Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp review – Double Time!

The Advance Wars games were first unleashed on the public in September 2001 with the release of, you guessed it, Advance Wars. Well, technically it all started back in 1988 as Famicom Wars, but was then introduced to the west in 2001 as Advance Wars for the Game Boy Advance. The Wars series, as it is collectively referred to as, actually contains multiple Wars sub-series, like Famicom Wars, Game Boy Wars, Battalion Wars, and Advance Wars. Fast forward to 2023, we now have the reboot of the first two Advance Wars games originally released by Intelligent Systems, Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. This time around, WayForward has stepped up to the plate to give us Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp, a faithful recreation that breathes life back into a long-neglected classic.

For those not familiar, Advance Wars are turn-based strategy games where you command different units across a battlefield in grid-based combat. Each unit has movement limitations, different attacks/defenses, etc., that you’ll have to coordinate within your strategy. Most missions can be won by simply eliminating all enemy forces or by capturing their headquarters, however other missions may require you to capture a specific number of cities or find a hidden vessel. You’ll also meet a number of different Commanding Officers (referred to simply as COs), each having their own unique skill or specialty to unleash once the CO meter fills up.

Each campaign is around 15-20 hours long but also has a ton of replayability. Sometimes you’ll be presented with a few different missions to choose from, each with a different CO and strategy. In other missions, you may have the ability to choose which CO to use. So, you can go back over and over again, testing out different strategies and experimenting with the different COs. Personally, I mostly stuck with Andy because his CO ability allows wounded units to regain a little bit of health, which can really turn the fight around. Some other abilities include a single-round power up (Max) that makes units hit a little harder, or, on the enemy team, causing a blizzard to roll through, blanketing the ground in heavy snow to limit movement.

I’m not usually big on strategy games, however Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp feels like the perfect introduction for anyone looking to branch out into the genre. These games don’t take themselves too seriously, being full of lighthearted moments as well as having an art style that’s bright, colorful, and fun. I like that they didn’t stray too far from the original game design, instead making it more modern and adding that extra touch of detail to really bring the game to life. All of the animations/cinematics and unit movements are very fluid, making it easy to get lost in the sauce for hours as you get deeper into each campaign. There’s no suffering in performance, the controls are easy to pick up on, and there’s an interesting story to accompany the satisfying gameplay.

The only real complaint that I had with the gameplay is that sometimes it feels like fights just drag on for ages, and I feel like I get stuck in a Korean War-styled stalemate where no progress is being made on either side and we both just end up right back where we started. The final boss fight of Advance Wars dragged on for so long (literally a few hours), I just backed out and moved on to Advance Wars 2. There wasn’t much to really spoil at that point anyway as I’d played through the entirety of the campaign at that point.

Aside from playing the two campaigns, there are some other modes you can check out, like being able to go online to battle it out with others. I didn’t get the chance to check it out myself, however, I’m sure I’d have been wiped from the board in no time. You don’t have to be online to play with friends. In Versus Mode, up to four players on four consoles can battle it out via a local connection, or you can take on the computer on a single system. In War Room, you can replay maps again and again to beat your high score. If you’re feeling a little creative, you can also head to the Design Room to create your own maps to share online or check out other player creations.

A gallery has also been added to the game so you can browse through your Advance Wars collection. In the gallery you can see what medals you’ve collected, like completing the campaign, how much you’ve purchased from Hachi’s Shop, and achieving high ranks in War Room. You can also listen to some of the in-game music, like different CO themes, browse CO artworks, and rewatch some of the cinematics. Some things in the gallery are unlocked simply by playing the game, but you can also add to your collection by using coins earned after each mission in Hachi’s Shop.

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