THE Advanced Wars the sub-series is part of the larger one Nintendo Wars franchise, which started with the original Famicom Wars in 1988. Developed by Intelligent Systems for the Game Boy Advance, Advanced Wars received universal acclaim for its perfect blend of simplicity and complexity, which cemented its following, Advance Wars 2: Rise of the Black Holereleased almost two years later. It was followed by Advance Wars: Double Attackwhich continues the story of the previous games, and Advance Wars: Days of Ruinwhich relaunches the franchise in a darker and more serious tone. Both games were developed for the Nintendo DS.

For over a decade, nothing happened to the franchise. Luckily for fans, Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp — an enhanced remake of the first two Advance Wars games developed by WayForward, which notably developed the Shantae The franchise was announced on June 15, 2021, for a December release. Unfortunately, the game was initially pushed back to April 2022 to allow more time to work on it, and then delayed indefinitely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The remake was eventually released on April 21, 2023. Despite the long wait, fans and critics alike appreciated the massive amount of content and new artistic aesthetic.

Eighteen different units for developing strategies

Advance Wars 2 Adds Neotank

• The first Advanced Wars The game is actually the seventh title in the Wars series.
• Advanced Wars was not originally planned for release outside of Japan, as the developers felt that the turn-based mechanics would not be well received by Western audiences.
• Designer Kentaro Nishimura cites the Advanced Wars games as precursors to intelligent systems bringing the now beloved Fire Emblem series towards the West.

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The first Advanced Wars provides players with with 18 different units to choose from — nine land units, five air units and four naval units. The Neotank is available in Advanced Wars 2 and is a ground unit. Each unit has its own attributes that determine what it can do and how well it performs in combat: movement range, movement type, ammunition, fuel, vision, attack range, and cost.

In general, stronger units cost more, but weaker units are essential to maintaining an economic advantage. A “rock-paper-scissors” element exists between some units: the tank beats the AA, the AA beats the B-Copter, and the B-Copter beats the tank, for example. Movement range represents the maximum number of spaces a unit can move, regardless of the terrain.

Movement type determines how terrain affects a unit’s movement. Ammunition determines how many times a unit can use its primary weapon. Fuel is consumed for each movement point spent, and all non-land units consume fuel each turn. Without fuel, land units will simply stand still, but air and naval units will be destroyed. Vision determines how far a unit can see in the fog of war.

Most units can perform one of two types of attacks, depending on their attack range. — direct or indirect. Direct attackers require the unit to be adjacent to its enemy and have an attack range of one, but the unit takes counterattack damage if the enemy is not completely defeated. Indirect attacks from two or more squares away and units do not take counterattack damage, but they cannot move and attack on the same turn. Finally, the cost of a unit is explicit.

The three transport units (APCs, T-Copters, and Landers) cannot attack but are used to transport certain units to places they could not reach otherwise. The first two can only transport one infantry unit, but Landers can transport up to two ground units.

Cruisers, which can attack, can also carry up to two helicopter units (no other air units). Transport units can only unload other units in spaces where they can normally stand – tanks cannot be placed on mountains, for example. No unit may pass through an enemy unit under any circumstances, including air units.

Each unit starts with 10 HP. A unit at maximum HP has no HP displayed. Their offensive and defensive power is proportional to their HP, so a 3 HP tank deals much less damage than a 9 HP tank. When a unit’s HP reaches zero, it is destroyed. Any unit can combine with a damaged unit of the same type by moving over it. The combined HP of the two units is added together, although any HP remaining above 10 is refunded to the player’s war funds.

Nineteen COs, each with their own abilities and powers

Advance Wars 2 Adds Super CO Powers and Balance Tweaks

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Battles aren’t just dictated by units. Each commander (or CO) has a unique power They can use effects that can potentially change the battle. Most COs also provide daily bonuses to their units, though some have penalties. Each CO’s personality generally reflects how they play. For example, the muscular and enthusiastic Max has stronger direct attack units and his power boosts them even more, but his indirect attackers have less range to compensate.

The first Advanced Wars includes 11 playable COs—four from Orange Star, two from the other three Allied Nations, and Sturm from Black Hole. Clone Andy is playable in Restart Campbut it doesn’t play any differently than the original. Advanced Wars 2 adds eight new COs — Hachi from Orange Star, Colin from Blue Moon, Sensei from Yellow Comet, Jess from Green Earth, and four from Black Hole.

In addition, Each CO has a stronger Super CO power which takes longer to charge. Depending on the situation, players should determine whether a faster CO Power or a slower Super CO Power is more appropriate. Finally, most of the COs from the first game have been rebalanced to ensure a more even level of competition between players. Sturm and Nell from the first game are exceptions, as is Hachi—they are intentionally overpowered and should not be considered without implementing handicaps.

Each CO’s power meter charges proportionally to the amount of damage in funds given and received, though more charge is gained with the latter. For example, if a 10 HP tank unit attacks another 10 HP tank unit, the side that takes more damage receives more charge. In the former case, Advanced WarsEach CO has a single bar, although some fill it faster than others. After activating a CO power, the power gauge is depleted on the next turn and cannot be refilled before.

In Advanced Wars 2Power meters are replaced by the Star Power mechanism. Filling each Small Star allows OCs to use their normal OC power while filling each Large Star allows their Super OC power. If the normal OC power is used, only the Small Stars are drained. Any remaining charge in the Large Stars is carried over to the next round. Regardless of the game, each OC requires an additional 20% change each time they use an OC power or Super OC power in a battle.

The Advance Wars formula still holds twenty years later

The remake keeps all the strategic elements intact

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The classic Advanced Wars game loop is primarily determined by the battlefield each CO is participating in. Everything from Terrain and battlefield size affect the potential usefulness of each CO and strategy. There are 14 different types of terrain, not including pipes in Advanced Wars 2that no unit can cross.

Each terrain can provide a defensive bonus and/or reduce mobility. Naturally, a large open road is easy to traverse but offers no protection, while woods offer some protection but are difficult for vehicles to traverse. Obviously, air units are completely unaffected by terrain.

An important aspect of the terrain is the presence of buildings: depending on their color, each of them can be friendly, hostile or neutral. Under normal circumstances, each building grants its owner 1000G of war funds each turn. In addition, any land unit that starts its owner’s turn in an allied city is resupplied and recovers up to 2 VP, although these are deducted from the player’s funds.

Factories are mostly similar to cities, but their owner can produce any land unit from a factory as long as it is unoccupied and he can afford it. Airports and ports do the same for air and naval units, respectively. The last building type is the HQ, which is often the most important for each player. It is usually a city that offers more defense with only one catch: its owner loses if it is captured.

Only infantry and mech units can capture buildings of any type. Each building has 20 HP while each unit can capture up to its current HP each turn. Normally, it takes at least two turns to capture a building, though taking damage can delay the process. Another game mechanic to note is Fog of War, which makes it difficult for players to see where enemy units are and vice versa.

This is the only mode where any unit’s vision counts, and many units can move beyond their line of sight. If a unit collides with an enemy while moving, it is intercepted and can no longer act. Non-air units can hide in woods and reefs, making them invisible unless an enemy is adjacent to them. Any infantry or mech on a mountain gains extra vision. Fog of War turns what is normally a game of perfect information into one where information and prediction are everything.

Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp

Franchise

Advanced Wars

Platform(s)

To change

Released

April 21, 2023

Developer(s)

Nintendo, Wayforward

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Unit

ESRB Certificate

E10+ For all 10+ due to mild violence

Develop