BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki

BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki
-	The title screen for BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki
Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Distributor(s)	St.GIGA
Voice actor(s)	Kazue Ikura Ricardo Kazuhiko Inoue Camus, Frost Shinichirō Ōta Navarre, Belf Hoka Yoshiko Sakakibara Minerva, Mullis Kōji Totani Narrator, King Akaneia, Ruben Hoka Michiko Neya Nina, Ch2 Village Daughter Hideyuki Hori Hardin, Ch2 Village Youth, Kashim, Mediuth Kōji Yada Bore, Dice, Buruzaku
Series	Fire Emblem
First Broadcast(s)	Sep. 28, 1997 (Episode 1) Oct. 5, 1997 (Episode 2) Oct. 12, 1997 (Episode 3) Oct. 19, 1997 (Episode 4)
Hours	18:00-20:00
Download location(s)	Palace Castle, Bagupotamia Temple
Rerun(s)	Nov. 30, 1997 - Dec. 27, 1997 Apr. 25, 1999 - May. 1, 1999
Required hardware	8M Memory Pack
Hardcopy release(s)	Nintendo DS

BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki (「ＢＳファイアーエムブレム アカネイア戦記編」) is a Downloadable 4-part Soundlink game for the Satellaview that was broadcast in at least 3 distinct runs between September 28, 1997 and May 1, 1999.

Gameplay

BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki is a turn-based tactical RPG set in the fantasy world of the Fire Emblem universe. It is based on the engine for the January 1994 Super Famicom release, Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo, and the gameplay is largely the same. Gameplay involves the tactical movement of character units through a map grid in order to defeat the opposition militarily. Each map has a distinct mission the point of which is to aid the general battle. As units are used in combat, they gain individual experience and grow stronger. Furthermore, unit armaments can be upgraded by the player at select shops in-game. Upon completion of each mission, a CG Art cutscene unfolds the story and advances the general plot. Combat is based on a paper-rock-scissors system where each weapon type has great effectiveness against defenses of a certain type but is considerably less effective against another. Most weapons have a limited number of uses before breaking.

Differences between Akaneia Senki and Monshō no Nazo include the addition of an orchestral score and SoundLink narration, as well as seiyu voice-acting giving characters like Rickard their first fully-voiced roles in the series.

Episodes

• Palace Kanraku (パレス陥落)
• Akai Ryuukishi (赤い竜騎士)
• Seigi no Touzoku Dan (正義の盗賊団)
• Hajimari no Toki (始まりのとき)

Emulation history

As early as the end of 2008, fan groups such as SerenesForest and the Satellablog had become interested in restoring BS Fire Emblem to a playable condition in a manner similar to the restoration project for games like the BS Zelda titles. Restoration of these titles faced difficulties from the outset as certain material such as the CG Art cutscenes were missing from the ROMs that had been dumped online. Missing material of this nature has been observed with other Satellaview ROMs and it is likely that these kinds of images or other cutscene materials were either broadcast directly via the audio channel (for audio content) and/or were stored in temporary (volatile) memory which was then cleared the next time the Satellaview unit was used.

Despite these setbacks, translation attempts were begun to convert the plot from Japanese to English. For a period of several months, great headway was made regarding the retrieval of CG Art cutscenes and original musical scores due to the discovery of a number of videos depicting original gameplay from the 1990s as well as a Background Music Collection with original songs.

Nearly all work on the project ceased a short time before the July 15, 2010 release of Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū which contained most of BS Fire Emblem as the first re-release of Satellaview-related materials in 10 years.

Rerelease

In late March 2009, Nintendo uploaded a series of teaser songs and sound clips hinting at a future Fire Emblem release for the Nintendo DS. Included with these clips was a copy of the J-Pop song, "WIND." As the only place this song had previously been used was in the last broadcast of BS Fire Emblem in May of 1999, this upload represented the first time that Nintendo had released any new Satellaview material since the system was abandoned in June of 2000. On July 15, 2010, marking the 15th year anniversary of the release of the Satellaview, BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki became the first SoundLink game to be officially rereleased in a hardcopy format when Nintendo published Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū (ファイアーエムブレム 新・紋章の謎 〜光と影の英雄〜), an RPG remake of Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo (ファイアーエムブレム　紋章の謎).

Included as an unlockable bonus that became accessible after clearing the game's "Prologue" chapters (which introduce the new "My Unit" character), 4 new maps were included with Shin Monshō no Nazo with each map representing one of the four episodes of BS Fire Emblem: Akaneia Senki. Players enjoying this unlocked content can play as the female mercenary from BS Fire Emblem and is absed on the original BS Fire Emblem plot. Minor differences are present in the NDS remake of BS Fire Emblem including alterations to the musical score (e.g. the music played in Palace Kanryaku), minor graphical differences related to the differing platforms, and the absence of CG Art cutscenes as in the original Satellaview broadcast Nevertheless, the game as a whole is for the most part very faithful to the original broadcast version.

The release of this Satellaview-exclusive title has prompted some speculation in the fan community that further Satellaview titles may one day be released, however Nintendo has made no comment on the issue.