 | Album Title: Fire Emblem -The Best- Vol. 1 |
| Record Label: NTT Publishing | |
| Catalog No.: PSCN-5058/9 | |
| Release Date: April 25, 1997 | |
| Purchase: Buy Used Copy |
Overview
This album is a collection of the best music from the first two Fire Emblem Games, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragons and Fire Emblem Gaiden (split onto two disks). For the grand style of music that Fire Emblem is known for, it had a tougher time than most trying to feel at home on the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom). The main composer was Yuka Tsujiyoko and has always been throughout this series. Unlike in Mario or Kirby, Fire Emblem music couldn’t rely solely on catchy 8-bit melodies, but it really pulls through as much as possible in the end. Although these great original themes have evolved over the years, they still deserve much merit. After all, this is where any well-known Fire Emblem tunes found their start, right?
Body
It all started with the only piece popular outside of the fan base, though many other memorable highlights are on both of these discs. The opening title has gone down in history as the famous Fire Emblem theme. It’s a simple and heroic march and has shown its great potential over the years, especially in games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It was perfectly crafted for its time, though I wouldn’t listen to this version these days. The second track “Each Map’s Beginning” is actually a very well-done track as well. It has a very “let’s get hyped” feel, and I like the contrast it has to the first track. The same thing goes for the track “Encounter”. Also, these and many other tracks actually have very cool beats that I wouldn’t have expected from playing other Fire Emblem games. They are catchy, yet serious.
There’s a group of tracks that tend to have a different feel than the normal map, battle, and preparation music. “Armoury, Bank, Village” or “Magic Shop” show much contrast to the more upbeat tunes. Although I think “Armoury, Bank, Village” is an extremely annoying theme to listen to out of game, it certainly brings an atmosphere and mood, and I commend it for that. “Battle Map 3”, from disc two, actually brings out this atmospheric quality along with a unique beat. This is probably one of the better map tunes from Fire Emblem Gaiden.
There are definitely flaws on this album. Sometimes a scenario track is all right to put on a “best” album if it is a good track. Sometimes it’s all right to include a track that is under a minute, if it is a good track, of course. The question is how they got away with putting a theme like “Ally Falls” on the album. I understand the horrors of losing a character in Fire Emblem and how the tune could bring back powerful memories. It’s not even a tune though; it’s just two notes. That’s all. Following up “Ally Falls” is an eight second track made up of three notes repeating called “Using Live Staff”. It may have been forgivable, but the fact that the exact same tracks appear on the next disc is not. “Using Live Staff” is now about a half minute long, but it still consists of three notes repeating over and over. Nobody in their right mind would want to listen to this stuff. With more of these instances, it becomes apparent that this collection is more the two NES soundtracks than a “best” album, but it doesn’t change the facts.
Most battle, map, and preparation themes that weren’t mentioned already were probably not mentioned because they were more generic pieces and are only suited as in-game music. A lot of Fire Emblem music will tend to have a couple of generic battle pieces, but luckily there was enough good material to make up for that on this album, especially with all themes being true originals. One last negative aspect I must comment on is that “Story 2”, from Fire Emblem Gaiden, is the most irritating theme I’ve heard in ages. The whole thing is a minute-long trill, and it uses ear-piercing high notes the whole time that just don’t sound good in 8-bit form. There’s no reason for this to be on the album in the least.
Summary
Overall, the music really does what it intends to do with the limitations of the past. I think it’s great to have themes that convey moody atmosphere or exciting energy on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Though some of the more memorable pieces still feel like prototypes of what they become in the future, they are still great prototypes. It’s fun to hear that heroic main theme in its original form. Some themes feel like plain battle music or “medieval” music, but still set the tone for Fire Emblem music. Though there’s some influential music on this album, “influential” alone doesn’t make the album as a whole perfect.
