Breath of Fire Game Boy Advance unveiled

[03.16.01] » Handheld installment of Capcom's RPG franchise revealed to be a remake of the original Breath of Fire.

    When an enigmatic listing for Breath of Fire surfaced on Nintendo's Game Boy Advance release list, it was unknown whether the game would be a new installment of Capcom's long-running RPG franchise or a port of an earlier title. It seems Capcom will be taking the path of least resistance for the series' first outing on a handheld -- the company has confirmed the game will indeed be a remake of the first Breath of Fire.

   The port won't be without a few upgrades, however. The game will now support saving at any time and Capcom is going to take advantage of the GBA's link feature to enable item swapping between players. The graphics and presentation will also be receiving an overhaul for the handheld version.

   Originally released on the Super Famicom in Japan during 1993, the first Breath of Fire was published in the U.S. by Sqaresoft. Since then, a less RPG wary Capcom has seen fit to bring all three of the game's sequels stateside themselves. The GBA update is due for release in Japan this July; expect the game to arrive in American soon after.

   Look for a full preview of Breath of Fire GBA soon.