Review
Release Date: 08.22.2005
Platform:
Nintendo DSDeveloper:
Intelligent SystemsPublisher:
Nintendo Co., Ltd.Reviewed by
Ryan Dean on 12.24.2005
| Review Rating: 9/10 | User Rating: 9.06/10 |
I really love strategy games, specifically on handhelds. The GBA was an early hit for me, as it offered
Fire Emblem,
Advance Wars, and the oh-so-hot
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. And of course, also being a
Nintendo buff, and an avid gamer in general, I picked up the Nintendo DS at launch. But at launch, there really was
nothing to satisfy my strategy sweet tooth, and I know many felt the same way. Luckily for us, Nintendo has released
Advance Wars: Dual Strike, which proves to be the best game on the DS so far.
As you know, I was a big fan of
Advance Wars 2, and this of course makes
Dual Strike better in the fact that I get to enjoy playing with the same characters that made the universe Nintendo set up so lovable. However, don't let this scare those of you that wish to jump straight into
Dual Strike away; The story isn't very engaging. Many feel that of the three, the first
Advance Wars title to appear on the GBA,
Advance Wars, seemed to have the best scenarios and plot, and since then there has been a slow decline. Once again, Black Hole has attacked the different countries of Wars World, and now all the countries have banded together to fight off the invaders. Seems familiar, only this time we have "uber cool" characters to help move the story along, such as Jake. Jake likes to "totally pwn" his enemies. Now, the three of you out there that hung on every word our lovable CO's said, well, you'll surely find
Dual Strike disappointing. I'm aware that there are options in-game to skip dialogue, but I do read the pre-battle story and Jake makes it nearly unbearable. The age group that this dialogue would appeal to are far too young to grasp the average strategy title. A simple equation for success, Nintendo:
More Kanbei, Less Jake.
But onto what
Advance Wars is all about, the gameplay.
Dual Strike retains all of what made the series so great in the beginning; the great maps, decent amount of units, and infinite replay. But what could Nintendo possibly do to make the
Advance Wars franchise even better? How about entirely new modes, vehicles, and variations? Of course, anyone would want that, so Nintendo served it up in droves. The biggest addition to the
Advance Wars formula is CO tagging, or using two COs to fight one battle. Many times players will have to fight on two fronts and choose COs strategically for each battle at hand. Sometimes players will swap COs or simply control both in larger battles, bringing an amazing amount of depth to the deep ocean of strategy-lovin' that Nintendo already dished out with
Black Hole Rising. With the help of the stylus, players can use the touchscreen to command and direct troops. However, players can also use the traditional controls of the GBA games--your choice.
Of course, with every sequel you can expect the word "more" to be used, and this is no exception.
Dual Strike features more new maps, units, and scenarios, and brings back all the ones you loved from the GBA
Advance Wars titles. With Campaign, War Room, and the new Real-Time mode, Nintendo has built a new social life killer for you strategy junkies.
Despite the DS being WiFi capable, there is no online multiplayer in
Dual Strike, but Nintendo once again brings one cart and multi-cart multiplayer back, meaning we can once again trade our custom made maps and battle it out with other budding Napoleons.
The graphics and audio have gotten only the slightest of upgrades in
Dual Strike compared to the GBA editions of
Advance Wars, but since the DS hardware, while being more powerful than the GBA, is outdated, there isn't enough power to effectively implement 3D or spoken word to the game. The tunes are catchy and the terrain is colorful and bright, but there is still room for improvement.
Nintendo has added a lot to the
Advance Wars universe with
Dual Strike, but there are still some things missing (As much as we all love Mario Kart, where's the online
AW action?). I've found through the months there to be a lot of replayability stuffed into this tiny cart, and I'm sure it will spend a good while in your DS.
