Advance Wars

The Good
Advance Wars is turn-based strategy, quite similar to Battle Isle series, where we are fighting with the enemy, and gaining buildings providing war funds.

We control groups of units - we have infantry, tanks, artillery, support units, helicopters and airplanes, most of the several varieties - and try to destroy the enemy forces. No, but that's not enough - it is a description of most of the strategy. Everything happens in the turns, each unit has a limited ability to move. encounter begins when enemy units are at our unit - this rule has exceptions, such as artillery. Then the game moves to a special screen where you can see the animation fight. Here come into play such factors as the resistance unit to another, area in which they are staying unit, because this gives sometimes bonuses. All that is clear and easy to understand, and more importantly, very pleasant to be in this game. The game certainly has a nice story - we are dealing with a clash of two armies, Orange Star and Blue Moon (old conflict from GB/GBC "Wars" series)

Just one question: Advance Wars has a good tutorial where we can get knowledge practically about everything - about targeting the military, leaders .... All informations are a clear and transparent.

The Bad
The game has no disadvantages, unless you compare it with games from big platforms. Very small minuses are squares - I prefer hexes strategies from PC - and repeated battles animation. Sounds are average - but that's the charm of the GBA games.

The Bottom Line
Handhelds usually do not have a lot of strategy. Yes, RTS and TBS sometimes occur, but these are usually only a small addition to other games. However, it is worth sometimes to throw a look at them - Advance Wars is one of the best turn-based strategy for the Game Boy Advance is a very good title, worthy of 8/10. It is worth to play. The first game of the series AW is a great, joyful entertainment, and it started a long series of great games.

The Good
I'd never played a strategy game before but this game is very easy to play. All the little features like terrain advantages work well. There's plenty of scope for tactics (my two favourite victory techniques are: 1) place a footsoldier on the enemy hq and surround it with tanks and artillery, or 2) attack crazily from the south with a troop of med. tanks while a footsoldier creeps in from the west to take the base. (that technique was actually used when Germany invaded France at the start of World War One!) That first one isn't foolproof, though - ranged weapons can easily break it apart. But that's the beauty of it. No technique is guaranteed to work.

The Bad
While the training is useful, the new units are introduced at a rate of knots, leaving novices a little confused. Example - there are two non-offensive naval units: landers and cruisers. They look similar, but landers carry ground forces and cruisers carry air forces. I found myself mixing up missiles, rockets, artillery and anti-air units far too often.

The Bottom Line
From the screenshots it's hard to fathom the appeal of the game. I'll tell you now - it's about manoveuring troops into mountains for superior cover, it's about balancing fuel and ammo supplies and capturing cities to refill them, it's about joining units together to combine HP, allowing a footsoldier to climb aboard an APC for greater speed, about deciding whether to destroy the enemy or capture them. The thrill of victory has to be felt. Buy it.

The Good
Advance Wars is easily one of my more favorite Game Boy Advance games. The gameplay is fairly straightforward, albeit a bit simple, and can be picked up in a matter of minutes. This is one of the games that you start playing and don't stop playing it for hours on end; it's extremely addictive. Multiplayer battles are an absolute HOARD of fun. Although multiplayer battles are preferable, playing against the AI is also great fun. You can hone your skills here, but perfect them against other players.

It doesn't take much to start playing the game, especially if you've played the other versions (which, sadly enough, were only released in Japan.) But, for those of us more used to other types of games, it has a progressive training mode that's absolutely wonderful.

Advance Wars has some added strategic elements to keep it from being an all-out brawn battle. For example, terrain and buildings add to your defense rating, keeping you from losing more units than you would battling on flat ground. Other excellent strategic features exist, such as an added bonus for attacking instead of being attacked (which makes you think about movement and other factors.)

The overhead graphics leave something to be desired, although they get the job done one the GBAs screen. The battle animations and capture animations look very nifty, if not a bit repetitive.

The Bad
As I said, the overhead graphics aren't all too great, but the developers appeared to do all they could. The nature of the game itself is simplistic, but you could see that as an advantage or disadvantage, it all depends on your point of view.

A more difficult level of AI would have been nice, as most battles can be won without a great deal of strategy or planing (sometimes non at all is required.)

The Bottom Line
This game is an easy to play strategy/war game that should be loads of fun for anyone. Without a doubt one of the best titles released so far for the Game Boy Advance.