Finally, Fire Emblem arrives on the Nintendo DS.
The first thing you'll notice about Shadow Dragon are the beautiful graphics and silky smooth animation. The character sprites have a pre-rendered look to them reminiscent of Donkey Kong Country (SNES.) The effect is that Shadow Dragon looks a bit more grown up compared to its GBA predecessors while still retaining the feel of a proper Fire Emblem game. You'll also notice a handful of new classes, as well as some changes made to returning classes. Among the new classes are: Hunter, which is similar to an archer but with better attack and weaker defense, and the Ballastician, which is a long range unit that very similar to the original ballistae units from the GBA Fire Emblem titles.
Shadow Dragon is also somewhat "smarter" than previous iterations of the series. Case in point, there are no more "blade" type weapons (for instance, the Iron Blade and Steel Blade.) Blades were very similar to swords except they offered slightly better attack while being heavier to wield. They had limited use and appeal so they did not return for Shadow Dragon. Also, steel weapons in general were somewhat limited in use compared to iron weapons--iron weapons were lighter, cheaper, more durable, and nearly as strong. In Shadow Dragon, steel weapons (and especially silver weapons) have much more tangible advantages over iron weapons, so you probably won't find yourself still using iron weapons late in the game. One unfortunate change is the fact that terrain bonuses are greatly reduced compared to earlier titles. Forests offer only a 10% avoid bonus (reduced from 20%) while mountains offer a 20% avoid bonus (down from 40%.) In addition, the weapons triangle has a far less dramatic effect in Fire Emblem, (in other words, if your sword wielder attacks an axe wielder, the advantage you gain in terms of hit percentage and chance to dodge won't be as great as it was in previous games.) The net effect of these changes is that your characters will not be dodging nearly as many enemy strikes as they may have in previous games.
Another significant change is the game's emphasis (or lack thereof) on character development. Marth is on a quest, and he interacts with a handful of other main characters, to be sure, but there just isn't as much interaction between characters as compared to a game like Sacred Stones, which featured a surprisingly deep and complex relationship between Eirika, Ephraim and Lyon. The story is also unfortunately light on emotion. The most emotional part of the story involves Princess Nyna and her conflicting feelings for an enemy general that saved her life. That's it. Twenty five chapters, and that's pretty much all the emotion you'll get from the story.
(On a side note, I would absolutely LOVE to see a Fire Emblem game on the DS that focused on Camus and Nyna.)
All things considered, Shadow Dragon is a Fire Emblem game, through and through. All the basic elements are here...some minor elements have been removed, some new elements have been added. If you enjoyed the previous Fire Emblem titles or enjoy strategy role playing games, Shadow Dragon makes an excellent addition to your library.