"The best turn based strategy game ever. And it's portable!"

Much to the astonishment of many US gamers, this is not the first game of its type. This is only the first one for the Gameboy Advance. The series started with Famicom Wars, which was pretty much the same thing. At the time it was an amazing game. Well, there were others. There was Super Famicom Wars, reguarded as the best of them. Then, there was Gameboy Wars, made by HAL, which supposedly sucked. Finally, Advance Wars, or Gameboy Advance Wars hits. Like the new Fire Emblem, some concepts from the Super NES version have been dumbed down a bit. But, it is still a great game.

The graphics are great. They are exactly what I would've wanted from a turn based strategy coming from Nintendo. The game is colorful, but still detailed even though it is on a portable system. The characters have an anime-ish look to them, as does the general atmosphere. So, while cartoony, there still is the seriousness that this is war, and your characters aren't going to ''faint'' when beaten. They die. Speaking of which, the explosion are well-done, and the weather/special effects are quite good. Overall, for the Gameboy Advance they are very good.

And what's the story?

Well, there's not too much of a story. You control an army trying to conquer the other one, or wipe them out. There is a single-player game, which has some kind of story, but it's not very engaging. You start off as some officer. You work your way through the ranks while some chick gives you missions. As you beat your enemies, alot of them later join your team to help you out. The main enemy is some general, you fight him alot, blah blah blah. No real plot-twists or anything here.

Ok. So how's the game play?

Ah, the gameplay. The game has a very unique way of making a real-time strategy. Instead of focusing on all these different types of upgrades, special abilities, and all that other crap, the game is very simple. The only thing you need to worry about is the units attack power, and its range. You can win by either eradicating the other army completely, or conquering their HQ.

The battle system seems weird, but it’s actually pretty logical. You attack an enemy. Since attackers always have an advantage, if two of the exact same unit squares off, they'll do slightly more damage. However, when the enemy retaliates, they do less damage. That seems weird. We're all used to an army doing just as much damage regardless of their health. But, it makes sense. You have squads in units of 10. So, if you have 6 blown away, obviously your 4 won't do as much damage as 10! It's such an obvious idea that its absurd that this is the first game, which makes a point of that. While it is sometimes frustrating if you are on the receiving end of this, they at least made it somewhat balanced, since your guys retaliate partially when being attacked. So, they won't get off Scott-free.

The game still does carry average things of other fighters. For instance, anti-air fighters will be able to take down any air unit in one hit, assuming it has all of its units. On the contrary, air units will be able to wipe out submarines in a matter of seconds. Also, some common sense things are still there. So, the infantry troops, no matter how many you have, won't do crap to a heavy artillery tank with their piece of crap machine guns.

But what makes it so simple?

Well, there's no upgrades or annoying crap like that. All you do is go to your artillery shop and select a unit. If you have the money, it builds it. Next turn, he's yours to mobilize! Then, you simply send him at the enemy, or whatever you want with the guy. The combat is also really easy too. As I explained above, the unit with more attack force wins. And, other units have distinct advantages over some. When they die, they simply blow up and you move on. Usually the loss of one unit never really matters, unless it is a really expensive one like a bomber ship, or a medium tank, or a missile launcher.

And it manages to have less than 50 units yet still be perfectly balanced and have a wide variety. You have the infantry units, which are your weakest units, but are good scouts, and can conquer territories. You then have the mechs, which are still ground men, but are slightly more powerful, and can still conquer. There are the tanks, which early in the game are great. There's a recon for transporting units. After that the units all start being made to be especially effective at another unit. For instance, as powerful as the medium tank is, if you get it within range of a rocket launcher, kiss that tank good-bye.

Units all have specific ranges. The ground troops and tanks must all be at point blank range to fire. But, the missile and rocket launchers have very far range. Unfortunately, while rockets are perhaps the most powerful ground units in the game, they cannot fire at point blank range, so if they get hit by any type of tank, or even a mech you're in deep crap. Air units can also take out tanks and rockets like flies. But, if you're dumb enough to let an anti-air get near it, say goodbye. Water mainly carries on its own battles, since some ships are obscenely powerful but can only be used on other ships. Most likely you'll just use them for transportation.

I've heard that what officer you choose actually makes a difference

You heard right. The officers all have special ''powers'' which are available after a number of days during battle. The powers vary depending on the character. The main officer, Andy, is a very good all around officer. Thus, his move is very versatile. Not only does it add 2 units to all of your damaged units, but all of your units get an additional power boost for that turn. So, it can literally change the tide of battle. But then another character, a sniper, has a special power, which gives all of his units additional range. So, if you are a long-range character, it's a useful technique. Your choice of officer depends on how you like to play. Sure each side has its ups and downs, but it still works quite well.

How do you make money anyway?

Interestingly enough, you make it by conquering other towns. Every day you are paid a certain sum coming from your towns. You can, however, use your infantry troops to conquer other towns. When they are done conquering it (usually it takes 2-3 turns depending on their size), you will be paid a certain amount each turn. You can also conquer other weapons stations or ports. Hell, you can even win the match easily if you can break into the enemy base and conquer their HQ!

While we're on the subject of buildings, it's also worth noting about the special terrain advantages. While some tile sets don't give any additional protection whatsoever, grass gives and additional 5% defense. Towns give even more, and mountains give even more. So, this adds more strategy to the game. Parking your units on a mountain-side gives them some additional range, as well as making them nearly invulnerable.

The music is pretty good. The tunes in the games are well done and fitting. Most of them are fast paced battle themes. While not exceptional, its good. So, I can't really complain. The sounds are very good for a GBA game. The explosions sound realistic, as do the machines, the gun sounds, and the other variety of sounds.

Is there much replay value?

HELL YES! I mean, how can there not be? First of all, it's a Nintendo game, so you'll be playing for quite awhile. But, more importantly, it's so addictive and well made. There are tons of extras. After you beat the game, there is a special hard mode, a Battle Room mode, where you can earn money to buy new maps, and some other small modes. With that you'll easily get over 20 hours worth of game. And, you can always play against the computer in a special head-to-head mode on some random map.

But that's not all. There's a special mode, which lets you make your own maps! So, after you've made one, you can play against the computer with it! Or, even better, you can play with friends! Having personally played with a friend, I can say that it is really great. If you have multi-packs, you can play your own custom maps, or any othere maps. But, even if you only have one pack, you can still play an interesting game. Each side gets the same units and is put on a relatively small map. You don't know where the enemy is. This is a search and destroy game. Player with the last man standing wins. Extremely fun.

So is there really any problems?

Well, there are. I guess I haven't addressed them yet. For one thing, the whole attack vs. defense advantage can be quite frustrating at times when your life is depending on the survival of that unit. Secondly, for those who have played this, you will know that this game is frickin' HARD! I'm serious. This game would get a perfect score from me, but it's so incredibly hard I can't! The computer is so damn smart, and often cheap that I can barely ever get past their defenses. And even if you beat the game and get everything you get a Hard mode? DEAR GOD! If anyone can honestly say they beat the hard mode without a problem, I commend them. But other than its extreme difficulty, there's really nothing wrong about it.

Overall, this is one of the best games ever made. Because of 9/11, this game sold terribly, but most magazines will admit that this game is awesome. If there was ever a game to make a turn-based strategy as simple and just plain fun as it can be while still being incredibly deep, Advance Wars is it. This is definitely worth a buy. With a great price of 30 bucks, this is one of the best deals you'll ever make.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/03, Updated 02/11/03