Genre: Strategy
Platform: Game Boy Advance
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone (mild violence)

The storyline of this game is somewhat simple. Blue Moon has invaded Orange Star, your homeland. In a series of missions, you need to beat them back, defeat them, and then... ah, but that would be telling! There's no real violence, well, not any blood or anything. The worst is just some things blowing up.

There are various COs (Commanding Officers) in this game, each with strengths and weaknesses. Some are enemies, some are friends. For example, Max's Direct Combat (such as Tanks and Recons) units are strong, but his Indirect Combat units (such as Artillery and Rockets) are weak and have limited range. A different CO is Kanbei, whose troops are overall above average, but cost a lot to deploy. And the list goes on.This will be rated out of five stars, like all of my Reviews.

Graphics: **** 1/2

Although the graphics have ceased to "wow" me, as most Game Boy Advance games are like this, they're still pretty good. Well, at least in comparison to Game Boy Color...

Sound: **

The sound really isn't that spectacular... but isn't horrible, either. Mostly it's either guns firing or things blowing up. Nope, it's still appropriate for almost all ages, as there isn't any blood or anything.

Music: *** 1/2

The music's pretty good, but not phenomenal. The music you hear during Field Training is really good, but some of the others are somewhat questionable.

Difficulty: **** 1/2

DIFFICULT!!! Try on Advanced Campaign (can only be used after beating normal Campaign Mode, which is the storyline mode). That mode is really hard... something I'd give five stars to. War Room is also fairly difficult. Normal Campaign is moderately difficult, while Field Training (tutorial) is pretty easy, of course.

Characters: ***

Okay, it has some characters, and it has some pretty good personalities for them. But there aren't very many characters. When I say "character", I mean, of course, the COs.

Controls: **** 1/2

Simple, concise controls. As this is turn-based, no quickness is required. You can stop playing it, leave for a few minutes, come back, and no harm is done. That is, unless your little brother or sister started playing it when you were on the final level...

Levels: ****

What I like about the levels is that they're not all destroy all enemies or capture enemy HQ. A bunch of them are different and unique. For example, in some there is limited time, and in one all you have to do is hold out for a certain amount of time, not win!

Bosses: N/A

There are no bosses in this game, so how can I give it a score?

Story: *** 1/2

A simple story, but it unfolds into something more interesting. The coolest thing is that Field Training is actually a story, like Campaign. Plus, Field Training goes directly into Campaign. That is, the story where Field Training ends picks right up in Campaign. Cool, eh? How many games' tutorial actually corresponds directly to the storyline?

Replayability: *****

LOTS of replayability is here. LOTS and LOTS. I mean, let's look at this. There are lots of different ways to play, and after you clear Campaign Mode, you can try your hand at Advanced Campaign (and trust me, that is HARD). Oh, and you can always try to top your earlier score, or increase your Rank.

Modes: I will divide each of the modes in the game and give each one an independent score.

Field Training: ***

Well, it's just the tutorial, what d'you expect? Still, it introduces both strategy and units to you pretty well and gradually. The best part is that it's kind of a storyline in itself. The storyline goes straight into Campaign, which picks off from EXACTLY where this left off.

Campaign/Advanced Campaign: **** 1/2

Now THIS is where the game rules. It's the main mode of the whole thing. It isn't just simple battles, either, there's a storyline through the whole thing. Plus, like I said, there are different mission objectives. In some you just have to keep a unit alive for a period of time, or win in a certain period of time, capture a certain number of bases, or just hold out, period for a little while. Of course, most are just the destroy all enemies or capture enemy HQ, but it's nice to see they're not all like that. Seriously, Advanced Campaign is so hard. If not for those handy Internet guides, I never would've cleared the "Kanbei's Error?" mission.

War Room: ****

This is sort of like Vs Mode, except you always play the computer. Also, you get awarded as to how quickly you win it, like on Campaign Mode. While you can play the War Room maps in Vs Mode, you won't actually get anything for winning. By the way, War Rooms are very difficult. Be prepared to save your game or spend a lot of time on them.

Design Maps: * 1/2

So you can make some maps yourself. So what? I mean, that may be really enjoyable to some people, but not to me. Okay, so you can make a re-enactment of Pearl Harbor, but it's just not very interesting. While you can potentially have a lot of fun with it, it just doesn't stay there much. Plus, why is it that the game can only hold three saved maps? Why not four? Or five? Seriously, Game Boy Advance was supposed to be revolutionary!

Battle Maps: *

There's nothing exciting about this mode except that you can buy maps for Vs Mode/War Room/Link Mode. Of course, you need coins to buy them, and you get the coins by clearing missions. Although it's pretty
important, there is absolutely nothing especially interesting in it, hence the low score. I added half a star because if you play Campaign right you can "purchase" COs so you can use them in War Room...

Link Mode: *** 1/2

Like a lot of multiplayer Game Boy Advance games, you have either the option of playing Multi-Pak (one Pak per person) or Single-Pak. Multi-Pak, of course, makes it much more fun and gives you more control over things. However, you can still play Single-Pak, although it's not as good.

Vs Mode: **** 1/2

This is basically Link Mode, except with no linking. You can either play the computer (or computers) by yourself, or with a friend (or friends). You can have up to four players in it, either all being human, or there
being three friends and a computer, or more combinations. Or, alternatively, you can have a one-on-one battle with a friend or the game. Personally, I prefer it to linking mode, as you can play practically the same things without linking. Link Mode is more enjoyable, but it's annoying to have to have people with other Advance Wars. Plus, in Vs Mode you can save the game, which you can't do in Link Mode. However, Link Mode will allow you to trade maps. Take your pick.

Fun Factor: **** 1/2

Well, this game sure is fun. I would've given it a five-star rating if not for the fact that it's frustrating a lot of the time, but still fun. Then again, lots of fun games are hard. Of course, there are also plenty of hard games that aren't fun. In any case, with all those different modes, there will probably be something for everyone.

OVERALL: *****

This game demonstrates what a Game Boy Advance can truly do. Lots of modes translates to plenty of replayability, and many of those modes are really fun and with good graphics, especially the battle scenes. Trust me, this is one game that almost anyone should get. It's probably my favorite Game Boy Advance game, and unlike Super Mario Advance 2 (which I should have given 4 1/2 stars), this game DESERVES the five-star rating. If you don't like challenging turn-based strategy games, pass this one up, but you'll be missing a lot, sad to say. And remember, in Advance Wars, war is swell!

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