A Franchise Crosses the World
Many of you are probably unfamiliar with the Fire Emblem series, a turn based strategy game that up until this year had only been released in Japan. Although a pair of characters, Marth and Roy, showed up in Super Smash Brothers Melee for GameCube, there was much rejoicing when Nintendo announced that there would be a Fire Emblem released in the US for GBA. It's a fabulous game, well worth the wait, and one of the finest strategy games brought out in recent memory.

Getting into the Game... Literally
The game begins with a young nomad named Lyn who finds a young man unconscious in her homeland. It turns out he's a traveling tactician and she enlists his help in defeating the brigands that killed her family. In a clever and immensely enjoyable twist, you play the role of the tactician and characters in the story address you from time to time, staring out through the screen. As if the story wasn't engrossing enough, incorporating yourself into the tale immerses you in Lyn's world deeper than any other game has before.

Resistance Is Feudal
Unlike many fantasy strategy games, Fire Emblem is actually set in European type feudal era and, although magic is heavily employed in the game, is has more of a militaristic feel to it. The strategy of the game revolves around several rock-scissors-paper type rules: Axes beat lances, lances beat swords, swords beat axes. Terrain and weather also come into play and must be used to your advantage in order to succeed. The game is divided into story "chapters", each with its own unique map. Lyn's story spans the first ten of these and serves as a tutorial to walk you through the mechanics of the game and is instructive without being boring, even to a gaming veteran. Once the tutorial is over, the story picks up a year later with Eliwood, father of the aforementioned Roy who has yet to be born during this story. The game really picks up in pace and difficulty once Eliwood's storyline begins, making the tutorial all the more welcome.

Lean On Me, When You Are Not Strong...
One of the best features of the game is the "support" function which can be used by two characters that spend a set amount of time fighting side-by-side on the battlefield. Characters that offer each other support get special cutscenes that serve to flesh out their personalities and further their own personal storylines. In addition, once two characters can support one another, they get battle bonuses if they're near each other while fighting which can add up to be quite substantial towards the end of the game. It's one of the most enjoyable features of the game and adds tremendously to its replay value since you can only view a small number of these support scenes in a single play through. It also gives you a strong personal attachment to all the characters and makes you, as the tactician is the story, develop a strong regard for their well being. Which leads me to the one bad thing about the game...

He's Dead, Jim...
Once the tutorial is over, if a character in Fire Emblem dies, he's really dead. I mean dead dead. Dead as a doornail dead. Dead as in he's not coming back for the rest of the freaking game dead. Dead as in if you want said character back you have to reset the game and start the entire chapter over. The game doesn't let you cheat either, it automatically saves your progress after every move so if one of your favorites kicks the bucket you have to decide if you want to start over or press on without them (the flip side of this though is that you can turn the game off at any time and pick it right up again later - great for an epic RPG). I restarted many a chapter due to characters dying and sometimes it did get a bit tedious. Perhaps there are some coldhearted strategy master out there who can deal with the casualties of war better than I but most players will find themselves playing many chapters over to get back a favorite departed character.

Secrets and Sequels
Character death is really my only minor quibble about the game. The graphics are basic but very good for this type of game. The music is varied and interesting. The replay value of the game is through the roof, as there are plenty of secrets, extra side quest chapters and items that you probably missed the first time through as well as advanced quests to unlock. For those of you with the Super Mario Kart: Double Dash bonus disk, you can also get a bunch of super-cool downloadable items to add to your quest. The game also ends on a bit a cliffhanger, setting the stage for the next game in the series. At this time, Nintendo has already announced plans for a Fire Emblem Gamecube game. If it's half as good as the original, I'll be a happy man. 9.5/10