It proved to be an excellent entry point into the genre, whether we are talking about handhelds exclusively or not. Taking control of the Orange Star army and battling the Yellow Comet, Green Earth and Blue Moon armies was a fantastic journey from start to finishIn addition, Advance Wars was decisively difficult and provided a good challenge too.
There was a high level of strategy that was needed to obtain victoryThere were more than 100 grid-based maps to battle on with terrain to take into account when making the next moveA few maps had fog of war as an attribute that needed to be factored inThe variety of units all had different penalties and bonuses based on the terrain and enemy units they encounteredEach unit had different movement ranges and could only attack specific unitsAdd in the Power Meter, which allowed the characters to use special powers, and we have a fantastic strategy game that could be played a variety of ways
On the contrary, the storyline didn't advance any areas of gaming as it focused on a trivial "shadow" figure named Sturm who was manipulating all the nations to battle against one anotherRather predictable and inconsequential, the storyline was a throwawayBut, at least the characters were memorable; that has to count for something, right?
Advance Wars passes the test with flying colors; and it does so because the sequels have yet to surpass the original
The follow-up sequel, Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising, was pleasing, but it didn't take any daring steps to launching the series into a whole new spectrumIt added in a few new characters, powers, units and the ability to share maps, but it never was able to step out of the shadow of the original.
The DS sequels split the fanbase in terms of those who thought the changes were extraordinary and those who thought they were abysmalAdvance Wars: Dual Strike added in touch-based controls, WiFi connectivity, new characters, new units, and the option to take total control over their AI partners in battleAdvance Wars: Days of Ruin left the world of the first three titles and created an entirely new set of characters to followThe biggest addition for Days of Ruin was that it had online play.
Even with changes such as Super CO Powers, the series has yet to return to its former gloryThe developers have tinkered with the formula and must go back to the drawing board to figure out what lies in the future
Looking back, Advance Wars started a trend and set the bar so high, that no one has been able to raise it in the past eight years on the handheldsLet's hope that Intelligent Systems and Nintendo return back to the entertaining days of Andy, Max and Sami.