Since the Vizzed Retro Game room has so many RPGs I have not tried, I will certainly play Fire Emblem games once day. I remember once upon a time when Nintendo Power talked about them, almost teasing people in the US because they were not available for us.

How is this universe compared to Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior (game play, graphics, music)? Which one would be a good start to get used to that universe? Are they all translated to English?

Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG, so it's not similar in gameplay at all to turn based games such as Final Fantasy. As far as music goes, I've personally heard much better music from RPG series than Fire Emblem. The only game in the series I've thoroughly enjoyed is Fire Emblem Awakening for the 3DS. As far as the others go, I definitely say Final Fantasy games are better.

All of them are in English, I believe.

It is tactical RPG so it isn't much like Final Fantasy.

I'd recommend starting with Fire Emblem 7: Blazing Sword. In the RGR it's just listed as "Fire Emblem" because it was the first one released in the US. It's for the GBA.

I can't necessarily say how it compares to Dragon Quest (but from what I've seen of DQ, its not really close), but to Final Fantasy, FE is more close to Final Fantasy Tactics, considering both are strategy RPGs. 

But for your other questions, I can answer those pretty well. in terms of starting in FE, start out with Fire Emblem (the 7th game, also known as Rekka no Ken), then move on to Sacred Stones if you like FE7, both of them on the GBA. In terms of any other FE games in the VRG, none exactly pop out besides those two. Well, you could always go onto Binding Blade after both FE7 and Sacred Stones. 

But not being limited to the VRG, I'd say start with Awakening, then go to FE7, Sacred Stones, And then Path of Radiance. Any other games you want to play after that point I'd say would be Shadow Dragon, Radiant Dawn, and Binding Blade. If you were to look for a greater challenge, go for Genealogy of the Holy War and then Thracia 776.

And on the subject of if all of the games are translated to English, yes, they are. However, not all have an official English release. But those that have an official English release (FE7, Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates when it releases) are considered to be the best in the series, so there's that.

Tactical? Wow, I did not know Nintendo games could be so "advanced" - I mean compared to regular turn-based games. How would the gameplay compare to Shining Force then? Is it possible to grind levels to ridicule by warping back to town and wait for enemies to yield less than 10 experience points?

janus : No, it's set up in individual missions, and none can be replayed in the same play through. You do get exp and level up, but there's no opportunity to grind or anything like that. The game itself is turn based, but it goes as your entire team makes their moves, then the enemies team makes theirs, then repeat. Every character has a particular set of skills (archer, mage, healer, thief, etc). Hope this helps clear some things up for you Any other questions, feel free to ask.