Topic: Does anyone else think Camelot Software Planning is not being put to best use by Nintendo?

Camelot Software Planning is a company I hold in high regard for their game development philosophies and their use of said beliefs in their RPG series, Golden Sun, for Nintendo.

I became a fan of GS and the company after playing the IP’s games on NSO and buying and playing a copy of Dark Dawn, the last entry in the series to be released by them. I have even found myself quoting their principles taken from their website. The one where they quote famous people from history to explain what they want out of new employees: https://www.camelot.co.jp/wp/ Not to mention, as a hobbyist game dev, I actually look up to them.

That said, I feel like Camelot is not being put to best use by Nintendo. I realized that sometime after seeing the reveal of Mario Tennis Fever in the last Direct. Don’t get me wrong, I think the game looks great so far, and because of the inclusion of its adventure mode, I would be curious to learn more about it and see if it’s what I’ve been wanting for to come out from the team. It’s also worth noting we have no confirmation that the title’s being developed by Camelot, but the game certainly looks like their signature style so far, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

I personally would like to see them make games that best take advantage of their utmost level of creativity. To me that was something like GS. If they’re not gonna make a new Golden Sun, I would at least like to see them work on something else that’s varied in creative endeavors. You know, like something that has a world, characters, unique exploration, etc..

I get that they’re a rather small team and Nintendo’s not gonna raise their number of employees. But I actually think it would be all the more worth it if Nintendo did raise their number count. As much as I love Nintendo for their IPs, despite the company’s few flaws right now, I actually think they could benefit from having GS or another IP of different gameplay in their lineup of existing games. You know, more variety, for people that may not be interested in every franchise.

I don’t mean to sound negative or mad writing this post too. This is just something I found to be slightly disappointing and am curious if anyone else feels the same way.

I definitely agree that remakes of the Golden Sun trilogy and / or a new game in the series would be awesome 😃.

I do think its a shame when basically any game dev is stuck with the one series they make and nothing else. Even if the games are really good or successful, making nothing but Mario themed Tennis and Golf games forever, especially considering the questionable issues for some of them, does seem like a waste.

We don't know what goes on behind the scenes. Golden Sun may have been pitched and rejected because of projected sales potential.

One thing I will say- Mario Tennis Aces was hy far the best sports game on NSW1. And Mario Tennis Fever looks head and shoulders above Aces. Imo Fever looks like the Mario Sports game I've been waiting for all my gaming career. Maybe it falls short but from what I've seen it's doing everything right. That adventure mode looks super dope.

I wonder how many Golden Sun staff are still there. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them have drifted away over the years, but I'd be curious to see what a modern GS project would look like. If they still have some of the old Camelot DNA, I'd be down to check it out, as I really enjoyed the games, growing up. As long as they hire an editor to cut down the repetitive dialogue, oy...

@ShieldHero
would definitely love to see them get the remake treatment whether its 2d or full 3d it would be nice to see the games with shiny new visuals (originals still look nice but definitely suffer on a bigger screen) also hearing motoi sakurabas ost's free from the limitations of the original hardware.

though really for me a big part would be that it would allow for the games to be playable outside of the NSO service (meaning you can keep the games).

was initially thinking that the NSO releases would prevent that but i imagine if games having remakes or remasters didnt prevent them from being released on NSO (such as links awakening and turok) then hopefully being on NSO wouldnt rule out potential remakes or remasters on the system.

does make me wonder as well that if the third game got a remake on the same system as 1 and 2 remakes they may be able to incorperate some form of save bonus since despite the whole party stats carrying over they could still have some kind of interaction between 2nd and 3rd games (i forgot if there was anything like that in the DS version of the third game since i do remember some games using the GBA cart slot for some features though not sure if golden sun TLA did)

@JaxonH I think it’s because Camelot’s too small of a studio to develop a new GS with a AAA standard. I actually recall a development team, I can’t remember the name, who wanted to develop a new F-Zero, but Nintendo declined because they were too small.

There was actually a rumor back in the day from Emily Rogers about making a new Golden Sun who said this: “I'll put it this way: Internally, in the last ten years, Nintendo has shown more interest in Golden Sun than people realize.

Nintendo likes Golden Sun. The big thing holding it back is finding the right developer/studio to work on it. Because Camelot has its plate full with Mario sports, and Mario sports makes Nintendo a lot of money.”

I’ve never played Aces and Super Rush. I’ll have to admit, I like what I’ve seen of Mario Tennis Fever so far. If it has an adventure mode that’s good like what Camelot’s known for, I’m all in! Though I think I will wait for a sale or buy a used copy to obtain it if I am interested.

@hisownsidekick Well, if Mario Golf: Super Rush is anything to go by, we know that the Takahashi brothers are still around, as well as the music composer for the Golden Sun games. I know that unfortunately the monster designer for the GS series passed some years ago too.

There’s also Shin Yamanouchi, the character designer for the GS series, who I’m not sure has contributed to any Mario Tennis or Golf games, but is still around too regardless.

@Mgalens Dark Dawn didn’t have a way to carry anything over from the previous games.

I do agree that Camelot is too small to put out a big AAA RPG, because they've been too small to release sports games with the content people wanted at launch.

But I don't really want anything more complex then say, SE's HD-2D games or the Super Mario RPG remake. Honestly the latter has made me wonder what other games I'd like to see pull off a "modernize but keep the same vibe of the art style" remake, and Golden Sun was one of the first to come to mind (along with the SNES DKC games).

There was this article that came out this year about Camelot: https://mynintendonews.com/2025/07/12/camelot-software-is-in-... But come to think about it, I think the regional/localization tasks could in regards to Mario Tennis Fever's dialogue.

It really is too bad that Dark Dawn didn't do well; the series didn't deserve to go out like that. They made some missteps, which is why I didn't get very far in the game, but there were things about it I really liked, especially the surprisingly comprehensive glossary. That was a handy feature! I wish more RPGs with a strong narrative and lore focus would incorporate a good glossary.

Camelot needs to try this challenge.
Make MARIO BOXING / KICKBOXING.
We never get any new cartoonish boxing or kickboxing games since 2010.
The cheap boxing / kickboxing games recently just flooded on handphone with very poor quality.