Just goes to show that a war game doesn't have to be overly serious and realistic to be good.
This game has a very in-depth tutorial, great for newcomers (like me) of the franchise. When I played through quite a bit of the game (since I started playing Advance Wars only quite recently), I was like, "OMG, THIS is what I've missed for six years. " It completely blew me away.
I like how this game has many different commanders called CO's (commanding officers), each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In a way, this reminds me of another one of my favorite games of all time, Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour, where the different generals have a similar function to the different CO's in Advance Wars. Utilizing your own CO's pros and cons increases your strategic and tactical options. This is a great way to conduct battle. CO's also have a CO power, which charges up during the battle. When the meter is full, you can use the CO power, which has different effects depending on the CO. This can change the course of the battle.
Advance Wars also has great replay value. Not only can you play the campaign, you can also play a versus mode (skirmish) battle, a War Room battle, and you can also link up GBA's and battle your friends. In addition, the game also comes with an editor, which allows you to make your own maps!! Yay!!!
The game's musical soundtrack is amazing. I always have the different tracks in my head long after I finish playing the game.
However, Advance Wars does have its share of flaws. For one thing, indirect-combat units are a bit on the overpowered side. While not nearly large enough to terribly unbalance the game, this still sometimes was a BIG problem, as each shot would almost kill off my attacked unit, and make it very hard for me to advance. Too much for a unit that can attack from several spaces away.
The game stands out from other games in the series because it lets you enter your name, and the different CO's would address you by that name. However, that name can not be changed unless you delete your save file. This is a problem if you, like me, buy the game used (which is the only reasonably priced option for most people nowadays), as the CO would address you by the name that the previous owner entered. And since I had all the CO's and maps unlocked already, I was in no mindset to erase my save file.
Unlocking CO's was also a MAJOR headache (and also a common problem I have with the Advance Wars series). Several CO's are only be usable if you unlock them by buying them from the Battle Maps shop after meeting certain conditions. In fact, only four CO's (Andy, Max, Sami, and Olaf) are usable until you beat the campaign mode. Meaning that I had to beat several difficult (yes the game was somewhat difficult) campaign missions. Is there something wrong here? I think so.
All the CO's in the game also looked rather goofy to me. But this is the first game in the series, so I won't be too hard on it here.
Overall, Advance Wars is a great game that is definitely worth the money. You can get it used for only about $10 now.
Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Value: 10
Tilt: 8