North American gamers have gotten their first taste of the greatness that is the Fire Emblem series. Japanese gamers have enjoyed several Fire Emblem games on both the NES and SNES consoles, but those games were never brought over to the states. Intelligent Systems, the same developers that brought the Advance Wars series to the Game Boy Advance have created the first North American Fire Emblem game for Nintendo’s handheld. Mixing Strategy and RPG elements, along with a story and musical score that would put any Final Fantasy or Command and Conquer to shame, Fire Emblem is a shining diamond that everyone should experience.


Our Heroes

The gameplay is a little different than most strategy titles out in the market. Instead of managing the building and training of your troops, soldiers join your army as your progress through the game. The only thing players have to worry about is keeping their troops alive and keeping them supplied with weaponry and items. Once a soldier is lost on the field of battle, he or she is gone forever. If a player loses their top soldier, such as a valued Paladin or Archer unit, they must decide if they want to push on without them. Tons of soldier types insure that if a player is careful, they can build a varied army that is equipped to deal with any type of combat situation. Learning which weapons are more effective against others is key to achieving victory. Swords beat out axes, axes best against lances and lances best against swords.

Over the course of more than 30 battles, players will have to make life or death decisions as they watch their troops flourish on the battlefield, or fall to the cold steel of the enemy. Additional soldiers can be added to your growing army by winning certain battles, or having the right units just walk up and talk to them. Units can be upgraded to more advance types, such as a Cavalry unit can be upgraded to a Paladin, giving him more power and the ability to use more weapon types. For each successful hit a unit lands on the enemy, they will gain a certain amount of experience points. When a unit reaches a certain level, they can be upgraded to a more advanced type.


Strengthen your knights…

Units are moved around the battlefield by the player’s command, and different units have different ranges of movement. Flying types such as Pegasus and Wyvern riders can move farther than any other types. Deciding which formation to position your troops can mean all the difference in battle, and players should always keep in mind that healers and other mage types might be useful at long range, but can’t hold up in close quarters combat. Strategy comes down to trial and error, and many players (unless you just happen to be a natural military genius) will have to retry many of the later battles. If you have never picked up a strategy title before, Fire Emblem can be a daunting game to go through. While the first few levels are easy enough, the game gets difficult quick!

While there are 30 main quests in the game, there are several side quests to complete as well. While none of these are required, they can yield new recruits, weapons, or unlock more of the story. The side quests range from incredibly easy to white knuckle hard, so be ready for anything when attempting these little adventures. Losing two or three valued soldiers may not be worth the prize of the quest.


Plan your strategy…

The storyline is fleshed out through wordy cutscenes in between battles, with more backstabs and plot twists than a whole barrel full of soap operas. The story will immerse and envelope you, as it is easy to get attached to a certain character in your army, then lose them when a battle turns nasty. It’s all fun and games until somebody gets killed! Fire Emblem starts out easy enough, allowing players to get the feel of commanding soldiers around the battlefield. Players will take the role of a traveling tactician who chances upon a young girl who has lost her parents. When the girl learns she is the heir to a great kingdom, the tactician travels with her as she sets out to take her place at the throne. Along the way she meets up with various soldiers and knights who join your army. The story moves along quickly, and each battle presents its own challenge. Whether it might be that the enemy has hidden themselves among hills and forts, or a giant ballista is laying fire down upon you from afar. Each battle will throw something new at you. While losing regular soldiers and knights won’t end the game immediately, losing a character who's relevant to the story will automatically end your game.

The graphics look nice enough, with the character animations and cutscenes all looking bright and vibrant. The musical score is something to behold, while upbeat when the battle is going your way, and moving to a dark brooding tone when your surrounded with no hope for survival. Players can listen to any song in the game that they have unlocked in a music room in the extras menu. To add even more icing to the cake, Intelligent Systems has thrown in a link mode. Players can select five unit teams and battle it out with the computer, adding some incredible replay value, or fight against a human opponent via the GBA link cable. There are many features that set Fire Emblem above the rest of the Strategy offerings on the Gameboy Advance.


…but trust no one.

Closing comments:
Fans of Strategy/RPG titles will love every second of Fire Emblem. From the involving story and deep characters, to the intense battles and thrill of victory. No word yet if there will be any connectivity features with the upcoming GameCube version of Fire Emblem, but hopefully Nintendo will cook something up. The ability to trade units from your Game Boy Advance to your GameCube and vice versa would be very interesting.

With the success of Fire Emblem on the Game Boy Advance, I hope that Nintendo and Intelligent Systems bring more installments of the Fire Emblem series stateside. I'd hate to miss on them, and see the Japanese gamers have all the fun.