Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Developer: Camelot Software Planning Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Game Boy Advance Released in JP: June 28, 2002 Released in US: April 14, 2003 Released in EU: September 19, 2003 This game has unused enemies. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

Golden Sun: The Lost Age is the second game in the Golden Sun series. The game picks up the story during the events of the previous game and puts the player in the roles of the previous game's antagonists.

To do: More unused sprites such as an unused Nue enemy, unused Crab enemy, unused small scorpion enemy, and various NPC and other graphical assets. There are some unused battle backgrounds and animations, including unlisted ones, that should be documented here.

Debug Mode

Just like in the original Golden Sun, this game also has a Debug Mode. To enable it, use the code 03001238:01.

• Holding L will allow you to walk through walls.
• If you open the Pause Menu, you will see three extra options that don't do anything.
• Press L + Start to open the Palette Menu.
• Press B + Start to open the Warp Debug Menu, which will allow you to go to any room in the game.
• Press B + Select to open the Story Book Flags Menu.
• Pressing Start + Select should make the frames pause; button presses will advance frames.
• In battle, hold Start as you open the Status menu to see enemy stats.
• During cutscenes, press R to enable Dialogue Skip mode. Press L to disable it. Will only work for cutscenes that allow for it. (It is manually added by each of those events.)

(Source: goldensunhacking.net)

Here are a few screenshots of those menus in respective order:

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  Extra options.

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  Palette Menu

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  Warp Menu

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  Flag Menu

Turn on flag 16D in the Flag menu, go in battle, and during the Attack Sequence (or during fleeing) you can do the following:

• Press R to destroy the enemy's team.
• Press Select + R to destroy your own team.

There are a number of menus that can be opened that are not accessible via the debug mode mentioned above, so replace the Pause menu by putting the following values at 0803835C.

• 0802DE8D = Sprite Viewer. - Going to this screen enables debug mode. (03001238:02)
• 08040A49 = Music menu.
• 08040D71 = Menu that starts with "Full PP and Money". - None of these options work. The function uses an argument for which item is selected, but when you pick one, the entry you picked is returned. It is assumed that the function that is meant to use the return value was removed?
• 080410F9 = Special Warps. - These may, depending on the warp, give you items, set/clear flags, set psy shortcut for R button, etc.
• 08041351 = Psynergy menu. - L and R buttons can be used to set Psynergy Shortcuts. Felix's party all get 500/500 for PP, but Isaac's party is left out.
• 08118959 = Battle test? - A battle will open. But you can choose between invisible options if you hold Down first before the function is called. (Basically party/enemy setups.) For Party Setups, you can also check the guy in Link Lobby. (Use warp menu, set map to 312 and door to 0, go south, walking through wall.)
• 081C0051 = A music menu that lacks a GUI. It is similar to the one that does, but has many differences. (Start will fade the song instead of stopping it. B will stop the song instead of exiting the menu. There are three menu options you can go through with Up/Down instead of four (Select might change FX?) Also, this menu cannot be exited.)

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There's a function at 0811C538 that allows you to use L/R to rotate the camera in battle.

Unused Menu Graphics

To do: Add unused menu divider tiles.

These are ability range indicators, with columns representing ranges of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 targets, which can be used in menus that show Psynergy abilities. The top row is used for abilities with diminishing effectiveness ratios, while the bottom would likely be used for abilities without these ratios. However, the game does not have any means of using the bottom row except in cases where abilities have a set range of "All" targets (for example, Break); the bottom right-most indicator is used in these cases. While the top row is fully implemented, ability ranges 9 and 11 are not assigned to any abilities that appear in these menus so they also go unused.

Each indicator uses two tiles, with the second being mirrored horizontally.

Unused Rooms

To do: Add unused map file for YAMTEST2.

Map #	Internal Name	Name	Notes
313-320	TEST0-TEST7	Test 0-Test 7	These appear to be blank rooms, but the collision data suggest otherwise. They are basically copy-pasted versions of used rooms.
321	GET_ITEM	Icon Test / Face Test
322	YAMTEST	Psynergy Test	YAM likely refers to Yutaka Yamamoto? Other games he has worked on may also feature a Yam test.
323	YAMTEST2	Psynergy Test 2	YAM likely refers to Yutaka Yamamoto? Other games he has worked on may also feature a Yam test. The wrong map file is assigned to this room.
324	SHOPTEST	Shop Test	Going here from door 99 will give you Isaac's party.

Unused NPC

In Link Lobby, there is an NPC who is out of bounds. If you talk to him, you can pick a party setup by number, though you can't see what they are before choosing them.

Unused Battle Animations

In both Golden Sun games, there is a pointer table in which every entry corresponds to a battle animation. In the US version of The Lost Age, this table is located at 08197AA0. Every indexed battle animation has an ID, and these IDs (along with arguments) are defined in a table located at 08128C50. Additionally, many animations are coded within shared functions and are only differentiated by conditional ID branches; for example, the animations for Growth and Punji use the same base function, but Growth has an internal ID of x00 while Punji uses x01.

Both games also have an assortment of unused battle animations; most are not indexed. However, many of these animations are accessible through patches made by members of the Golden Sun Hacking Community; the Animation Overhaul (with Baseline) can be found here.

Below are some purposefully-made animations that exist in this game. Please note that all names are unofficial, but are included for quick reference if the patch linked above is used. Unless otherwise stated, all instances of a target being damaged are not part of the animation.

Description	Address	Visual
"Dagger Rain" Does not use arguments. Uses sound effects. Exists in the first Golden Sun. Hits target.	0813e115
Pre-release Fizz (djinni unleash) Does not use arguments. Uses sound effects. Exists in the first Golden Sun. Target flashes white. Present, in modified form, in Spaceworld footage.	0814b351
"Element Harvest" = Possibly an early pre-summon sequence Does not use arguments. Does not have sound effects. Exists in the first Golden Sun.	081539d1
"Grim Omen" Does not use arguments. Does not have sound effects. Exists in the first Golden Sun.	081539d1
"Seal Strike" Does not use arguments. Uses a sound effect. Exists in the first Golden Sun. Attacker lunges forward. Is indexed.	Index #67 (0814627d)
"Melty Blue" = Unfinished screen transition? Does not use arguments. Does not use sound effects.	08145c69
"Mosaic Transition" = Unfinished screen transition? Does not use arguments. Does not use sound effects.	08125aa1
Unfinished Sequence = Possibly for a boss entrance? Does not use arguments. Does not use sound effects.	0813e7e1

Dummy and Placeholder Enemies

In this game, enemies have three variants of them. However, some enemy groups only have one or two variants used in-game, leaving unused enemies with placeholder stats. In the following table, only enemies with exclusive palettes are shown with a sprite. This does not include enemies from the first Golden Sun game, which are coded in this game, but left unused.

No.	Name (JP)	Name (romanisation)	Name (EN)	Name (FR)	Name (DE)	Name (IT)	Name (ES)	Sprite
0	？？？	???	???	???	???	???	???
59	？	?	?	?	?	?	?
61	あらくれ２	Arakure2	Ruffian 2	Assassin2	Störenfried 2	Furfante2	Rufián2
62	あらくれ３	Arakure3	Ruffian 3	Assassin3	Störenfried 3	Furfante3	Rufián3
68	クレイジーゴリラ	Crazy gorilla	Crazy Gorilla	Psychogorille	Irer Affe	Gorilla folle	Gorila loco
74	チャンパ２	Champa2	Champa 2	Champa2	Champa 2	Champa2	Champa2
75	チャンパ３	Champa3	Champa 3	Champa3	Champa 3	Champa3	Champa3
88	オロチ６	Orochi6	Serpent 6	Serpent6	Vipera 6	Serpente6	Serpiente6
89	オロチ７	Orochi7	Serpent 7	Serpent7	Vipera 7	Serpente7	Serpiente7
95	ポセイドン３	Poseidon3	Poseidon 3	Poséidon3	Poseidon 3	Poseidone3	Poseidón
101	せんし３	Senshi3	Knight 3	Chevalier3	Adjutant 3	Cavaliere3	Caballero3
108	？	?	?	?	?	?	?
111	ワイズウルフ	Wise Wolf	White Wolf	Loup maudit	Scheewolf	Lupo bianco	Lobo blanco
117	バブーンゴブリン	Baboon Goblin	Baboon Goblin	Gnome babouin	Pavian-Goblin	Goblin scimmia	Babuigoblin
120	イビルモモンガ	Evil Momonga	Momangler	Momangler	Momangler	Laceratore	Necromomonga
123	キングコボルド	King Kobold	Kobold King	Roi Kobold	Kobold-König	Re Coboldo	Rey Kobold
131	ウイングランナー	Wing Runner	Winged Runner	Ailopède	Flügelläufer	Ala veloce	Correalado
140	ウルフシェイパー	Wolf Shaper	Skinwalker	Marolf	Gingiva	Strisciapelle	Carnicero
143	ディノザウルス	Dinosaurus	Dinosaurus	Dinosaurus	Dinosaurier	Dinosaurus	Dinosaurio
146	ダークマーダー	Dark Murder	Dark Murder	Meurtrier	Meuchelmörder	Omicida oscuro	Asesinoscuro
149	イビルビショップ	Evil Bishop	Bane Wight	Crânok	Fluchwichtel	Wight ferale	Sacerdote
152	フェアニーニンフ	Fainy Nymph	Weird Nypmh	Nymphe	Finsternymphe	Ninfa magica	Banshee
154	オールドウッド	Old Wood	Elder Wood	Boizantic	Nox Arboris	Rami antichi	Malacorteza
155	エストレイウッド	Astray Wood	Estre Wood	Boizestre	Nero Arboris	Rami sacri	Crústula
157	ダークウィザード	Dark Wizard	Dark Wizard	Génie obscur	Schwarzmagier	Mago scuro	Brujo oscuro
158	イビルシャーマン	Evil Shaman	Evil Shaman	Sorcier	Necrido	Sciamano nero	Mal Chamán
164	ポイズンシェル	Poison Shell	Poison Shell	Spiralis	Giftschale	Velenoguscio	Venenoconcha
176	ヒュージバード	Huge Bird	Fell Raptor	Rapace géant	Sturzraptor	Raptor feroce	Megarraptor
179	ウイングドラゴン	Wing Dragon	Winged Dragon	Dragon ailé	Flügeldrache	Drago alato	Dragón alado
185	ドラゴン	Dragon	Dragon	Dragon	Tatzelwurm	Drago	Dragón
194	ミニデス	Mini Death	Mini-Death	Croquemort	Mini-Tod	Morte minima	Nelchael
200	アークデーモン	Arch Demon	Aeshma	Aeshma	Aesma Daeva	Aeshma	Aeshma
202	バルログ	Balrog	Valukar	Valukar	Valukar	Valukar	Balrog
203	バルログ	Balrog	Valukar	Valukar	Valukar	Valukar	Balrog
206	エストレイバロン	Astray Baron	Estre Baron	Baronestre	Estre Baron	Barone mistico	Barón Estre
209	スピリットアーミー	Spirit Army	Spirit Army	Soldat esprit	Spiriti	Guerr. mistico	Soldespíritu
214	センチネル	Sentinel	Sentinel	Sentinelle	Sentinel	Sentinella	Centinela
215	センチネル	Sentinel	Sentinel	Sentinelle	Sentinel	Sentinella	Centinela

Elder Wood, Estre Wood, and Weird Nypmh can be seen in-game using the in-game Psynergies with their name. However, they still have their own unused enemy page.

Unused Psynergy

• 129 - Reflect: A Psynergy that was carried over from the first game and is usable in battle. It bestows Reflect, which does nothing.
• 155 - Ma???? (Magnet): A Psynergy usable on the map. Upon use, a ring appears around the player which disappears after a few seconds. It can cause graphical glitches with Lash ropes. The ability may cause transitions between locations and menus to become glitchy. It can be accessed with GameShark/Codebreaker code 82000AA8 009B (changes Felix's first slot to Ma????).
• 157 - A?? (Arrow): A Psynergy usable on the map. Upon use, a bow appears in front of the player, and shoots an arrow which embeds in NPCs and other objects. Can be used in Psynergy Test Debug Room to light a torch, and annoy Kraden. The ability appears glitchy sometimes, as it ignores the height-map, and thus may appear at the wrong elevation. It can be accessed by using the code 82000AA8 009D.
• 298 - Aurora Field: Used by the Iris summon, though it can be given to Felix as Psynergy using the code 82000AA8 012A. It fully heals and revives your party, though it only targets the party that is currently active if used as Psynergy.

Abilities 114 (Taint), 115 (Poison), 117 (Confuse), 118 (Charm), and 119 (Paralyze) are unchanged from the first game and also remain unused.

To do: Images of the Psynergies, information about accessing them.

Unobtainable Objects

• No. 15: Machete (Japanese: ワークソード Work Sword). It was usable in the prologue of the first game, where it was the only weapon available to young Isaac and Garet. If hacked into your objects and equipped, it shows the same behavior but cannot be unequipped.
• No. 220: Venus Star (Japanese: ヴィーナススター Venus Star). Played a role in the first game, but has no use in the second.
• No. 221: Mercury Star (Japanese: マーキュリースター Mercury Star). Same as the Venus Star. No longer has a purpose here.
• No. 225: Small Jewel (Japanese: ちいさなほうせき Chiisana houseki). It was an item to be used in a GS1 dungeon (Sol Sanctum). Has no function in GS2.
• No. 232: Anchor Charm (Japanese: イカリのおきもの Ikari no okimono). It was an item to be used in a GS1 dungeon (Tolbi-bound Ship). Has no function in GS2.
• No. 235: Boat Ticket (Japanese: ふねのチケット Fune no ticket). Used in the first game to board the Tolbi-bound Ship, but has no purpose here.
• No. 237: Mystic Draught (Japanese: レムリアのくすり Lemuria no kusuri). It was an item to be used in a GS1 dungeon (Altmiller Cave). Useless in GS2.
• No. 405: Knight's Greave (Japanese: ナイトグリーブ Knight greave). Increases Defense by 8 and HP by 5. Its buy value is 2700 and its sell value is 2025.
• No. 406: Silver Greave (Japanese: シルバーグリーブ Silver greave). Increases Defense by 11 and Luck by 4. Its buy value is 3800 and its sell value is 2850.
• No. 407: Ninja Sandals (Japanese: シノビのわらじ Shinobi no waraji). Increases Defense by 5 and the unleash rate by 15%. Its buy value is 2000 and its sell value is 1500.
• No. 411: Aroma Ring (Japanese: アロマリング Aroma ring). Has no effect when equipped, but can be used to heal HP. Its buy value is 2300 and its sell value is 1725.
• No. 412: Rainbow Ring (Japanese: レインボーリング Rainbow ring). Has no effect when equipped, but can be used in battle to attempt to inflict Delusion on enemies. Its buy value is 900 and its sell value is 675.
• No. 413: Soul Ring (Japanese: たましいのゆびわ Tamashii no yubiwa). Has no effect when equipped, but can be used to attempt to revive a downed party member. Its buy value is 1800 and its sell value is 1350.
• No. 450: Signal Whistle (Japanese: あいずのふえ Aizu no fue). Although used by the boss Briggs to call Sea Fighters, it cannot be normally obtained by the player. If hacked into your inventory and used in battle, it summons a Sea Fighter in the enemy party.

Unused Map Logic

In E Tundaria Islet, attempting to walk on the water will cause Felix to go through a drowning animation, followed by the screen briefly turning black and depositing the player back at the entrance to the area. There is no way to access this without cheating as it is impossible to fall off into the water, suggesting that earlier in development it was possible. This was likely dropped for being too hard or simply not fitting within the series' design standards for movement.

Curiously, using Reveal will delay the drowning as long as it remains active.

Unused Sprites

Link?

Present in the ROM are sprites of a character that closely resembles Link. The following GameShark/Action Replay code will change Felix's sprites to these:

759BE646 09FCAF90 
C8F712A9 DD7B08F2 
DD9FA7CB 542FB102 
AF9C69C9 54A98243 
AB223216 631A0C4F
1E27D83B BBFB6923 
2D190863 3F2DC15A 
E768D406 4E9779DC 
7C639D9F 4C442A5D 
C6A11B07 D4D76256 
ADB85D93 6D4F1230 
1E27D83B BBFB6923

Unused Ghost Army Idle Sprite

The Ghost Army enemy points its spear to the right. This left-pointing version is unused.

Unused Jenna Sprites

If the event that sets Felix as the lead character is bypassed through debug warps, Jenna will remain the lead character on the overworld. While she is missing sprites for several basic actions (such as pushing objects and climbing diagonal ropes), she does have several sprites that aren't used. These include complete casting animations for all directions (unused as she doesn't get any Psynergy usable on the field when she is the lead character), injured sprites for the overworld if she is defeated but other party members are still active (unused as she never has allies when she is the lead character, so her defeat causes a party wipe), and sprites for nodding her head while looking in all directions (as she is only asked 2 questions, both in a cutscene where her facing is preset, most of these are unused).

Felix Drowning

Part of the above unused behavior in the E Tundaria Islet map. Felix has a large number of frames for use while drowning that go unused.

Unused Monsters

The following sprites exist completely animated in the game, but no enemy in the roster uses them. Note that the small scorpion is different from the regular scorpion enemies (which are larger).

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Unused Character

This NPC exists in the game data with a sprite sheet and a portrait. According to the debug room, it might be a seller or an innkeeper.

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Unused Battle Animations

There are a number of battle animations that go unused. Some are indexed in an animation table, but many are not. Most of these animations also exist in GS1, and are likewise unused.

Unused Content from Golden Sun

The first game's bosses, young Issac, young Garet, all out-of-battle sprites for all party members (including Jenna, which are stored separately from her new sprites), the ship used to cross the Karagol sea, various NPCs (but not their portraits), and some world map locations all have their sprites leftover in this game's code.

Additionally, all enemies from the first game are in the second, as are all battle backgrounds, weather effects (like the dust particle effect for when Sol Sanctum is collapsing), and some text.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Since the game's title is localised, title screens are different. The non-English international versions have a different font/style for “TM”, and use different colours and positions for the logo.

Japanese 黄金の太陽：失われし時代	English Golden Sun: The Lost Age	French Golden Sun: L'âge perdu
German Golden Sun: Die vergessene Epoche	Italian Golden Sun: L'era perduta	Spanish Golden Sun: La edad perdida

Opening Screen

The Japanese version's opening says "THE LORD OF GOLDEN SUN THE 2ND BOOK". This is changed to "Golden Sun Book Two" in the English release, correcting the Engrish and use of all caps. All European versions of the game have the intro in the local language and retain the English version's use of proper capitalization and use of word over numeral, except the Italian version which uses the Roman numeral "II".

Japanese	English	French
German	Italian	Spanish

Djinn Tutorial Alternate Music

If you hold Up soon after leaving Daila, flag 0x175 turns on. This causes alternate music to play for the tutorial music.

Translation Errors

• Formina Sage (EN, ES, FR, DE)
  

One of Dullahan's signature abilities is named “ファルミナスエッジ” in Japanese, which translates as “Fulminous Edge”. However, it was localised as “Formina Sage” in the English version. The error then was mirrored in the other European localisations. It was corrected in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

Japanese	Romanisation	English	Spanish	French	Italian	German
ファルミナスエッジ	Fulminous Edge	Formina Sage	Sabia Formina	Sage formina	Attacco	Formina

• Danza Lluvia (ES)
  

In the Spanish localisation, ability “Regen Dance” was mistranslated as “Danza Lluvia” (Rain dance) because the team thought “Regen” was the German word for “rain”.

Japanese	Romanisation	English	Spanish	French	Italian	German
さいせいのまい	Saisei no mai	Regen Dance	Danza Lluvia	Danse de vie	Danza di vita	Regenerator

• Ur Flash (EN, ES, FR, DE)
  

In the English localisation, ability ウルフラッシュ was mistranslated. It is some sort of portmanteau of ウルフ (wolf), スラッシュ (slash) and フラッシュ (flash), but it was literally romanised as “Ur Flash”. The error was mirrored in other European localisations.

Japanese	Romanisation	English	Spanish	French	Italian	German
ウルフラッシュ	Wolflash	Ur Flash	Flash Ur	Flash d'Ur	Lampo	Urblitz

• Vital Moon (EN, ES, FR, DE, IT)
  

In the English localisation, ability きゅうしょづき was mistranslated. It means “Vital thrust”, but づき was interpreted as Japanese word 月 (moon) instead of 突き (thrust), so the English version ended up as “Vital Moon”. The European localisations followed suit.

Japanese	Romanisation	English	Spanish	French	Italian	German
きゅうしょづき	Kyuushodzuki (Vital thrust)	Vital Moon	Luna vital	Lune vitale	Luna vitale	Lebenslicht