Review
Release Date: 06.23.2003
Platform:
Game Boy AdvanceDeveloper:
Intelligent SystemsPublisher:
Nintendo of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Ryan Dean on 2.6.2005
| Review Rating: 10/10 | User Rating: 8.47/10 |
Over the years,
Nintendo's most fashionable handheld, the Gameboy Advance, has accumulated quite the roster of strategy titles. From
Tactics Ogre to
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, the small portable's strategy games stand as some of its best games, and one in particular stands out above the rest, and, the rest of the Gameboy Advance's library.
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising is a turnbased strategy game centered around classic, realistic human warfare. Units include your direct combat units (Battle Copters, Infantry, Tanks) and indirect combat units (Rockets, Missles, Battleship). The difference between these units is in how they battle; direct combat units can battle anytime during the turn you use them in, and indirect units must fire before they are moved. There are units that cannot attack at all; APCs, Landers, and T-Copters. These units primarily carry other units across long distances quickly.
We are only starting the review, and I know what you are thinking and feeling. "How is this game any different than others I have played?". The best way to answer this question is with a question.
When was the last time you played an
epic game?
When was the last time you struggled with battles, and actually felt the joy of victory and triumph move
through you when you beat the odds? Truthfully, many games cannot create this element.
Advance Wars 2, however, is one of the rare few.
The epic struggle in
Advance Wars 2 starts off with the return of the Black Hole Army, the antagonists of
Advance Wars. The army's generals are planning an all-out assault on the unsuspecting armies of Wars World. As the invasion of Black Hole spreads across Wars World, the armies of Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth, the nations of Wars World band together to fight against the monstrous invaders of Black Hole.
You start the game playing as the Orange Star forces. This small section of the campaign is basically a tutorial for those who did not play
Advance Wars. These missions introduce you to Commanding Officers, COs, and their abilities. As you command your army you will learn how to use land, air, and water units, and other basic fundementals of the game.
Once you have completed this portion of the game, the "true" campaign begins. You will fight for freedom and liberate allies throughout Wars World, playing as all the allied armies and COs. You will fight all the different Black Hole COs, and strategize against their wits and individual abilites. Most times in the game, you will use an allied CO against a Black Hole CO of similar abilities, pitting strength against strength. Other times you will have a mismatch of abilities, perhaps pitting a CO with direct combat strength and weak indirect combat strength against a CO with the opposite strengths and weaknesses. It will be up to you to hide your weakness and capitalize upon your enemies, and this a large factor in
Advance Wars 2.
When was the last time a game made you
think? When was the last time you played a game that was mentally heavy, one that was truly difficult?
Advance Wars 2's greatest gameplay element is its open ended strategy. When you reach the point in the game in which you manufacture, deploy, and command your own troops, you have reached utter gaming bliss. At this point in the game you will realize that this isn't a trial and error affair. You must win these epic battles with your mind, not luck. You will match wits with AI that is incredibly versatile, cunning, and fast. You could very well end up playing one match for hours on end, because your priority is to defeat all enemy troops. The best part of
Advance Wars 2 is that
you fight
your battles,
your mind is the biggest element in the game. Truly, your own customization, technique, strategy comes to life in this brilliant game.
The main focus of the game's battles is to win, of course. You may win if you capture the enemy's HQ, or if you can prevent the enemy from retaliating by controlling all factories (building required to create new units) or destroying all the enemy's units. As you battle, you may capture cities to give you more funds each turn, money required to create new units. As the combat rages on, you will also gather energy for your CO power. Each CO has a unique CO power, and a super power. These powers are used when your power meter has been filled, and usually enhance your CO's strengths. For example, if you are using a CO whom's speciality is long range, indirect combat, most likely when you use your power your long distance range will increase, as well as your indirect combat power.
Every movement you make in
Advance Wars 2 will have an effect. The game is an accurate way to display, though outside of physics and the realm of science, Isaac Newton's law that "every action has an equal and opposite reaction." You must carefully think your moves, you may want to find protective terrain before you strike upon your enemies, and you may want to build a defense of long range units so you can move your direct combat units with protection and ease. However, you may also be walking into the range of a rocket unit, or near a group of tanks hiding within the fog of war.
The graphics of
Advance Wars 2 are the best that could have been possibly conceived for a strategy game on the Gameboy Advance. The beautiful still artwork featured in the game is absolutely amazing. The colors are bright and vivid. The explosion as you defeat your enemies, the bombers dropping from the sky, the infantry men moving across a street, these are all fluid, all fitting. There are no glarring flaws in this game, there is no imperfection within this beauty.
This game looks good.
The audio in this game, while not as memorable as the other elements within this amazing title, is of course above par. How could a game be good without great sounds or music? Everything here sounds natural and fluid. The movement of your troops, tanks blowing up other tanks, machine guns firing upon unsuspecting infantry,
Advance Wars 2's sounds are the definition of perfect, the epitome of bliss.
Many game modes are available to us in
Advance Wars 2. Outside of the main campaign you can enjoy a Battle Room, where you may play through a bevy of maps, and control each battle's variables, making the game easier or harder for you. Then, after you win points in the campaign or Battle Room, you may use them to purchase new maps or characters for use in multiplayer. Then, you have the option to create your own maps to trade and use against your friends. This game has so many features, replay value is infinite.
Amazing games are not unusual today, as they are the ones many of us focus upon and enjoy. Perfect games, however, are a truly rare event. No one can seem to agree on standards on which to judge games, and if someone claims a game is perfect, do not expect everyone to agree.
To rate a game as good as
Advance Wars 2 with a number would be an understatement. Yet, by GAF law, I am forced to give the game a number. Logically, I would give it the highest grade I possibly could, as it is my duty to review games and recognize their value. So, you have it, the story of the 10, and the best game on Gameboy Advance.
