Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

About Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (1990) is Intelligent Systems' Famicom original of the Fire Emblem series, the tactical RPG with permanent death that popularised the genre in Japan.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light in Depth

Prince Marth of Altea leads a growing army across the continent of Archanea in a linear run of maps unlocked by the story. Each character has a fixed class that sets movement and strength: mounted and flying units move further, archers attack from range and armoured knights take hits. Player and enemy units take turns moving on a grid, and a map is won by defeating key enemies such as commanders. Fights cut to a battle screen that plays out in real time. Every action earns experience, and at 100 points a unit levels up and its stats rise at random.

Towns and secret vendors sell items such as healing potions and weapons, which break after a set number of uses, and money comes only from set events and arena bets. Fallen characters die permanently and leave the story, and the game ends if Marth falls. Over the game 52 characters can be recruited. The story begins when Altea's ally Gra betrays it to the Dolhr Empire of the revived Shadow Dragon Medeus and the sorcerer Gharnef; Marth's father is killed and the sword Falchion stolen, and Marth returns from exile on the island of Talys to win it back with the help of the Fire Emblem shield.

Making Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Shouzou Kaga proposed the game to Nintendo in 1987 after Intelligent Systems finished Famicom Wars, wanting to join that game's strategy with the story and characters of a role-playing game; he cited Kure Software Koubou's First Queen as an influence. Keisuke Terasaki directed, Gunpei Yokoi produced, and Yuka Tsujiyoko, then Intelligent Systems' only composer, wrote the music. Kaga avoided emphasising numbers to keep it accessible and spread attention across the whole cast. Planned story illustrations, such as Marth kneeling beside Jagen in a pool of blood, were cut when the MMC3 chip proved to have too little memory, and Kaga later regretted the plain graphics.

Released on 20 April 1990, it was criticised by Japanese magazines as hard to understand and poor-looking, and sales were flat for two months until word of mouth and a Famitsu column lifted them. It had sold 329,087 copies by 2002. It led to Fire Emblem Gaiden and a series built on its mechanics, and it is credited with popularising the tactical RPG in Japan and indirectly influencing Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea.