Golden Sun(the original) was one of the best RPGs I had ever played and definitely the best RPG I had played that year. With such a good title as a basis, I had High expectations for The Lost Age(Let's call it TLA for short, shall we?) My greatest fear was that it would suffer from the usual difficulties that sequels often have such as old and tired storyline and all too familiar gameplay. When I finally got this gem into my hands, I, well, I'll just say for now that I wasn't scared anymore.

Graphics
For starters, TLA and the original both use the same engine and consequently look exactly the same, but so is the way in which these types of sequels exist. Even though it is the same old design and scheme, It still looks great. It is neither the best nor the worst looking game on the GBA. Actually it is a little closer to being the best looking game. TLA manages to set itself aside from it's prequel and yet maintain the same look and feel, which scores high marks with me.

One of the things you really have to admire about TLA is the sheer volume of stuff they manage to cram into that tiny, little cartridge. Every single Psynergy(pronounced sin-er-ji; which is the Golden Sun term for magic) attack has it's own animation, every 'artifact' weapon has a special attack that has it's own animation, every Djinni(which are little magical creatures that you can attack with and then later summon) has an attack with it's own animation--and there are loads of Djinni, and once you store of a few djinn you can use one of several 'summon' attacks which each have their own animation. Not only are there a whole lot of them, but they all look great! Some of them are even psuedo-3D! Almost as impressive, are the backrounds where the batles take place. There is a different backround for every dungeon(sometimes even 2) and for every terrain type on the world map. Overall, the graphics may not be the freshest but they're great.

Sound
The sound is pretty darn good for a GBA game. It's nothing to scream about but it's not by any stretch of the imagination bad. There is an ambiant musical score which constantly plays in the backround and never changes. You may think this would get repetitive and for some people, it probably will, but to me, I never noticed it. I would've liked to see maybe difffernt music for different contitnents but... Oh well, at least it changes when you go out to sea. Luckily, the sea music sounds utterly appropriate and in place when you hear it.

Where TLA really shines(sound wise) is its variety in battle and dungeon music. Each dungeon has it's own music and and battle music as well. Most psynergy attacks have there own little ditty to. For example, there's a lullaby-ish noise for spells that put you and your enemies to sleep and such.

Overall TLA's sound is top quality for its genre, it could be better but you can't have everything you want. In the future I would hope the developers put different music for differnt terrain in the overhead map or at least something more than what it has already.

Gameplay
This is where RPG's usually either succeed greatly, or fail horribly, mainly because even a small quirk in a battle system can make the game virtually unplayable. Happily, TLA manages to keep a genuine RPG feel while at the same time being, well, just really fun. The controls are straightforward and simple. Beginners should have no trouble learning them, and seasoned vetrans should feel right at home.

Ironically, TLA's best feature is actually the biggest block to gameplay at the beggining of the game. The password you got from Golden sun, if you have to transfer it the old fanshioned way(copying a long string oftext as opposed to using a link cable) can take hours! If you, say, mess up something as little as 1 capital, it'll tell you invalid password and leave you stranded. I'm begging you, for your own sake, if you have to use text entry for the password, make sure you can tell capitals from lower case before you start. I was almost driven to tears having to enter and re-enter passwords because it turns out I misread one symbol in the password; don't let it happen to you. You don't even, really, have to enter the password at the very beginning either. Any point up untill about 3/4 of the way through the game, you can enter or change a password. So the password system can be frustrating at times but at least there is some flexibility.

For those of you who didn't transfer data from Golden Sun or simply can't, don't worry. When you join up with Issac he will have high-enough level-- though not as high as with a password. You even get given a good amount of Djinn from the previous game and later in the game, you'll have the opportunity to get a few more Golden Sun Djinni. So it shouldn't be any more difficult without a password than with one.

TLA's story is only somewhat a continuation from the first title. I say that because when you start off, you are not Issac from Golden Sun but Felix who was actually the antagonist from the previous game also, because there are a few gaping holes(the size of a ship...) left unexplained from Golden Sun. Interestingly enough, though, the two parties eventually join to fight as one(which is when, if you transfered from Golden Sun, you get to play as your old party, about 3/4 throuigh the game). The story manages to grab on to you and won't let you go untill you find out what happens next, which is great. TLA has done the seemingly impossible for a sequel and actually has a better story than its original.

The game falls short, though, when near the middle of the game, it starts to leave you absolutely in the dust! Far too many times, you may not have a clue to where the next place to go is which is especially bad because if you miss one little cave at point A, you may find at point z you need an item all the way back at point A in order to keep going. Luckily, it doesn't happen enough to make it unplayable but it is still a setback. Let's hope that this won't happen again.

Overall
TLA is the best RPG I have played this year. Despite it's shortcommings it's still a really great game which is absolutely worth the money. Sure, if you don't like RPGs you probably won't like this game, on the other hand it may change your mind because it is a really good and simple entry-level RPG. Either way, GoLden Sun: The Lost Age is, at it's heart, just a really good game.