"Addictive strategy game"

Looking for some decent strategic animated violence on a handheld that doesn't have the words ''Army'' or ''Men'' in the title? Then look no further than Advance Wars, quite possibly the most addictive title on the GBA to date.

The concept is simple; move your troops from one area to the next, in order to blow away your opponent's men. However, the fun only branches off from there, with different weather patterns, obstacles, and terrain, to add to the frantic fun.

Okay, so the one-player mode can only go so far. There are specific missions you must complete, in order to advance--possible bad pun intended--to the next one. The CPU eventually becomes very predictable, and once you continue to improve your Advance Wars skills, it becomes incredibly boring. Mulitplayer mode is where it's at.

If you happen to have a few friends, then pass around your GBA for a multiplayer fest that will probably have you never talking to your friends again. I'm not a very competitive person, but I found myself getting competitive, blowing away my friends with cartoony renders. If you're the impatient type, and they happen to each own a GBA, and there's a link cable in the mix somewhere, link together for a bit more frantic fun. Either way, the multiplayer bit is a blast. (Or, if you're a friendless bum, just play against that predictable CPU.)

Gameplay
Very frantic, very fun, and very addictive. Advance War's gameplay is the title's strong point, although it does tend to get a bit repetitive after a while. But yeah, it's a strategy game, so what would you expect? 9/10

Graphics
Don't let these cartoon-resembling graphics fool you. Although they're obviously trying to attract the Pokemon crowd, they're really not too bad. The backgrounds and machinery, although simple, fit the game, but I'm not sure how well the cartoonish renders do. Oh well. It's not as annoying as I expected. 8/10

Sound
This is nothing special, but it works. Simple tunes that have that GBC ''tint'' are a bit annoying, and Wars is chock full of them, but that's okay. You wouldn't want to get distracted from the gameplay, after all. It fits. 8/10

Control
Since you're taking turns, and just planning your strategy, the controls really can't go wrong. 9/10

Replay Value
This has endless gobs of replay value, especially if you happen to have friends. As stated before, it's addictive, and although the one-player feature gets a bit stale, the VS option is full of all-out addictiveness. 10/10

Overall
Even if you're not a strategy game fan, Advance Wars is at least worth a play or two, if not a full-fledged buy. When this title was announced, I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/10/02, Updated 03/10/02