Advance Wars Review
Advance Wars is based on the popular series from Nintendo. This is the first version released in the good ol’ US of A. This is a good introduction for us Americans to the series, and I’m hoping for more. Maybe there will be a GCN version; you never know.
The graphics are not exactly original, but the anime style battles are good eye candy. Its varied units are cool; each have an advantage or disadvantage against another unit. The sound is okay at best, for a Game Boy game of course. It’s not very varied, but it’s the gameplay that counts. The War Room is one of the coolest features. It reminds me exactly of Command and Conquer. The houses and buildings even produce units. You can choose from all the in-game players.
The basic graphics aren’t exactly enjoyable, but the environments still are slightly varied. What really catches your eye is the fight-mode graphics. These graphics are anime-like, but don’t be fooled - this game is hard. Depending on your terrain, the background is different. If your on mountains, your harder to hit than usual. It’s pretty darn cool. All the vehicles and units are different looking. They also look better, al lot better, in combat then normal.
Sound on the GBA can’t be exactly amazing, but its a fair count here. The sound of the tanks moving is a pretty cool feature. All around there is not much to say for the sound, other then it’s pretty fair. The music is not highly original. It is more generic then anything else. It is some what compelling though, and sort of catchy.
The controls are the same for all units. They are basic; select attack, retreat, etc… Moving your unit is basic as well, and everything about these controls are pretty solid. They are also the same for all the sides, although each general/commander has his or her own special attack. There is no combo for these moves, you just need to “build up”. There are never any glitches, like buttons for attack used as skip.
Pros
- Good graphics for battle
- Fair sound
- Nice story
- Solid control
Cons
- Generic sound
- Map graphics
Visuals: 8.5
Sound: 9
Originality: 10
Replay: 10
Overall: 9