So, Nintendo just launched one big nostalgia bomb on us this Friday. Out of the blue, she declared the full album to Golden Sun: The Lost Age was available through their Nintendo Music app. The Game Boy Advance masterpiece basically defined RPGs for an entire generation; now, its music has been preserved with an official stamp. And players are all going crazy?? And it is not just the music.
The news came directly from Nintendo’s official Twitter account alongside a link to the app wherein you can now stream all those famous tracks. Found anyone unfamiliar to the series? Golden Sun: The Lost Age is the sequel to the original Golden Sun series, with Camelot as the developer of both. And that music? Composed by Motoi Sakuraba? Some of the best music to ever come out of a handheld: epic battle themes, emotional town musics, you name it.
Interestingly enough, there were super hype comments for the music being made available, and within minutes, many of the comments turned into new-game campaigns. People ceased saying “cool music” and were now begging for a remake, reboot, sequel… ANYTHING! @DagoBMunoz just came right out and said, “Please give us a New Golden Sun game 🙏🏼🥹”, and the chorus rose.
It is wild how passionate people still are about a series that has had no new entry for what feels like forever – with its last being… Dark Dawn on DS in 2010? And that one was yeah. But the first two games?? Absolute masterpieces. Classic JRPG gameplays meet puzzle solving using psychic powers called Psynergy, with the overall battle system based on collecting elemental creatures-messily ahead of its time, honestly.
Walking into the replies is like borrowing a time machine. @paavali_henki called it “one of the very best games I played as a youth. So captivating in many ways.” And @Jabbathehot13 simply stated that “Critically underrated series.” True also. But on the contrary, @Blackhearted_1 went for the jugular: “How about you let Camelot out of the mario sports dungeon and finally let them make Golden Sun 4?”
Oof. That one hits differently because it’s true – Camelot has been stuck making Mario sports games for years now. Tennis, golf, soccer… all fine but like, where’s the RPG magic that made them famous? Golden Sun was their baby, and fans haven’t forgotten.
The music is getting love too though. @KozzmicFizz dropped a link to the battle theme saying: “Years later and this is still one of my most favorite battle themes ever.” There’s some neat trivia in the replies as well-@WeyardStar shared that the credits theme when the Golden Sun is formed is called “The Lost Age (Ending)” and that the next track is “The Broken Seal,” which is the Japanese name for the first game. Little things like this just show how much care went into these titles.
But let’s be honest – the message from the players is overwhelmingly clear: they want more Golden Sun. Not just the music. @LVHAXOR stated them bluntly: “Give us remasters of this game not the music!” And @TheAJ801 added, “Always here for Golden Sun love. Now if we could only get a remake…” It’s like every positive comment about the music comes with an asterisk saying, “but we want the game back, please.”
Then there’s hopeful speculation that this might be something bigger. @MarsSpars announced, “Golden Sun Remake is coming,” while @dj_saidwhat jested about being “one step closer to a new entry in the series (delusional).” But hey, where there’s smoke, sometimes there’s fire? Nintendo doesn’t just randomly add music from a dormant franchise to their official app for no reason, right? Right??
Okay, maybe that’s copium talking. But still. The demand is obviously there. People are hungry for traditional JRPGs again, and Golden Sun represents some of the best the genre has ever offered on handhelds. Exploration, puzzle-solving, turn-based fighting with that system of elemental magic… and it holds pretty well even today.
Meanwhile, other guys take the announcement as a cue to ask for their own sets of cool music from other classic games. @KumatoraKazooie asked for EarthBound or Pokémon RBY music, and @zacwhalen wondered whether DK64 is coming to Nintendo Switch Online. But the Golden Sun fans are by far the loudest and have been waiting for any sign for over a decade now.
Nintendo Music itself is a fairly new thing, as part of Nintendo’s growth outside the games sphere. Having tracks available officially is great for preservation and accessibility – no more having to seek out YouTube uploads or ROMs just to listen to these tracks. For Golden Sun fans, though, it feels like getting a single piece of candy when all they want is the whole factory.
Interesting highlight here about the divide between what companies think fans want and what they actually want. Nintendo: ”Here’s the music!” Players: ”Cool but where’s the game??” It’s like when your mom buys you socks for Christmas when you really wanted a new video game. Appreciated but… not quite hitting the mark.
Still though, the fact that Nintendo is acknowledging Golden Sun’s existence at all in 2024 is something. Maybe this is scouting for interest; maybe it’s just a random library addition. In any case, the response has been popular and clamoring for more noteworthy content.
Now Golden Sun: The Lost Age has some best-ever RPG music correctly preserved for all to listen to. That is the absolute good. For all those Golden Sun fans that have been awaiting some indication of the return of the series for years, the gesture must have seemed nice yet been sour-tasting. The ball is now in Nintendo’s court-will they deliver the eternally wanted games or will they keep spooning out soundtracks? I guess time will tell, but there’s never been a clearer demand.
