I admit it. I totally missed out on several franchises' premieres on the GBA. This series, Advance Wars, Breath of Fire being three right now that I'm fixated on that I'm only now catching up to. Sure, I still need Advance Wars : Black Hole Rising and Breath of Fire (original) but I'm getting there. I mean, after all, I did manage to get both Fire Emblems for the GBA after all! (My sister originally had this one but she never let me try it, so I had to go and get it on my own… well, guess I can see why seeing how good a GBA title it is).

If I were traveling this is two of the GBA titles I'd take with me. The last time we played fantasy sword and sorcery strategy on the GBA it was Final Fantasy Advance Tactics, well now here's a fresh lick of the genre with Fire Emblem. I don't remember the story much (usually a Fire Emblem story has something to do with oppressed people being invaded or occupied or dominated by some other neighboring country and it's up to you to free your people and bring peace to the land by any means necessary… anyway the important thing about the Fire Emblem series (any Fire Emblem series) is the strategy gameplay itself -- well, maybe except for the fact this may be the only Fire Emblem in which YOU play some role in the story, if only minor.

I don't remember this happening in Radiant Dawn (Wii), and I didn't see it happening in Sacred Stones (GBA) but in this game you play a kinda active role as the tactician of the game (the person who calls the shots and leads the ragtag

rebels to victory time and time again). You can give your never seen character a name, and follow along in the story… though your part you are just called upon to save the day and have no actual role in the story past that (basically play your cards right and keep everyone alive and you'll all become their best friend… though I suppose if you are not doing so well they may be kinda bitter at you, though I never saw that since I did manage to keep a high star rating on my tactics).

Let's see… what other things about this first Fire Emblem is unique? Well you do meet a merchant eventually but all he does is help store your stuff, nothing new there… EXCEPT for the part where he actually sets up shop on the field of battle and you can go back and forth to his tent and pick up stuff… as long as you defend it from attack and keep it from getting destroyed. Sure, it's not like your forces (it will not vanish forever if you fail to defend it) but the more maps it survives (the tent) the stronger it becomes capable of withstanding more damage during harder levels.

Another thing unique to this game is a fortune teller who gives you a heads up on what the coming map is going to have in store for you. Nice to have that bit of knowledge to help get you through what may be a potentially hard map (with pointers on what characters/weapons to or not to bring, whether there is going to be a new ally and what person you need on your team in order to recruit said person (though the fortune telling only

tells of one person, even if the map has more than one possible recruit to consider).

All the different classes are there as before, but for the life of me I haven't had a single evolution yet of character class (if I did I forgot and nothing happened in the past several hours of gameplay to remind me whether this game has that or not). Also is it me or does this game seem to be more down and dirty in it's combat… I just seem to think it's abit more rough than the combat in Sacred Stones… maybe it's just me.

As for the game itself? Set out on a larger scale battlefield wise than previous FFTA, Fire Emblem pits your ragtag force of do-gooders (which grows the more people join you, either between "chapters" or through active recruitment on the field of battle (more on that in a second)) against whatever the evil is for the game. Usually it's humans though you do tangle with monsters as well here and there.

Laid out like a giant chess board, you strategize each and every move of each unit, taking into account the terrain, enemy movements, and other factors that play into gameplay. This is of course the first release on the GBA so the game is just getting started. Besides the above which is seemingly once only in the series (unless we see it come back in the upcoming DS version since it might be the first game of the franchise according to something I heard about it), this game lacks a few of the perks of, say, the next game (but makes up for it with enough unique attributes that you might not mind having to go out of your way

on a map field to, say, shop for weapons/items and so forth instead of just buying it off of the world map screen which isn't present in this game.

Let's see… on the upside it's the same fantasy strategy combat RPG adventure you all know and love (and it is unique in several ways since some of the aspects of this game never seem to appear again in future Fire Emblems from the GBA to the Wii). On the downside the game lacks a few of the simple perks of future versions (being able to, for instance, shop without having to seek out specific buildings on a battle map just to shop, then being able only to pick up a few items per person you bring to said shops and then … well, it's a hassle let me tell you). Long story short the good outweighs the bad and this is a damn fun game, one of my recommendations for a long lonely trip over the sea or on the airlines (especially if you suspect you'll be traveling through long airport delay season)… oh, why lonely? Because even if this does have multiplayer function (and I don't remember seeing any or wasn't paying attention) you'd have to find another person with a GBA (not a DS since I am sure while the DS can play GBA games it doesn't have the functionality to allow people to hook up their GBA games over the DS' wireless link which seems dedicated to only DS wireless link games) who also happens to have a copy of this (and probably Sacred Stones as well) game. So, you know, fuhgeddaboutit.

The Original Fire Emblem for the GBA gets 4 Tactical Successes out of 5. Bravo!