Thanks toFire Emblem Awakening, the West has been experiencing a renaissance in the franchise for almost a decade. It didn’t always use to be this way.Fire Emblembegan as anNESgame in 1990, but for Japan only. The West wouldn’t get a taste until 2003, when the seventh entry hit theGBA.
RELATED:The Best Fire Emblem Protagonists, Ranked
Known asFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladein Japan, it was simply calledFire Emblemhere as to not confuse anyone. It’s then easy to understand that there are a lot of forgotten and or undiscovered games in the series since it was exclusive to Japan for so long. Even the ones that did come over here might have been outshined by something else. Let’s take a look back at theFire Emblemtitles from the,SNES,DS,GameCube,Wii, and more.
6Fire Emblem Gaiden
Fire Emblem Gaidenwas a 1992 releasefor the NES. It was a Japan only release that refreshed the series by adding in towns as well as dungeons. As the second game in the series it was a huge departure but only for this one game. The closest equivalent would beFire Emblem: Three Housesbut even that isn’t an exact replica.
While there was an English fan patch made for the NES game, the West would not get an official release until 2017. This was a remake for the 3DS which was retitled asFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It reviewed well and updated the original nicely. The trouble was this was just a couple months after the Switch’s launch. A lot of 3DS games got passed up because players moved onto the Switch without looking back.
5Fire Emblem: Mystery Of The Emblem
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblemwas part remake, part sequel. It was a 1994 release for the SNES in Japan only. The first part of the game was a remake of the original while the second half was a continuation. This, and its predecessor, are where Marth comes from. Many Western fans are more familiar with him as aSuper Smash Bros.character.
RELATED:Fire Emblem: The Strongest Female Characters
The remakes aren’t done yet because the full game was reworked againfor the DSin 2010. That game was calledFire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. Many Western fans think thatFire Emblem Awakeningwas the first in the series to have a casual mode. However, this DS game had it first. While both this version and the SNES never version never made outside of Japan officially, there are fan patches for both.
4Fire Emblem: Genealogy Of The Holy War
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy Warwas a 1996 releasefor the SNES. Unlike a lot of theFire Emblemgames on the list, this was the only version of the game made. There isn’t even a full fan patch for it yet but there is a Beta. It can be played but it is a work in progress.
For classic SNES RPGs like this, it’s only a matter of time. Nintendo could even greenlight a remake before fans can even finish the project which would be a plus. The game itself adds nothing crazy new to the series in terms of mechanics. That might be why it has been lost to time.
3Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Nintendo experimented a lot more with video game releases in Japan. For example, they released an add-onto the SNEScalled the Satellaview. This ensured a way for gamers to download games onto their console much like the eShop today. It was a concept ahead of its time and even saw the release of many remakes and or sequels in a lot of Nintendo exclusive series including Fire Emblem.
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776was not a Satellaview release though. It was released onto kiosks known as Nintendo Power, which should not be confused with the North American magazine. Gamers would buy flash cartridges, plug them into these kiosks, and then download the game from there. This was in 1999 originally, but Nintendo also put out an official release a year later.
That’s a crazy late releasefor the SNESconsidering by 2000 the N64 was out and the GameCube was coming in 2001. There is a fan patch for this game but be warned. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 is notoriously one of the hardest games in the series.
2Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Fire Emblem: The Binding Bladewas a 2002 release for theGame Boy Advancein 2002. It’s the first game that introduced Roy into the series. Like Marth, most Western gamers knew him as a Super Smash Bros. character. That was inSuper Smash Bros. Meleein 2001.
RELATED:Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Which Character Are You, Based On Your Zodiac?
Unlike Marth though Westerns fans actually got to play one of Roy’s games. The seventh entry in the series, also for the GBA, released in North America as justFire Emblem. It was a prequel toThe Binding Blade. Why that was chosen and not The Blinding Blade is a mystery although fans can still enjoy it via a fan patch.
1Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance
Even though the series started on consoles via the NES, it quickly became known more as a portable series. That might be why after the three GBA games, the console follow-ups weren’t as well remembered. The first wasFire Emblem: Path of Radiancewhich was a 2005 GameCube game. This starred Ike as the main hero.
The other wasFire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. That was a 2007 releasefor the Wiiand it was a direct sequel. Both games are hard to track down physical copies of without paying a fortune. That’s because even though they got official releases, not many copies were printed. They are both good games that might have just been released at the wrong time and or wrong platform.
