Camelot Software Planning

Camelot Software Planning is a Japanese game development studio best known for the Golden Sun, Mario Golf and Mario Tennis series. However, the team’s history dates back to the era of Sega consoles, when its developers worked on several major Japanese RPGs.

The studio’s roots are linked to Sega and the Sonic! Software Planning. It was this team that created several games in the Shining series, which combined a fantasy setting with RPG and strategy elements.

Among the best-known titles from this period are Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force, Shining Force II and Shining Force III. The Shining Force series, in particular, became one of the leading examples of tactical RPGs on the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Saturn consoles.

Later, the studio entered into close collaboration with Nintendo. One of the results was the Mario Golf series, which combines classic golf rules with characters and settings from the Super Mario universe. Camelot developed several instalments in the series for various generations of Nintendo consoles.

Another significant franchise is Mario Tennis. The games offer arcade-style tennis matches featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and other well-known Nintendo characters. The series has been released successively on the Nintendo 64, Game Boy, GameCube, Wii U, Nintendo Switch and other systems.

For JRPG fans, however, Camelot Software Planning is primarily associated with the Golden Sun series. The first instalment was released for the Game Boy Advance and follows a group of young heroes in a fantasy world where the mysterious power of Alchemy plays a pivotal role.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age served as a direct sequel to the original game, expanding the world, the story and the number of playable characters. The series is known for its sophisticated turn-based combat, the use of elemental beings known as Djinn, extensive dungeons and logic puzzles utilising special Psynergy abilities.

The third main instalment was Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the Nintendo DS, whose story takes place several decades after the events of the previous games.

Camelot also has an interesting connection to the first PlayStation in its history. The studio created the RPG Beyond the Beyond and later also Everybody’s Golf / Hot Shots Golf, before shifting its focus more significantly towards collaboration with Nintendo.

Thanks to games such as Golden Sun, Shining Force, Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, as well as other projects, Camelot Software Planning ranks amongst the long-established Japanese studios that have made a significant mark on the history of both RPGs and sports games.