Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is one of the better games for the GBA that I have had the pleasure of playing. The graphics are clear and although at times the dialogue might seem to be a bit much, it's one of the features that advances the game. As for the coloured classes. Your team is in blue, the enemy is in red and NPC or non playing characters and those you must rescue are in green. And no matter whose path you take in the beginning, be it Eirika's or her brother, Ephraim, you encounter each other during the course of the game.
If you have not played earlier versions of games in the Fire Emblem series on the NES, SNES or the Nintendo Gamecube, you, the player, act as tactical statistician as you guide members of your fighting team along the battle field in this turn based style of fighting.
Unlike other RPG type games, in these Fire Emblem games, one of the challenges you face is keeping all of your fighters alive while in battle. Once one of your fighters is gone, he/she cannot be revived.
Of course, if Eirika or Ephraim dies it's an automatic game over situation. And if you do manage to not save one of your fighters in battle, you can restart the chapter or level from the beginning. Or if you think you can complete the game without that particular fighter in your group, you can move along as the game advances.
In this particular game though, there are twenty three chapters or levels. Come join Eirika, Ephraim, Franz, Seth and a host of other strong fighters as they fight multitudes of enemies to reclaim their kingdom from opponents such as: Valter and Callech.
If you happen to accumulate all the necessary characters or fighters by the game's end, you will indeed feel as if you have your own little army of fighters, mages, cavaliers and so on. Another good feature about this game is you can build up your fighters' levels at Valni Tower and Lagdou Ruins and earn extra gold pieces, weapons and other items by spending some time in these two somewhat challenging areas of the game.
A Fire Emblem game is currently in the works for the Nintendo DS. A game I look forward to playing once it's out.
