2004; and in Europe on July 16. It was later re-released on Virtual Console for Wii U on August 21, 2014, in Europe; and in North America on December 4 of that year. Reception Fire Emblem met with generally positive reviews from critics. On aggregate site Metacritic, Fire Emblem garnered a score of 88/100 based on 31 reviews. It was the 6th best-reviewed GBA title of 2003. Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the characters and felt it was a suitable addition to the Fire Emblem series, while Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell cited the storyline as being similar to better examples within the Japanese role-playing genre and its near-seamless integration with gameplay mechanics. GamePro reviewer Star Dingo called the narrative "a complex (but not convoluted) classic fantasy yarn", while GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla called the story standard while praising the writing and character development. Christian Nutt of GameSpy praised the writing as highly enjoyable for both the Japanese and Western releases, and IGN's Craig Harris believed that the game was superior to Advance Wars through its portrayal of characters despite some minor complaints about characters that remained alive for story reasons despite falling in battle. PALGN reviewer Andrew Burns commented that the story gained a serious edge once Lyn's opening story arc was completed. Speaking about the gameplay, Famitsu was slightly mixed about some aspects; one critic praised the added tutorial for allowing new players to be eased in the series gameplay, while another compared the tutorial to a nagging mother and said it and the unseen Tactician representing the player might grate with series fans. Bramwell praised the integration of RPG elements and tactical gameplay, in addition to finding the permanent death of characters a suitable fit for the game's world. Dingo was positive about the level design and controls, but warned that it was quite short and lacking in depth when compared to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Massimilla found the gameplay both accessible and challenging as she made her way through the game, while Nutt was skeptical about the permanent death system and critical of the in-game economy despite generally enjoying the experience. Harris again compared it to Advance Wars, but said that Fire Emblem had enough unique elements to make it its own product, and generally praised the title's accomplishments. Burns, who had experience of earlier Fire Emblem titles, praised the game as a worthy entry in the series and a