Advance Wars

The Good
This game really surprised me. Some friends of mine recommended it but I was highly sceptical, I've never encountered any good strategy games before on any console (the strategy games currently existing for the consoles are usually overly simplified, and the controls... yuck). Because of this game I can no longer say that, this game simply kicks ass. The game plays like a simple version of Command and Conquer, on most missions you have a base where you can make more units, you have buildings you can capture for more money, there's a big range of units (including air and sea units), there's also an option for fog of war. The big difference from C&C is that this game is turnbased, and unlike most games the attacker always have the advantage (which makes the game very aggresive in style). The interface is very nice, although I wish I could use a mouse for controlling the cursor, and perhaps the menus could have been separately on the right/left of the screen for itself not being over the ingame graphics... but alas, this is a Gameboy Advance so that isn't possible. Each time there's a battle you get to see a fancy animation with the troops fighting it out (sort of like the old Battle Isle games), only with no interaction, it's just there for show. It's nice for the first times, but I wish I could turn them off, in the long run it's kind of a bore.

There's also a multiplayer option which really makes the game so much more enjoyable. Up to four players can battle it out, you don't even need more than one machine (ah, the wonders of turnbased) although it's nicer with more. And the best thing about the game... it has a good unit balance! Something almost all RTSs lack (okay, it's not perhaps the best thing to compare this with a RTS game, but it's the closest I get, remove the turnbased system and it's identical to any RTS).

The Bad
Although it's okay, the sound is just "there", you don't really notice it nor does it bother you. Some of the music is okay, but some of the tunes can really get annoying after a while , there should be a jukebox option so you could select which tune to listen, instead of being forced to listen a specific one because you have a certain CO. Speaking of COs, that's something I haven't mentioned. Before each battle you get to choose a certain CO, the only difference it makes is how your troops look, what music you get, and what CO power you have. A CO power is something which charges up and if you use it you gain a special power for a short while. Unfortunately, it's not balanced at all, some of the powers are completely useless, some of them are way too powerful. And some of them are too specific, for instance, a CO called Max has useless long distance units, but he have really powerful close combat units. If your foe has selected him, you're certain what kind of tactic he'll use, and that destroys a bit of the fun.

The Bottom Line
The game is definately good, but it lacks that special touch most computer strategy games have, at some points it feels too simple and in the long run you're doomed to be bored. But there's still a good deal of playability here, and if you own a Gameboy Advance you simply need to get this game. On the other hand though, if you're a computer player you're probably better off playing some more C&C.