Do you play a lot of Super Smash Brothers (either Melee or Brawl ), and wondered what was up with that sword-swinging blue-haired guy? The one named "Marth", which could easily be mistaken for a girly-name like Marge? If you didn't, you probably are either not a very curious person when it comes to your games, or you are a fan of Fire Emblem (the franchise he's from). For the former, there's now Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon , a fancy DS-ified remake of the original Fire Emblem; aka Marth's first appearance. Nintendo is fully aware that this franchise of tactical strategy-RPGs is still a bit of a unknown quantity here in the States, and has added four prologue missions to help ease newbie players even more so. The overall story campaign is about Prince Marth's quest to recapture his fallen kingdom and rescue his sister. The new prologue chapters, in particular, cover the events of Marth's escape from his besieged castle. The hallmarks of the franchise are still intact, since this is an enhanced version of the first game. You still manage an army of fellows on the screen -- often with objectives such as defeating all foes or seizing an important structure. The strategic balance of "swords beat axe, axe beats lance, and lance beats sword" still forces you consider which units should attack the enemy, and to think ahead about which enemies might come within range to pick a fight. Death is permanent in this game; when Marth goes down it's gam ...
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