Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp first look: One of the best-selling handheld consoles of all time, the Gameboy Advance (GBA) has an unparalleled catalog of games in its category. Even today, 22 years after its release, it continues to amaze me with its rich library of over 1,500 games.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp first look / We played it!
You get your fill of JRPGs with Golden Sun, and action with GTA Advance. On one side, there’s Max Payne and on the other, the insane Kuru Kuru Kururin (check it out, you’ll love it!). But whenever the console’s name is mentioned, a few games stand out to me, and yes, the Advance Wars series is among the top games.
Advance Wars, which was released exclusively for the GBA in 2002 by Intelligent System, which made a splash with Nintendo 3DS’sw Fire Emblem: Awakening and especially Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Nintendo Switch, was the deepest and most entertaining turn-based strategy game that could be on a handheld console with certain technical limitations and only 4 buttons on top. The challenging and complex attacks of the enemies supported this deep and entertaining structure.
The series, which we last saw on Nintendo DS with Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, is making a comeback after 15 years, even if it is a remake, which gives me hope for the future. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, which is preparing to be released for Nintendo Switch, offers players the modern-day versions of two delicious strategy games, Advance Wars and Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising, released for GBA, in a single package.
The package that I was over the moon about when it was announced was actually going to be released in 2021. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delayed the war-themed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp by 2 years. Finally, after downloading 30GB, I pressed the start button with my hands shaking with excitement!
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp has been entrusted to WayForward, which develops mostly custom games and has 30 years of experience in this field. By custom, for example; they have worked on various games such as the video game of the Smurfs 2 movie or Contra 4 with the support of Konami or Aliens: Infestation in partnership with Gearbox. This worried me a little, but Nintendo does not leave its game unattended that easily. And indeed, it did.
The renewed Advance Wars package includes two separate story modes (you can’t start Black Hole Rising without finishing Advance Wars. Some of you may say “how can that be?” but I think it’s ideal in order to avoid any surprises in the story), the Online mode, which is not active since the game hasn’t been officially released yet and where you can play online matches with other players, the Versus mode, where you can play locally, that is, side by side with your friend, spouse, buddy (there is also a CPU battle for loners), the Design Room section where you can create your own battle maps and share them with other players, the War Room mode, which is also included in the old games and includes challenging battles, the Hachi’s Shop, where you can buy maps for the War Room mode, and finally the Gallery section.
In the opening minutes, an animation that fills the lungs with the cartoonish atmosphere of Advance Wars greets the players. Although it is a war game with tanks and guns, Advance Wars was a production that presented this theme in a cartoon style. A very enjoyable job was done in terms of presentation and the ambiance of the original game was successfully transferred to these remakes. The characters do a satisfactory job with their vibrant colors and voiced dialogues at some points. The revised music also paid tribute to the originals. They do not sound like an adaptation that will reflect the repulsiveness of modernity.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a game that holds your hand in the first hour, whether you have played the series before or not. It does a successful job of explaining the rules of the game, and indicating the effects of combat units, artifacts and geographical structure on the battle. It also always provides help with the guide section that you can quickly access during your battles.
As in every turn-based strategy game, Advance Wars has the logic of chess at its core. In the rock-paper-scissors system, you try to win the battle by either destroying all enemy units on the battle map or capturing the enemy base, without forgetting which unit opposes the other and by carefully considering the moves.
The tank destroys rifled infantry, but is devastated by infantry carrying rocket launchers, or you can hit difficult targets from afar by firing artillery fire. Although the conditions for winning change according to the story, this is the general system. With the inclusion of new units in each section, strategies become more in-depth, and the introduction of weather conditions in later hours adds dynamism to the struggles.
The story is more of a tool than a goal, but it should be said that the characters also become commanders who lead your army. In addition to their importance in the story, the fact that the characters can trigger their special powers called CO Power, which can direct the battles, also positions them in an important place in the gameplay. Similarly, the commanders of the enemy country can trigger their different features during the battles, making it difficult for you.
Advance Wars, which I found successful in terms of presentation, unfortunately could not draw me in with its graphics and animations. I definitely prefer the visuals of the original game to the “plastic-looking” units. I think the developers here should be aware of the fact that Square Enix will soon be launching LIVE A LIVE, it would have been much more impressive if it had taken a cue from the HD-2D style he used in games like Octopath Travelers.
I liked the Advance Wars package for its first hours. After all, these games were productions that managed to provide the deepest excitement possible on limited hardware 20 years ago, and they are meeting a new generation through Switch while preserving their originality. I think Nintendo has tested the Advance Wars series with the Switch release. We will talk more in the review article…