The new Advance Wars trashes the previous characters and story while keeping the tactics rougly the same: Simply great.
User Rating: 9.5 | Advance Wars: Days of Ruin DS
They got rid of the cutesy characters and turned the game into a post- apocalyptic masterpiece with a new world and storyline to boot. They also added a handful of new units and revamped the graphics to a more adult state. This game targets all audiences now and can no longer be called a "strictly child's" Turn Based Strategy. Yet how does this new look compare to the rest of the games? Advance Wars plays, looks and feels better than ever and the tactics are even deeper now as your units level up(to a maximum of 3 levels) when you defeat an enemy unit. This adds a new height of tactical depth while keeping the other tactical elements from other games freshly in tact. The new graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay is phoenominal and the sound is much like the other Advance Wars games but still very good. With online multiplayer that is voice chat compatible this makes AWDoR shine above it's predescessors. If you are looking for an incredibly deep Turn Based Strategy with hours of entertainment packed in, look no further than Days Of Ruin. 
