Nintendo’s new Vault program has a new addition: a limited-time localized port of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of the Light. It’s the first time that the original Fire Emblem game has been released in the United States.
The series only gained a foothold in the west after its protagonist Marth was an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. After that, the series made the jump to the Game Boy Advance.
It’s an expansion of the company’s new Vault program, which seems to be structured as a platform to sell Switch ports for older Nintendo games, using limited-time scarcity to drive demand. A port of the first Fire Emblem likely to succeed in this venue, there aren’t likely to be many older copies floating around in used game shops.
Technically, this isn’t the first time the first Fire Emblem has made its way westward. The game was remade for the Nintendo DS under the name Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, but that entry contained a number of updated game systems and graphics that weren’t present in the original game.
Nintendo’s move to port the original Fire Emblem comes after two massively successful entries revived the series after flagging interest seemed to spell its demise. Now, not only are its heroes featured characters in Super Smash Bros., they lead one of Nintendo’s biggest moneymaking franchises.