"An addictive classic strategy game = Say goodbye to your social life"

Advance wars is the latest game in the long-running series of war strategy games for the Nintendo systems. Some of the previous games includes Super Famicom Wars and Gameboy Wars. This is the first time the series have reached shores outside of Japan and most likely, this is to be your first time playing a ''Wars'' game.

GAMEPLAY

This game is essentially a turn-based strategy game where you and your opponents each take turns to order your troops, consisting of human infantry, mechanical machines, planes, navy ships and so on in order to destroy the enemy troops or capture their base. There are battles where the troops are predeployed and you must use your intuition and thought to allocate commands and actions to your troops to defeat the opposing army. And there are battles where you are required to build up your army using factories, airports and seaports however you want in order to fight against the enemy. To introduce the new player to Advance Wars, you must go through an intensive training course (for your benefit, of course) in order to learn the in and outs of the controls and basic strategy when trying to have an edge over the main enemy. Only after completing the training missions, you will gain access to the other modes including the main Campaign mode.

Here's an assessment of what the game has to offer to you, the gamer:

--Campaign--

With the Campaign mode, you will guide a series of characters, Andy, Max and Sami members of the Orange Star through a series of war battles to determine why the other nations are hostile towards your own and uncover the secret as to who is responsible for it all. Simple story but intriguing all the same.

--War Room--

With the War Room, you can choose and select characters to embark on a total of 20 map scenarios in order to try and destroy all enemy troops/capture the base so you can earn a high score and aim for the highest ranking. Trust me, aiming for the highest ranking (S) AND the perfect 999 points is difficult and will pose a nice challenge for perfectionists and non-perfectionists alike.

--Design Maps--

For the creative side to us, there is the design mode to create your own masterpiece. The possibilities are endless for what you can create and after you created and saved your map, you can set it against the computer or against your friends in the VS mode. The only downside to this mode is that you can only save 3 maps but really, the advantages of actually having this mode in the game far outweighs the negatives.

--VS--

The VS mode is the one to compete against your mates (up to 4 players) and see who really is the best Advance wars player! This multi-player option is enough to up the game replay value!

There is also a shop where you can purchase extra maps for the VS and War Room modes. You earn money by participating and completing missions in the Campaign and/or War Room. The good thing about this is that you need to work hard in order to purchase and unlock all the maps available for the VS and War Room options. Nothing is given to you for free.

MUSIC - 10/10

Simply fantastic. Each character has their own theme when battling against the opponent and most characters have a kick-arse tune with a ''don't mess with me'' attitude to it especially with Eagle, the air unit specialist as well as Sami.

GRAPHICS - 7/10

Though there are nothing spectacular in the game graphics, the interface is clear and the units and terrain are easily distinguishable which serves the purpose of a war/strategy game well. If you are deciding whether to buy this game, do not get put off by the cartoony graphics and think that this is an easy ''kiddy'' game. This game hides a hideous challenge for gamers wishing beat the game with perfection.

LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - 9/10

With the variety of modes that the game offers, Advance Wars offers huge replay value for both the single player and for multi-players. Trying to increase your badge rank from 96 all the way to 1 is a major accomplishment and one that you can only do with many hours of dedication to your battle fights.

OVERALL

A very addictive game that would appeal to fans of the strategy genre as well as newcomers and gamers who have not played these types of games before. The fact that it appears simplistic but is actually challenging is a definite winning formula of Advance Wars and constitutes to its charms. Most new games these days are accused of being easy and short, but Advance Wars is not a game that anyone can call easy.

So if you're looking for a game that is addictive and challenging at the same time, then Advance Wars is just the game you're looking for. It doesn't matter whether you're familiar with the genre or not, it will most likely get you hooked.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/02, Updated 03/20/02