Advance Wars

I've always been a bit of a sucker for turn based strategy games so Advance Wars for the GBA was right up my alley. While it doesn't blow me away like it did when I first played it back when it was originally released, it remains just as addicting and fun as it was back in my middle school years.
 
Advance Wars for the GBA is a Cartoonish Modern Day Turn Based Tactics game that pits the player in a battle of wits against opposing armies spanning a fictional continent. Combat is resolved through turns with the player relaying commands to his units.  Different units have different attributes such as specific strengths, weaknesses, movement capabilities, and range. The game is also populated with an colorful cast of Commanding Officers that add their own combat modifiers and special powers that are used during play.  
 

 

Several modes of play exist including a campaign story mode, war room, in depth training, and multiplayer (hotseat or with a GBA link cable). While the campaign is long enough, the story is middling and the characters while charming, have little depth. Considering the childish tone of the game this isn't a huge problem. Coins earned from completing battles can be used to purchase new war room or mulitplayer maps and Commanding officers for use in further play.       
Pros: 
  -Deep combat system with room for advanced tactics.  
-Great looking GBA game. The sprites and animation are all a joy to watch.  -Memorable cast of characters 
-Fun multiplayer. 
-The War Room which challenges you to top your own scores provides excellent replay value.   
-Make your own maps to use in multiplayer or solo play. 
 

 

Cons: 
-Flaky Computer AI. Most high level play seems to center around manipulating the AI's logical flaws to gain cheap S ranked victories.  
-Fog of War. It doesn't work properly against a computer opponent as they know where your units are. 
-Weak Storyline. I know it's meant for a younger audience, but a villain that appears out of nowhere at the end with no explanation for motives or methods is hard to excuse. 
-Unbalanced. Some of the Commanding officers are overpowered, and some of the them are next to useless, so while it may be fun to choose a new CO to challenge yourself, you'll probably find yourself never using a few of them if you are trying to succeed.  
-Slow pacing. While the combat animations can be turned off, battles still seem to drag some. Found myself wishing there was some way to speed up the computer's turns. Might be more indicative of the games genre than any actual design flaw.
 
Overall, this game is a fine piece of entertainment for any strategy game enthusiast. While it may be rough around some of the edges those will likely never come into focus for the casual player. It is a  great piece of software that belongs in any GBA enthusiasts collection.