As Intelligent Systems revives the original Famicom Fire Emblem for this remake, DS power buttons will be trembling in anticipation of the approaching battle.

For Fire Emblem’s defining feature – the ‘once dead, dead for good’ take on mortality – is the enemy of the power button; every lost life met with the temptation to prod that knobbly switch with the Lazarus finger. Or rather, it is the temptation for the experienced Emblem general and, in Shadow Dragon, a semi-unnecessary one at that.

An injection of fresh ideas from recent Emblems may revamp this old-timer, but by turning back the clock 17 years, Intelligent Systems has returned to a simpler, friendlier time. Adding the rock-paper-scissors relationship between swords, axes and lances seeks to modernise, but there are plenty of newer Emblem ideas avoided for the sake of simplicity. Support conversations (wherein units are strengthened by striking up friendships) and the magical equivalent of the weapon triangle are particularly missed.

Hints abound of Intelligent Systems’ shift towards welcoming the newcomer. A hefty tutorial is added, as are mid-battle save points (easing the stress on that power button) and a selection of new units that will automatically join your party should it fall below a certain number.

Considering the fan tradition of collecting all the characters locked away on the cart, saving new faces for failure does seem a little off. Harder modes intended to appease the old hands simply up the stats; the battle stays the same, just lasts a little longer.

The strangest addition is the option to reclass units between battles. With so many shifts towards accommodating the beginner, an option that opens up a near infinite number of strategic avenues seems a tad counter-intuitive. For the vanguard, much of the strategic pull stems from being lumped with a ragtag group of survivors and being forced to make it work; offering a pick-and-mix of units adds scope, but at the expense of cleanliness. Reclassing also negates some of your emotional attachment to the troops. As much as we like Ossa for being a swell kind of guy, as an archer, he’s replaceable.

Headway made into online realms shows similar backfiring. The store of exclusive items and the ability to borrow units from friends are fine additions, but internet battling fails to make the same impact as it did in the recent DS Advance Wars. Picking five of your singleplayer campaign units, you scrap with a rival party, but it feels particularly small-scale after managing 16 units in later missions.

The very concept of the standalone battle makes little sense in the context of Fire Emblem. In the campaign, the constant struggle to protect and train your troops is as important as winning any individual battle. Online abandons this melodramatic weightiness, and suffers for it.

But this would be the quibble of a fan, and Shadow Dragon is an attempt to rope new recruits into the club. Ironically, as Shadow Dragon brings the pieces together for the newcomer – and despite a slight dumbing down, they do come together for a rollicking campaign – it reveals both what is great about Fire Emblem and why this is not a great example of the series. The beginning is a sensible place to start, but rest assured, it gets much, much better.

7/10