Being a very huge Advance Wars fan has led me to both love and dislike Fire Emblem. The titles obviously share plenty of similarities (I consider them to be cousins), which means that FE is very, very good. It was just hard for me to get over what wasn't included in the cart. Where are the stand-alone challenge maps that really turn on the difficulty? Where is the multiplayer mode? With a little work Intelligent Systems could have even included a map editor, or maybe even a quest editor.

You can't fault a game for not checking off every item on your wish list, however. Fire Emblem's single player quest is so long and jam-packed that even this die-hard AW fanatic was more than willing to forgive. Even after you've cleared the long and (at times) difficult quest, you're just getting started. A hard mode is unlocked, as well as the ability to play through the entire game with a different protagonist. Beat the game with him, and HIS hard mode is unlocked. You're also given a Tactician Rating, and I always found myself subconsciously trying to raise it even higher. Beating a chapter wasn't good enough for me. I had to try and beat it in the most efficient way possible.

I've always been a sucker for medieval swords & sorcery storylines, and FE fits the bill nicely. It is relatively clichéd and doesn't add anything that hasn't been done before, but it's not so bad that it's laughable. You play the role of young Eliwood, whose father has disappeared. Quite quickly a conspiracy is uncovered revolving around the mysterious organization known as the Black Fang, and (you guessed it) Eliwood finds himself wrapped up in something much bigger. The plot does take some twists and turns to keep things from strictly going down the straight path, but overall it's pretty standard. Most gamers will be drawn back to come up with new ways to tackle a hard mission, not to see what is going to happen to the characters. It's a testament to the quality of the gameplay.

Direct combat follows a rock/paper/scissors system, or in this case lances/axes/swords. It's merely one more aspect of the encounter to consider however, and doesn't ensure victory or defeat. An Axe wielder on mountain terrain could very well defeat someone with a sword who is on a bridge. There are also archers and mages who can attack from afar to ensure that no counter damage can be done to them. Also included are healing characters, dragon and Pegasus knights who attack from the air, thieves, pirates, bards, etc. Every character class has their own strengths and weaknesses and special abilities which should always be kept in mind when planning out a battle and deciding who will attack who.

Even for a veteran of the genre, some of FE's battles can be quite frustrating. It's bad enough that a character dying means that they are put out of commission for the rest of the game. There are very few characters who won't be vital to success at one point or another, so if you slip up once and someone goes down you need to restart the entire mission, or struggle through the rest of the game. Sometimes though, a character will die through no fault of your own. Let's say your hero is standing at the entrance to a bridge. An enemy unit attacks, does some damage, and your counterattack kills him. Another who is in range attacks, does some damage, and you kill him again. I've had to sit by and watch helplessly as the computer nickel and dimed away my players' HP all in one turn. If my character were actually a bit weaker, his counterattack wouldn't have killed the enemy, and then no one else would have been able to attack. Although one time is perhaps once too many, it isn't a very common occurrence and doesn't detract from the overall package. I understand their wish to ensure you value every unit and they don't come back healed for the next battle, but perhaps a more FFT-style system would have been smarter.

Fire Emblem is many gamers' dream title. A tactical game with strong ties to AW that features a medieval storyline, units that carry over chapter to chapter and level up, and the ability to equip weapons and other items. For the most part it succeeds in spectacular fashion. Besides a few very minor complaints there's nearly nothing negative to say. Whether it surpasses AW & AW2 or not is debatable, but there's no question that Fire Emblem is one of the best games released for the GBA this year.

Our Final ScoreGood

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