The best handheld game ever created, Advance Wars 2 amazes in every way.
User Rating: 9.6 | Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising GBA
To start off, I'm a big strategy RPG junkie. I love games like Shining Force, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Disgaea. That said, Advance Wars 2 doesn't have the RPG elements of those games, but it plays very similiary, and in many ways are even more fun then the games I just mentioned. Almost everything is done to perfection, and I'm really surprised that Intelligent Systems was able to fit so much content on just one small Gameboy Advance cartridge. I have to say, I've never enjoyed a handheld game as much as I enjoy Advance Wars 2. There are several modes to play. The main mode is the campaign mode, where you have to play through the story of the game, and you can actually take control of all four countries in their fight against the main villians in the game, the Black Hole Army. Each country has their own mini campaign of about 8-10 battles you fight. The other mode of the game that you can invest alot of time into is the War Room. It consists of 30 maps, that are mostly more difficult then the campaign mode battles, and you can play these for coins (which you can use to buy more maps, characters, or color palettes for characters), and to get high scores. another mode is the versus mode, where you can play with up to 3 friends in battles, or you can just set up random battles against the computer, in up to around 120 different maps. As you can see, there are alot of things that you can do in this game, so expect it to eat up alot of your time. The game is done in an overhead view, and you can move one unit at a time in turn based fasion. There are many different units to use, from infantry to bomber planes, and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. Each of the COs (Commanding Officers) also have special talents that can strengthen or weaken the powers of different troops, so this can add alot of strategy to the battles. When you decide to attack an enemy, your troops will attack, and then if the enemy is still alive after the attack, they'll do a counterattack. All battles are done in this fashion, unless the unit attack doesn't have the ability to do a counterattack (like a rocket unit for example). Its all about balance, which Advance Wars 2 really specalizes it. It can get really hard in some battles though, so alot of thought has to be put into some of the later battles and War Room battles. The graphics aren't great, but they are definently servicable, and work well with the game. The overhead view of the battles aren't impressive at all, since more can be done with the GBA system. When you do attacks though, it goes to a side view, with very detailed characters, that aer among the best sprites seen on the GBA. Each CO in the game also has a portrait, and full body picture, that is impressive for the GBA. Overall, the graphics are good enough. The original Advance Wars had some very memoriable songs, and Advance Wars 2 doesn't disappoint in this department. All the songs for the COs return, and alot of new songs have been put in for the new COs in the game. My personal favorites are the songs for Grit, and Sensei. Sound effects are also good, with many of the gun shots and explosions sounding as good as it can get coming out of the small speakers of the GBA. I really can't say much more about how good this game is. If you own a Gameboy Advance or a Nintendo DS, I recommend this game over any other game for the system. Its a must buy for anyone who is looking to buy a new Gameboy Advance game. 
