Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp Review: Two Classics, One Package

In 2001, Nintendo released Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance, finally bringing its turn-based military franchise to North America. The game was a strong success for Nintendo, leading to a direct sequel in 2003. Two decades later, Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising are together again in one package. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp brings both games to Nintendo Switch with improved graphics and some helpful modern day enhancements. While some elements of the game's presentation look a bit dated, it does offer a package worth checking out for fans new and old.

Advance Wars and its sequel are set in a fictional world with various locations loosely based on real-life countries. When the first game begins, the Orange Star nation has been invaded by its long-time rivals, Blue Moon. Players begin the game controlling the commanding officer Andy, as he's given orders by the army's leader, Nell. As Andy, players must choose the moves of their respective military units, figuring out the best ways to attack and defeat opposing armies. Each unit has its own particular strengths and weaknesses, as well as limitations in how they can move across the game's grid-based maps. Options like Tanks and Helicopters can dish out a lot more damage than Infantry or Mech units, but only Infantry and Mech units can capture cities and bases. Players advance to the next mission by defeating all of an opponent's units, or by taking over their base. 

Andy is the first CO available, but as the player progresses, they'll unlock additional COs Max and Sami. Just as each unit has their own distinct advantages and disadvantages in battle, so do the game's COs. For example, Andy is a solid overall option, similar to choosing Mario in Mario Kart. Meanwhile, Max is the best choice for direct combat, but struggles when using units that attack over distances (like Rockets). Sami is the game's infantry specialist, and her troops are faster at taking over cities than her fellow COs. Andy, Max, and Sami each has their own distinct CO Power, which can be used as a meter fills. Figuring out the best CO to use for each mission becomes increasingly important as the games go on, and can make all the difference in battle.

While all of the mechanics might sound daunting for newcomers, I should note that I went into this game as someone that didn't play the original games and doesn't have a ton of experience with the genre in general. Thankfully, Re-Boot Camp eases players like me in, slowly showcasing different unit types in different missions. The collection also offers a casual mode, which still offers a decent challenge, but might be easier for those new to the genre. Speaking of newcomers, the game is rated "E for Everyone," which means the game offers a pretty tame take on war. There's never any blood spilled on these battlefields, as Advance Wars offers a more "Saturday morning cartoon approach." Even when Infantry units get wiped out, it literally just looks like they get blown off of the map. The game's graphic style is somewhat deceptive in that regard, as there's still a lot of depth and challenge found throughout.

Missions in the game can take a pretty decent amount of time, which can be all the more frustrating when the player ends up with a loss. That's a pretty standard convention of the turn-based strategy genre, but there are a couple nice quality-of-life improvements that help in this regard. A new fast-forward feature can be used to make an enemy's moves go by quicker, and players can use it at any point by holding the "ZR" button. The game also autosaves between moves, making it a lot easier to leave and come back in the middle of a particularly long mission if needed.

The presentation in Re-Boot Camp is probably the area that's most difficult to judge. The new stuff looks terrific; all of the character models look bright and colorful, and the brief animations that precede the use of a CO Power are particularly sharp. But when it comes to watching the actual gameplay itself, players shouldn't expect much more than an upscaled GBA game. It looks fine, but it's easy to see how developer WayForward was probably hampered by the restrictions of 20-year-old games; if this collection does lead to a new series entry, hopefully it'll look a little bit prettier. That said, the music is quite catchy, and players are sure to get plenty of tracks stuck in their heads as they spend countless hours with the two included games.

For those interested in easing into the turn-based strategy genre, or those with a lot of experience, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a strong option on Nintendo Switch. With two complete games in one, there's a lot of meat in the package, and that's not even factoring in the multiplayer options. WayForward has done a very nice job adhering closely to the Game Boy Advance originals, while offering enough tweaks to make it feel like this package was a better decision compared to putting the originals on Nintendo Switch Online. It's been a while since fans of the series have had a wholly-new game to enjoy, so hopefully this package will lead to more from Nintendo.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is set to release April 21st, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. The game was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review, and it was reviewed on a Nintendo Switch OLED.