Advance Wars – Game Boy Advanced
By
Dakota Grabowski
“I’m not saying I
am perfect, but why focus on the negative, right?”
Nintendo made a smart decision back in 2001 to finally debut the Nintendo/Famicom
Wars series in the North American and European markets with Advance Wars. Before
that, the six predecessors never saw release outside of Japan. Advance Wars is
often considered one of the best Game Boy Advanced titles of all time – and
rightfully so.
When
simplicity is better
What were its
cultural impact and/or importance?
When Advance Wars released in 2001, it released a week prior to the September 11
terrorist attacks in the United States. Even though the events eventually forced
Nintendo to cancel the release of Advance Wars in Japan, Advance Wars went on to
critical and financial success.
Not only did this surprise many – since this was a military turn-based strategy
game – but it also opened up the eyes of developers throughout the gaming
industry. Intelligent Systems, also the creators of Fire Emblem, helped pave way
for the turned-based genre in its entirety to make its presence known on the
handhelds. Following the release of Advance Wars, several titles released to
take advantage of the market that gradually opened up on the handhelds
including:
-
Onimusha
Tactics -
Tactics Ogre:
The Knight of Lodis -
Zone of the
Enders: The Fist of Mars -
Super Robot
Wars: Original Generation -
Final Fantasy
Tactics Advance -
Fire Emblem
-
Fire Emblem:
The Sacred Stones -
Yu Yu Hakusho:
Tournament Tactics
The genre has grown by leaps and bounds since 2001, and credit has to be given
to Advance Wars for delivering such a rich and simple design to lure gamers back
for more strategic warfare action. The characters introduced, such as Eagle,
Andy, Olaf and Max, were integral to drawing in the audience and keeping them
hooked on the story-based campaign. It only takes a handful of minutes to see
the attraction of Advance Wars and why its grid-based combat made such an impact
on the genre.
Combat took
place on three levels: land, sea, and air
What areas of
gaming did it advance?
It proved to be an excellent entry point into the genre, whether we are talking
about handhelds exclusively or not. Taking control of the Orange Star army and
battling the Yellow Comet, Green Earth and Blue Moon armies was a fantastic
journey from start to finish. In addition, Advance Wars was decisively difficult
and provided a good challenge too.
There was a high level of strategy that was needed to obtain victory. There were
more than 100 grid-based maps to battle on with terrain to take into account
when making the next move. A few maps had fog of war as an attribute that needed
to be factored in. The variety of units all had different penalties and bonuses
based on the terrain and enemy units they encountered. Each unit had different
movement ranges and could only attack specific units. Add in the Power Meter,
which allowed the characters to use special powers, and we have a fantastic
strategy game that could be played a variety of ways.
On the contrary, the storyline didn’t advance any areas of gaming as it focused
on a trivial “shadow” figure named Sturm who was manipulating all the nations to
battle against one another. Rather predictable and inconsequential, the
storyline was a throwaway. But, at least the characters were memorable; that has
to count for something, right?
We miss the
old Advance Wars gang.
Does it stand the
test of time?
Advance Wars
passes the test with flying colors; and it does so because the sequels have yet
to surpass the original.
The follow-up sequel, Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising, was pleasing, but it
didn’t take any daring steps to launching the series into a whole new spectrum.
It added in a few new characters, powers, units and the ability to share maps,
but it never was able to step out of the shadow of the original.
The DS sequels split the fanbase in terms of those who thought the changes were
extraordinary and those who thought they were abysmal. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
added in touch-based controls, WiFi connectivity, new characters, new units, and
the option to take total control over their AI partners in battle. Advance Wars:
Days of Ruin left the world of the first three titles and created an entirely
new set of characters to follow. The biggest addition for Days of Ruin was that
it had online play.
Even with changes such as Super CO Powers, the series has yet to return to its
former glory. The developers have tinkered with the formula and must go back to
the drawing board to figure out what lies in the future.
Looking back, Advance Wars started a trend and set the bar so high, that no one
has been able to raise it in the past eight years on the handhelds. Let’s hope
that Intelligent Systems and Nintendo return back to the entertaining days of
Andy, Max and Sami.
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising by Louis Bedigian
Advance Wars: Dual Strike Review by Aceinet
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Review by Louis Bedigian
