Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

Marth makes a 20-year leap from the Famicom to the DS: does he stick the landing?

Posted 4 years ago By - Steve Clare

I have been a fan of the Fire Emblem series ever since its first English-release on the GameBoy Advance. Since then, I have played every version released outside of Japan, and was highly anticipating Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, the first entry to the series on Nintendo’s DS. Now, Shadow Dragon is not an entirely new entry to the series; rather, it is a remake of the game that started it all: the original Fire Emblem, released only in Japan on the Famicom. This means that the vast majority of people (myself included) have never played the game, and it is a fresh experience to them.


Shadow Dragon doesn’t reinvent the Fire Emblem wheel. It is exactly what one would expect of a game from this franchise: challenging turn-based gameplay and an epic fantasy-themed story. If you are looking for a new and innovative experience, you should search elsewhere. Fortunately, Shadow Dragon is, like its predecessors, a beautifully crafted game, and this makes up for its lack of innovation.

The game follows the journey of Marth, Prince of Altea. When Marth’s father is killed in battle against the evil Dolhr Empire, he is forced to flee his homeland. The game follows Marth’s quest to reclaim Altea as his own, stop the Dolhr from conquering the entire continent, and find his missing sister. As the game was originally made for the Famicom, the narrative is not particularly deep. That is not to say that it is not engaging; most will definitely want to see it through to the end. It just isn’t quite as complex as previous entries in the series.


Fire Emblem has always had a very distinct style of rock-paper-scissors-like gameplay. Swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords. This simple-yet-deep system can suit many different play-styles, and makes for many different scenarios. Do you stand and fight even though your opponent has a weapon advantage over you? Or do you retreat and try to lure your opponent into a match-up better suited to you?

There are, of course, other elements to the game. In addition to the three weapon types listed above, your units can wield bows and magic. Also, every different class of unit wields a different combination of weaponry. For example, cavalry can wield both lances and swords, horsemen bows and swords, and pirates just axes. There are many different unit classes and they all have their specialties. Knights can soak up many hits whilst mercenaries are balanced fighters. New in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is the ability to re-class units. When I first discovered this feature I had mixed reactions. I was worried that by being able to simply shift a character’s class, the individuality of each unit would be lost, and unfortunately my concerns bore fruit. Every time I change a unit’s class he became less like a character and more like a tool.

Fortunately, the re-classing itself is well-implemented so as to not make it completely overpowered. You only have a small list of classes to choose from when you are re-classing a unit, and this list differs from character-to-character. It is very useful for filling holes in your army. For example, early in the game I had a lack of magic-users and an overload of fighters. I simply re-classed one of my fighters as a dark mage and voila! Problem solved. Including the ability to re-class was overall a smart decision on Nintendo’s part. It will make the game a bit more accessible to inexperienced players.

The gameplay extends far beyond merely combat and classes. Thieves can pick locked doors and chests, procuring powerful new items. Your units can enter villages or houses, and sometimes get precious items or information from locals. Sometimes, if you can move a certain unit into a space beside a certain enemy, you can even convince said enemy to join your side, acquiring a powerful new ally.

The Fire Emblem games have always been extremely punishing. An obvious example of this is the fact that when a unit of yours is felled in battle, they are gone forever. No second chances; no revivals. If you want to get your unit back, you will have to restart from a save point or even re-do the whole mission. Fortunately for newbies, Nintendo has introduced a couple of features to try to make the game a teensy bit less daunting. The first is a comprehensive, five-part prologue which covers all the basics. The prologue even gives you the opportunity to recruit two extra team mates before the game truly begins. Be forewarned, however, for it’s a double-edged sword: at the end of the prologue you will be forced to sacrifice one of your team members.

Another new feature is the inclusion of mid-mission save points, which is rather self-explanatory. You are also provided with more units than before, and every mission adds more soldiers to your army. If you drop below a certain unit count at any point throughout the game’s story, one of 31 units specially created for that scenario will be added to your team, so you are never going to see your numbers dwindling to alarming numbers.

A welcome addition to the game is the inclusion of WiFi support. Unfortunately, it’s rather bleak. You can battle a fellow gamer online, but only with five of your units. There is also an online store that stocks many useful items, and the ability to loan out and borrow units from your friends. If you are having extreme troubles with a mission in the campaign, you can borrow a powerful unit from a friend for some extra power. Voice-chat is fully integrated, an appreciated addition.


Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a pretty solid looking game. The most impressive thing is the animations in battle; they are silky smooth and look very nice. Intelligent Systems has tried to shift the battle sequences to 3-D, though, and the change is a little bit awkward. The finer details on your characters seem to be missing, and they lose a bit of their individuality. As an example, your units appear to be missing facial features and their armour lacks texture. This gives them a very “rubbery” look. The avatars, so recognizable in previous games, now appear indistinct and bland; the 3-D gameplay, while good in theory, just doesn’t pan out within the context of the game.

As for the audio, it’s what we have come to expect from the Fire Emblem series: swelling orchestral tracks for key plot moments; quick tunes for battles; ominous rhythms at the pre-battle set-up screen. There is no voice acting and all the conversations are text-based. Sound effects are all good; you’ll recognize a lot from the previous games.



This is a game of agreeable length and there is plenty of replay value. WiFi, though not as deep as that of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, is pretty fun. If you are a fan of the series or genre, you are going to find more than enough to do with this game to justify a purchase.


Part of what has made Fire Emblem such a beloved series is the emotional attachment the player makes to the characters, and unfortunately, this is largely missing in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. Perhaps it is the awkward transition to 3-D Intelligent Systems has attempted. It denies much detail during battle sequences. Perhaps it is the lack of back-story whenever you have new characters added to your army. I still remember many of the side-stories from earlier Fire Emblem games. Niemi and Colm from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on GameBoy Advance is an excellent example; they are not at all major characters in the game, but their relationship develops interestingly throughout the game and contributes to the overall quest too. There is very little of this in Shadow Dragon. The fact that support conversations have not been added does not help. These conversations were the primary means of secondary character development in earlier games; their absence here is glaring.

Shadow Dragon is not a bad game; heck, its a very good game. The tactical gameplay is as solid as ever, it’s lengthy, and it’s presentation is good. It’s a great buy for fans of the series or the genre. It’s just missing that charm that earlier games in the series had, at least for me. I can’t help but think that an extra month spent fleshing out the story and character development would have greatly helped Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon along the path to meeting the lofty expectations set for it. Then again, I’m sure many of you never really cared much for the side-stories in earlier games, and if that is the case you can’t go wrong with Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon. I’d hate to end my review on a bittersweet note, so let me say one more time: this is an overall great game. If you love the series and/or are looking for a new strategy game to play on your DS, get out there and buy it.

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