The GBA has become the must have accessory if you consider yourself a connoisseur of classic RPG or turn-based strategy games. Not only have we seen the revival of several fondly remembered series but also the addition of some truly excellent original games. While Fire Emblem falls into the former (if you are old enough to remember) it most certainly is included in the latter category. For a one-line review, imagine something remarkably similar to Advance Wars in a fantasy setting.

Your journey starts in the Shadow of the Scouring, a millennium after the war to end all wars, a savage conflict between mankind and dragons that ended with the defeated and humbled dragons mysteriously vanishing from the land. The world has been rebuilt with man dominating the continents. A young girl, Lyndis, finds an apprentice tactician unconscious on the rolling plains of Sacrae (that would be you) and together they embark on a remarkable journey that sets the wheels of fate turning. This initial journey acts as an elongated mission-based training program, while introducing many of the key characters in the story, in particular Eliwood and Hector, the game's other heroes.

The story (for this is as much an epic tale as it is a game) is divided into chapters and each chapter begins with a lengthy plot advancing conversation, followed by the chapter battle. In fact, the story is just one of the many strong points of the game; it is well written and more importantly well translated (there is no "All your base are belong to us" in this game - a quote from Zero Wing in 1989, if you must know). It is rare to find a game nowadays with such attention to detail in a storyline, where each combatant is expertly brought to life. You will care about these characters and with good reason (all will be explained shortly).

Gameplay follows the system laid out so well by Advance Wars, if you are familiar with the mechanics and controls of that game you will feel right at home. Battles can be extremely complex but the basic flow of events is as follows. First select the character to command, which allows you to see the movement and attack range of the unit, affected by the surrounding terrain and the weather (it will snow and rain). Decide the location to send the character to and, once there, if an enemy unit is in range choose a target to attack. Pick your weapon of choice and importantly check the damage and hit ratio of the weapon. This is important because the overriding feature of the combat is a paper-scissors-stone approach (but with lethal weapons), where sword beats axe, axe beats lance, and lance beats sword. After attacking you receive a mandatory counterattack and repeat the whole process until all units have been given orders (this really is not as dull to play as it is to explain).

During the battles your characters gain experience points that will allow them to increase in level, but only when they attack or are attacked, which can make the advancement of weak characters very difficult and can result in a very unbalanced group of characters to take into combat. Disappointingly the game, not the player, determines this advancement, which can frustrate if you want to specialise your group in certain areas. However, this is somewhat offset by the wide range of character types available, from Knights to Wizards, Thieves and even Valkyries. Similar variation is found in the enemy ranks, although oddly for an RPG there is not an Orc or Troll in sight. In fact, this might be considered an RPG-lite strategy title, as along with the lack of control over character advancement, there is no real equipment selection for each character, other than the grade and type of weapon they carry.

While this title may be RPG-lite, it is most certainly strategy-heavy. The biggest consequence of strategic combat is that each character can be killed and once they are gone they don't come back (well, except in story advancing cut scenes). Casualties are not an option if you want to progress in the later battles. The finality of this approach may seem harsh but it does add an extra level of intensity to the combat and means that you have to care about each of the characters. This is further enhanced by the game mechanics going on behind the graphics; the game automatically saves during every turn, so mistakes cannot be rectified by a quick power off (ala Advance Wars). This would be fine but despite the statistics shown for hit percentage, the combat result for each turn appears, in many cases, to be pre-determined rather than playing to the shown statistics. A power off after a missed hit, at say an 80% hit rate, will repeatedly fail despite numerous attempts and somewhat undermines the strategic nature of the combat.

Graphically the game is exceptionally well presented, each character has a specific sprite representation on the map view and once a combat attack is initiated the camera zooms in to get a close up of the action. The close up actions are beautifully animated and each character has their own animation sequence for each individual weapon, as well as different animations for critical attacks. Additionally, the music and sound effects accompanying every action are also presented with a flair that only pays to enhance the atmospheric presentation within the game.

Fire Emblem provides an excellent story-driven, but more linear, alternative to the likes of Advance Wars, for the budding portable strategist. The only real thing to consider is do you really have enough time to experience another excellent title in what is an already oversubscribed RPG-strategy genre? Maybe it's time for Nintendo to take a break and let gamers get the most from the games gathering dust on their shelves.

Reviewed by Darren Stevenson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).