Golden Sun "Smash Bros." : Something Nintendo Should Pursue

I didn't initially intend to make two Golden Sun threads in such close temporal proximity to each other, but 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.

Originally Posted by Left4Cuccos

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_T

The Djinn system described is probably much too complex, but I think you get the idea. However, the Gamepad could be used to do something with Djinn configurations, now that I think of it.

Aside from the fact that this wouldn't be a mash-up like Smash Bros. is and has only characters from a less well-known series, I think that in terms of gameplay, this could be better than Smash Bros. There are certainly enough weapon abilities, spells, and summons in the Golden Sun series to outdo anything we've seen in Smash so far.

The trouble is... that I haven't seen anyone talking about this kind of game anywhere. Not only would it be a superb game in its own right, but it would get people interested in a Nintendo series that isn't Mario or Zelda, assuming Nintendo faithfully marketed it.

So, let's talk seriously about this.
And also, I have a request: If anyone here knows of people who could push for a movement to get Nintendo interested in this idea, please do what you can to get this train moving! Zelda Informer has started numerous "Operations" to get games either localized or developed. It would be great if they could get onboard with this idea, as well, but I'm not sure how best to contact them.

Will post more later due to being on my iPhone, but I think this is a great idea! Camelot could make it as a spin off. Handheld for sure.

Pragmatically, I don't think the series is popular enough to justify a Golden Sun Smash Bros type game. However, I love the series and it does sound like a very fun idea on paper.

More realistically, I think we can at least hope for more GS representation in the next Smash Bros (a character and hopefully a level).