Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

They say that good things come to those who wait.  As true as that old saying may be, the video industry indicates the complete opposite.  See, what we have here is Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, the sequel to one of Nintendo's sleeper hits.  It wasn't held back or over-developed, and no statements were ever released saying that it would be "done when it's done."  Yet the quality is remarkable, the gameplay is unbelievably addictive, and just as Nintendo did with Pikmin, they have brought innovation to an old genre.

Given the series' sleeper-hit status, it's likely that some of you have no idea what Advance Wars is.  The name reveals only a tiny fraction of what this game is: a deep, extremely involving turn-based strategy game.  If the words "extremely involving" or "turn-based strategy" turned you off, then obviously you've had an unpleasant experience with the genre.  But don't let that push you away from one of Nintendo's best, most original titles in years.  While most Game Boy Advance games play or feel like something released during the 16-bit era, Advance Wars 2 is far superior to any strategy game of that time.  In fact, it's superior to most strategy games of this time as well.

This is mainly due to the Advance War 2's brilliant gameplay mechanics.  They are very simple and very easy to learn.  There isn't really a "camera" in this game, since it has a dated cartoon design, but the view is always top-down.  Units (tanks, helicopters, military troops, etc.) are commanded individually.  You use the cursor to select them, and then choose whether to move and attack, move separately or attack separately or do nothing at all.  When you attack an enemy, the game switches to a side-by-side split screen, showing a much more detailed look at the combat.  If this description doesn't sound too exciting, that's because it's not.  On paper, this game sounds about as fun as those old pen and paper RPGs.  But the gameplay is out of this world.

The primary goal is the same in almost every mission: wipe out the enemy, or capture their base.  The same task will be accomplished by completing either of the objectives, so the choice is up to the player.  Generally though, the player doesn't have a choice: you must do what is best for the mission and concentrate on completing the objective that has the highest success rate.  Of course, you have no way of knowing the success rate ahead of time, but you can make a pretty good guess.

One of the game's coolest aspects is the ability to make your army grow.  The first mission or two don't really get into this, but after that, you'll have to produce zillions of tanks and military troops if you expect to survive.  However, you can't pull a tank out of thin air.  Infantry doesn't exactly grow on trees either.  That is why money is earned every turn.  The amount of money earned depends solely on the amount of property you have.  For every building captured, 1000 additional points will be earned every turn.  This makes "commanding and conquering" an integral part of the game.

Being a strategy game, there are some things you'll need to learn about Advance Wars 2, especially if you are new to the genre.  The first few levels will teach you everything you need to know -- how to change your position, how to attack, etc.  The in-game help will also give you lots of information on each of the vehicles, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.  For those of you who have finished the original, this might seem a little tedious.  But for newcomers, this is exactly what you need to get going.

Once you've completed the first few levels (which were mainly created to get you going, whether you're a new player or not), you'll be greeted by a swift kick in the butt.  At this point, the off button becomes your new best friend.  Let me tell you, for a "simple" game, Advance Wars 2 is really challenging.  I'd set up a whole army, plan my assault oh-so-carefully, and then wind up getting wasted by the enemy's wiser choices (either sneak attacks, faster infiltration or a more intelligent use of their budget).  This prompted me to hit the off button and start the mission all over again.  I figure if the enemy can hide in the fog, I should at least have the right to start over.

When you're not running from the big bad enemy (or perhaps after you've kicked the final boss's butt), you'll want to check out Advance Wars 2's map creation feature.  Sim City fans will instantly recognize the simple, easy-to-use interface.  Every building and terrain type is at your disposal, and the map is huge, so you have the freedom to do pretty much whatever you want.  I know that technologically this is very basic, but it feels so "Advanced."  Either way I can't help but love it.

There are a lot of must-buy games out there, but how could you stand to live without one of the best?  I'd honestly recommend this game to anyone, regardless of their genre preference.  Young kids (anyone under the age of 12) will probably not have the patience to play this game since it involves a lot of careful planning.  But it's simple enough that anyone who does have the patience will be rewarded with an experience that is truly worthy of the Nintendo label.

Gameplay: 9.5
First Nintendo made me a fan of real-time strategy games with Pikmin, and now they've piqued my interest in turn-based strategy games.  Advance Wars 2 is full of all the exciting, addicting gameplay of the first game, and best of all, there's more of it.  And it's more challenging.  And there's a map editor!  And there's...

Graphics: 7
The side-by-side attack animations are cool.  However, this isn't a very graphic-intensive game.  The map isn't cluttered with special effects that it doesn't need, which I'm fine with.  But because of that, its graphics don't deserve a high score.

Sound: 5
I like Advance Wars 2's music, I really do.  But why in the world are there only a few songs on this soundtrack?  Maybe there are more, but you NEVER hear them!  The same 16-bit quality beats are repetitively played from start to finish.  (And incase you couldn't tell, saying that the sound is 16-bit quality is not a compliment.)

Difficulty: Hard
Advance Wars 2 has some easy aspects, but all in all, the computer opponents will fight like crazy to kick your butt.

Concept: 8.5
The first Advance Wars game was a huge innovation for the GBA.  To ensure the game's quality, the developers started from the ground up.  They didn't borrow from another title or do things that have already been done.  No, this isn't the first turn-based strategy game, but it is the first one that made me take the genre seriously.

That same tender loving care has been applied to the sequel.  One thing Advance Wars 2 has in common with Nintendo's 8 and 16-bit games is that it has everything you loved about the original game and a whole lot more.

Multiplayer: 8.5
Finally, a good multiplayer game for the GBA!  You could literally spend hours planning out attacks on your friends.  Man, I wish they'd bring this to the 'Cube.  Aside from the awesome split-screen action, they could take the multiplayer features online.

Overall: 9.2
The Advance Wars series is one of Nintendo's unexpected surprises.  While people scratch their heads, wondering what kind of things we'll see in the next Metroid game, Nintendo jumps ahead and gives us a must-own sequel to its must-own turn-based strategy game.