style, the charm of the characters and their interactions, the wonderful soundtracks, and the ease of play, these games oozed greatness from every metaphorical pore. Golden Sun 3, "Golden Sun: Dark Dawn", was released at the very end of 2010, and ended on a cliffhanger, with major story elements just floating in mid-air. It's been said that the first two games were meant to be prologues to something bigger....

Now for some awesome music, and in-game footage that shows you what the action in Golden Sun is like!

You might recognize this song. It was in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl soundtrack, and it's from the Golden Sun series.

Here's a spoilerific demonstration of the battle system, from Golden Sun: The Lost Age (note: this is the final boss battle).

And here's some footage from Dark Dawn. This is a battle against the most powerful superboss in the game.

Now, it seems that the series might be in jeopardy. Apparently it never put up the sales numbers that many think it deserves, probably due to it being a handheld-only series. Nintendo never made it one of their big series, despite the fact that it really does have the potential to develop legs. Fans were left waiting for seven long years for a third installment in the series, and now, after Dark Dawn, fans are waiting for a resolution to the story, at the very least. Golden Sun deserves to be a Nintendo phenomenon.

One of the developers of the series, Hiroyuki Takahashi, had this to say:

I?m very pleased that you enjoyed Dark Dawn. RPGs take a very long time to make and need a lot of effort. As you will appreciate if you have played the game, the number of ideas that went into the story was rather substantial. When writing a story like that for a Golden Sun game, I really feel like I am pouring my soul into it and when I am finished, I always feel really drained. Everyone else working on the project also really devoted themselves to it, treating it like their life?s work. So it really is a huge encouragement to us to get a positive reaction from the people who play the game.

A big reason for us making RPGs comes from the requests from all the people who have enjoyed our RPGs in the past. Perhaps if there are enough Nintendo users asking for another game in the Golden Sun series, then this will naturally lead to the development of such a game.

Speaking personally from the perspective of the story, I think that honestly it may not be so likely because Golden Sun really requires a full effort to be put in. But of course, if there are enough people saying that we really must create another game, then we may just have to listen to them. Still, you would need to give me a bit of time to work on ideas for the story before we could release a fourth game in the seriesHiroyuki Takahashi

And for some discussion: What do you think of the Golden Sun series? Would you like for Nintendo to capitalize on its existence and quality to bring about more diversity in the company's game lineups? Is there anything else you'd like to say about the series?

In any case, have at it!

If you want consistency in story and visuals, only view the original theatrical releases of episodes IV-VI (the original trilogy -- Episode IV was originally just called "Star Wars", just so you know what you're looking for). There were something like two revisions of those movies, lumped under the term "Special Edition". Most of the additions and alterations in the SE were for the worse... especially at the beginning of Episode VI, where the CG graphics clashed horribly with the live-action stuff. The SE is what Lucas wanted the original releases to be like, but he screwed them up in making changes.

Episodes I-III, the prequel trilogy, have worse acting and dialogue, some story points and other details are highly inconsistent with the original trilogy (even the SE), and... well, there are lots of things to complain about. See here: http://www.chefelf.com/starwars/index.php

(I really think Lucas is one of those authors/creators who damages everything he touches after he's established the fictional universe. I hold a similar opinion regarding Roddenberry and Star Trek, except that Star Trek started in a way I don't care for.)

However, for me, all six movies are enjoyable viewing experiences -- then again, I like action and sometimes find it difficult to analyze things "in the moment". All six movies develop the fictional universe wonderfully, however, and I genuinely think that the Expanded Universe (all non-movie, authorized Star Wars fare) is the "real deal". I would rather play a quality Star Wars video game like Jedi Knight 2 and the Knights of the Old Republic games than watch the movies. I think the prequel trilogy's biggest contribution to Star Wars was in enriching the universe so the Expanded Universe could have more to work with.

Mario platforming games, let's see which ones I can list, not starting with the arcade-only Mario Bros....

SMB
SMB2 (non-Japanese)
SMB2: Lost Levels (Japanese-only until much later)
SMB3
SMW
SMW2
SM64
Yoshi's Story (feel free to discount this one)
SMS
SMG
SMG2
NSMB
NSMBW

So in about 25 years, we have what, about 13? Roughly one every two years. More, if I'm missing any.

Zelda's also become too dense in recent years, counting both console and handheld entries together.

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"]

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but after enjoying Dead Space 1 and Dead Space Extraction, I was extremely disappointed by DS2. It didn't boast any interesting new weapons and the only interesting new enemies were the hunters (which admittedly were awesome). Also, the last third of the game fell apart, crippled by rooms with infinitely respawning enemies, enemies who attacked when out of sight (say, by spitting acid at you when they were on the other side of a stack of crates), an unkillable enemy who could only be taken out at a specific point (present in DS1 but shorter) and a horrendously bad last boss (on a related note, in start contrast to DS1 and Extraction none of the bosses of DS2 were anything to write home about).

If DS3 actually has some new ideas, I'll be there on day 1, but if DS2 fortells the future of the franchise, I'll pass.

jamejame

The last few chapters gave me a really tough time, and I'm looking forward to it even less now that I'm playing on Survivalist difficulty (with Zealot and Hardcore after that), which is difficult enough, at least in the first few chapters (where I am right now). This sentiment is coming from someone who just completed DS1 on Impossible, so... I'm kinda feeling rather intimidated.[spoiler] Between being pursued through onslaughts of normal necromorphs by the regenerating one and getting hit constantly by the little necros during the final boss fight, I'm dreading trying to endure the same on Survivalist, let alone the modes remaining. [/spoiler]

Even having said that, DS2 is still my favorite of the two games, due to better combat, suits, Isaac's voice acting, and general characterization. There are different environments, too, which is nice. As long as DS3 doesn't have incredibly hectic scenarios like the three of us (I and the two people quoted) mentioned, I'm pretty sure I'll love it.

WiiCubeM1 said:The worst Christianity is doing to our society (by which I mean any industrialized nation) today is forcing women to give up contraception.

Wrong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUI_ML1qkQE

WiiCubeM1 said:If you want to make a difference, don't b*tch on a gaming site, go do something about it. Join the Peace Corp, become someone who fights the difference in equality elsewhere in the world.

I am doing something about it: I'm trying to convince people that they're wrong and that their beliefs are harmful. That's not exactly nothing.

WiiCubeM1 said:Sitting behind a screen yelling at me isn't helping anyone. You're not a crusader, you're just another angry voice on the internet.

What makes you think I was ever yelling at you? I didn't even make a sound when reading your post. Actually, what you say here probably applies more to you than to me.

[QUOTE="Angry_Beaver"]

[QUOTE="001011000101101"] Pretty much.worlock77

Wrong. It is impossible to prove the nonexistence of something that has been proven to exist.

But we disprove the existence of things all the time. Close up a cardboard box and prove that Garfield isn't in it.

That only proves that Garfield isn't in that box. It does not prove that Garfield doesn't exist.

Oh, for crap's sake. Isn't my message clear, regardless? The existence of a postulated being can be disproven. Define "God" as "the being that killed you". Now, I want you to prove that that entity doesn't exist (i.e. disprove its existence).

[QUOTE="Communist_Soul"]

You cannot disprove something that never fvcking existed.

001011000101101

Wrong. It is impossible to prove the nonexistence of something that has been proven to exist.

But we disprove the existence of things all the time. Close up a cardboard box and prove that Garfield isn't in it.