Advance Wars

Advance Wars
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game Boy Advance, Wii U Virtual Console
Release Date	Game Boy Advance US September 9, 2001 EU January 11, 2002 Wii U Virtual Console US/EU April 3, 2014
Gallery	GH Gallery
Rating	ESRB: E

Advance Wars is a tactical RPG from the Famicom Wars that was released for the Game Boy Advance originally in 2001, although its release was delayed outside of America. It was the first game from the series on the Game Boy Advance as well as the first installment to be released internationally. As Intelligent Systems were apprehensive about Western players taking to tactical RPGs at the time, this game contains tutorials to help introduce the players to the gameplay.

Story

The story follows Andy, a young CO who is being trained up by Orange Star for their war against BLue Moon. But more is going on then it seems, with unusual attacks from Green Earth claiming that Andy attacked them first. Playing as Orange Star COs Andy, Max, and Sami, the player has to go to war with the nations of Wars World and discover the reason behind the war.

Gameplay

Advance Wars is a turn-based game, much like the Fire Emblem series. The player takes control of a CO, each of which has a different ability that effects the units. These effects can be winter bonuses, or naval bonuses, or the ability to recover HP. Each CO also has a CO Power they can activate once they take enough damage.

Units are either pre-deployed or must be manufactured in bases, airports, or sea ports. Victory can only be attained by defeating all of the enemy's units or by capturing their HQ using infantry units, although some missions have special criteria such as capturing a certain number of cities before the enemy. Players receive 1000 in funds from each property they own, which can be used to repair units or build new ones. Each unit has its own specific strengths and weaknesses. Tanks are strong against most ground units, but weak against aircrafts. Infantry have few advantages over other units, but can cross mountains or rivers and capture bases. Battle copters are strong against infantry and tanks, but are easy prey for anti-aircraft units, as well as Cruisers and Jet Fighters.

The game contained several modes. Campaign Mode was the game's main story mode in which the player advances through missions while playing as one of the Orange Star COs. The War Room was a mode in which a player could battle enemies on special battle maps to earn high scores. The game also had multiplayer modes and a map designer. There was also an in-game shop in which players could spend coins earned from Campaign Mode or the War Room to unlock various extras, including artwork, music, War Room maps and additional COs to play as outside of Campaign Mode.

Release

Although this was the first Famicom Wars game to be released internationally, its release was impacted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The game released in North America just days before the attack and so could not be delayed, but the European release was held back to January 2002, and the game was not released in its original form in Japan until after the game's sequel was made, with the two games being released bundled together in Japan.

Legacy

Advance Wars was notable in that it started a sub-series of games within the Famicom Wars series that featured the same cast and continued their story, whereas previous games in the series were devoid of continuity. Its success was also a factor in Nintendo's decision to localize the Fire Emblem games with Fire Emblem.

Sequel

Advance Wars ultimately formed a trilogy of games. The next game was Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, which was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. This was followed by Advance Wars: Dual Strike in 2005.

Ports and Remakes

• In Japan, the game was bundled with the sequel in the Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 compilation. This was released in 2004, between the second game's original release and that of Advance Wars: Dual Strike, since the first two Advance Wars games had not yet been released in Japan.
• In April 2014, the game was released for download on the Wii U as part of the Wii U Virtual Console. It was made available individually in America and Europe, and as part of the compilation in Japan.
• In 2022, the first two Advance Wars games were remade together for the Nintendo Switch as Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp. This release featured new graphics and voice acting.

See Also

• Units in Advance Wars