Back when the first Advance Wars hit the Game Boy Advance I had absolutely no idea that the franchise was a long running one. This title was actually a sequel to several releases for the Famicom and Super Famicom. Despite not knowing it’s lineage I instantly fell in love with the franchise. It was probably my most played title for the GBA, and made long car rides with my family pass by in a flash. When a sequel was announced, for the same platform, I absolutely had to have it. What’s funny is that until the day it released I was still playing the original despite several years having passed between them. Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising came out to huge fanfare. While the game was good, it didn’t hit quite the same notes as the original for me. Read on to find out why.
Advance Wars 2 picks up in the story right where the original left off. After being defeated by the alliance formed by the various countries of Cosmo Land the Black Hole army has begun rebuilding with new and more powerful generals commanding their units. Advance Wars 2 picks up as they’re invading each country in Cosmo Land. What’s interesting here is that you do start as Orange Star like in the original, but the campaign soon expands to allow you to play as the other countries as well. They each have their various subplots, but the goal is largely the same. One thing I really like about the story is how memorable the characters all are. The dialogue is very well written (particularly for a Nintendo published title of this era) giving each CO their own personalities and places in the overall narrative.
Gameplay is largely the same here as it was in the original. Advance Wars 2 is a turn based strategy game. Battles take place on various grid based maps displayed from an overhead 2D perspective. You take turns with your opponent moving units, attacking, replenishing supplies, or capturing cities. Each unit can move only once per turn, and perform one action as well. Movement is entirely grid based and terrain slows units down, or completely stops them. You can end your turn at any time, but upon doing so control shifts to the enemy. Hence the term ‘turn based.’ You can move all units, none, or somewhere in between. Strategies differ from map to map and I assure you Advance Wars 2 will keep you on your toes.
Let’s talk unit types, because that’s one of the most interesting aspects of the game. You have three basic ones based on the land, air and sea. Land units are susceptible to terrain and can’t move across water. These are the most common and offer the most variety. Then you have ships which can only move in large bodies of water as well as in ports. Finally we have planes. These are completely unaffected by terrain, can move vast distances, but are expensive and not as commonly used as the others. They’re also more powerful, and most are impervious to many of the land/sea units. It’s important to bear in mind that some maps lock out sea/air units. You can only create these at airports/seaports, and most maps lack these. Others are based primarily on them. The thing I love most about these games is the diversity because of this.
Unit types also play a huge role in strategy. Early on you aren’t given the option of purchasing them, and must rely entirely on what you’re given. Land units can only be created from factories you’ve captured, sea units from ports, and air units from airports. Money is gained at the beginning of each turn from the buildings you have under your control. You capture these with infantry or mech units, and at full health it takes two turns to do so. You can also attack other units, and they have both terrain and type advantages. This is all good and well and includes both close and long range attacks. You really have to plan ahead for what you want as per your strategy. Placement is absolutely paramount, and you’ll find the game both rewarding and frustrating in this sense.
So far we’ve touched mostly upon the shared elements of both the sequel and original. They’re both fantastic games, but it’s time to talk about what’s new here. Basic gameplay is the same between the two. The new additions however make a big difference. We’ll start with the new unit. Advance Wars 2 introduced the Neo Tank to the mix. Honestly it just feels uninspired. It’s a more powerful MD Tank, but with better movement and is more expensive. It doesn’t add to tactics in any meaninful way. Regardless of how you’re playing you’ll want to save up for this one and use it, because few other units can fight back in any meaningful way. A new ranged unit, or one that takes better advantage of terrain would have been a far superior choice. Alas this is all we get, and it feels very pointless if I’m honest.
There’s also now a Super CO power. CO’s each have their innate strengths and weaknesses, and have a power bar that fills as they take damage or deal it out. When this fills they could use a power in the original game, and I never liked this. It had the disadvantage of turning the tide far too much. The new Super CO Power just exascerbates the issue. Though it takes longer to charge the effects are now bigger. These are far too lopsided and eliminate key elements of strategy in the game. I found myself often not attacking because I was evenly matched with an opponent, and instead of developing strategies I was left waiting because I didn’t want the unbalanced elements of the game to shift momentum. CO powers were unbalanced before, but they are much moreso now. Honestly the whole concept should have been scrapped.
On a positive note several new CO’s have been added to the game, and I absolutely love the roster. I’ll highlight a few of the more significant ones. Colin of Blue Moon is the opposite of Kanbei. He creates units at cheaper cost, but they are slightly weaker in general. I love using him because you can simply swarm opponents if you play your cards right. The other new CO I really liked is Sensei. He has the advantage with helicopter based units. Previously these were underutilized because they lacked the benefits of other aerial units. This new character breathes new life into the units and even concept as whole. The other CO’s have advantages ranging from terrain bonuses, damaging all units from their CO power, and giving advantages to vehicles. Honestly I really liked these additions. All of the characters are useful in specific situations.
There’s no question about it. The best part of Advance Wars was it’s multiplayer, and that’s the same case for this sequel. You have a variety of battle maps to choose from at the get go. You can choose to play with a friend via link cable, or with just one GBA where you pass it back and forth. What’s more is the fact that you can design your own maps. This adds limitless potential. You can place literally all elements such as terrain, cities, etc. What’s more is the that these can be played in both multiplayer modes, and you can select your enemies as well. The fact that you only need one system and a single copy of the game is absolutely incredible. My only complaint is that there’s no way to eliminate the Super CO power, or to take away the Neo Tanks.
Advance Wars 2 is a very good looking game. Honestly it looks like something you would find on the Super Nintendo which is a compliment. It’s bright, colorful, and has charming but detailed animations. The maps themselves are simplified graphics but it’s easy to tell what each tile represents, and the units look different enough from each other that you’ll have no confusion. I do like the animations for attacks, and the fact that these occur on a separate screen. The units are very charming during these sequences and there’s not a lot of violence here. On the small screen the game looks great. It’s not an amazing graphical feat by any means but I love the graphics in Advance Wars 2. The soundtrack is also good with several new themes that fit the format of the original game. It’s all bouncy, fun, and highly memorable.
