While it's nothing Fire Emblem fans wont have seen before, this is a hugely enjoyable tactical RPG.
Given the year's post-E3 accusations of a mass market sell out, it's a curious note for Nintendo to end their wildly successful year on, but one that's both very welcome and also a timely reminder that Nintendo's teeth are as sharp as ever.
Flaming Hot
For those new to the name, Fire Emblem is an ancient strategy series made by Intelligent Systems, the same division of Nintendo responsible for Advance Wars. Indeed, the two franchises share much in common. Both see you taking to the battlefield and pitting various different units against a merciless, relentlessly evil foe. Your units all have different strengths and weaknesses and it's up to you to engage the noggin and figure out how they're best used. Basically, it's chess, but with added bloodshed and none of the tedious clock watching.
Instead of Advance Wars' focus on pure, undiluted strategic thinking, however, Fire Emblem is much more story-orientated with all the RPG trimmings you'd expect from the game's Dungeons & Dragons setting. This is probably why it's the more hardcore strategy game of the two - on the face of it, all that talk of HP, levelling up and character classes makes it less accessible than its more straight-laced cousin. It's a shame though, because the Fire Emblem series is every bit as addictive, and Shadow Dragon is no different.
A remake of the Japan-only NES original, Shadow Dragon follows Prince Marth (yes, that blue haired gent from Smash Bros.) as he tries to kick the evil pontifex Gharnef and arch scumbag Medeus out of his homeland. You'll recruit followers as you progress, ranging from horsebound Paladins who can traverse the battlefield at lightning speed, to thieves who can open treasure chests and bust open locked doors.
You have a finite set of troops for each battle and, unlike Advance Wars, once one of your team is killed, there's no way to respawn them. Your fighters level up as they fight and can buy new, more powerful weapons as your spoils of war add up. Cultivating your fighters and making sure your best soldiers stay alive is crucial to success, and it's a viciously addictive mechanic. Carelessly losing your lv. 15 Armor Knight in a boss battle will leave you in tears, believe us.
All The Time In The World
There's a total of 25 battles to work your way through, with a nicely defined difficulty curve. When it hits its stride at about the half-way point, it becomes fiendishly tricky and there's plenty of gameplay here. It lacks the rabid score chasing aspect and level creation options that had us glued to Advance Wars for 100 hours plus but with the addition of online battling (a first for the series), there's more than enough to keep you busy here.
As an old school strategy game, Shadow Dragon is extremely difficult to fault. Visually it's not up to much and the dialogue is cheesier than a James Blunt concert in an Edam factory. These are small gripes though. Sure, it doesn't really do anything to push the franchise forward but this is easily forgiven as it's so relentlessly playable. We'll expect a little more innovation next time around but as a first DS offering, this fits the bill perfectly.
With Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics, the DS has already demonstrated it's the perfect platform for bite-sized strategic battling. You can add Fire Emblem to that list now. This is deliciously meaty tactical gaming that fans of the genre should gobble up with relish.