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In a 2001 developer interview published in Nintendo Dream magazine, Hiroyuki and Shugo Takahashi, Camelot's founders and creators of the Golden Sun series, revealed that the series had its roots as an RPG being developed for the Nintendo 64 of which all traces of its story and gameplay were scrapped when Camelot shifted development to the Game Boy Advance:
In a 2008 interview with 1up.com, Shugo re-affirmed that the concept for the prototype was in a very early stage, only having some minor game design details drafted up, but that if the GameCube had been delayed, it would've been likely that they would have made Golden Sun 64.
Hiroyuki: We were never developing Golden Sun for the N64. But we were making progress on an RPG for the N64. We got pretty far with it—the basic on-screen visuals and layout were done. But after finishing Mario Golf we had a meeting to decide on what our next project should be.
Shugo: It’s true that we had been wanting to make an RPG on the N64, and we did some prototype development to that end. But right around that time, we started hearing rumors about some new hardware… then it was like, ok, let’s hold up for a moment—maybe this isn’t the the best timing to develop an N64 RPG. Timing, you know, it’s a big thing in game development. And finding the right timing can be critical to the success of your game, I think. That being the case, we decided to switch gears and make a sports game, which is relatively easier for us to predict how long the development will take. That was Mario Tennis 64. And so the RPG idea got shelved for a later time.
Hiroyuki: We threw out everything we’d worked on up to that point.
Toshiharu Izuno (Assistant Producer from Nintendo): But while they worked on other projects, the GBA hardware eventually became ready for development proposals, so I think it was perfect timing after all.
Shugo: It’s true that we had been wanting to make an RPG on the N64, and we did some prototype development to that end. But right around that time, we started hearing rumors about some new hardware… then it was like, ok, let’s hold up for a moment—maybe this isn’t the the best timing to develop an N64 RPG. Timing, you know, it’s a big thing in game development. And finding the right timing can be critical to the success of your game, I think. That being the case, we decided to switch gears and make a sports game, which is relatively easier for us to predict how long the development will take. That was Mario Tennis 64. And so the RPG idea got shelved for a later time.
Hiroyuki: We threw out everything we’d worked on up to that point.
Toshiharu Izuno (Assistant Producer from Nintendo): But while they worked on other projects, the GBA hardware eventually became ready for development proposals, so I think it was perfect timing after all.
In a 2008 interview with 1up.com, Shugo re-affirmed that the concept for the prototype was in a very early stage, only having some minor game design details drafted up, but that if the GameCube had been delayed, it would've been likely that they would have made Golden Sun 64.