There is no reason to not try this game.
Review 163
Released: June 24, 2003
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Intelligent Sys.
Game Genre: Sci-Fi Turn-Based Strategy
ESRB Rating: E for Everyone
ESRB Description: Mild Violence
Story: 30%
Gameplay: 40%
Graphics: 20%
Durability: 10%
Story (9/10)
The story in itself is integrated better into Advance Wars II. This time, instead of fighting each other, the 4 countries of Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet and Green Earth have allied to fend off the Black Hole invasion. All of the previous COs are available: Andy, Max, Sami and Nell of Orange Star, Olaf and Grit of Blue Moon, Kanbei and Sonja of Yellow Comet, Eagle and Drake of Green Earth, and Sturm of Black Hole.
New COs are available as well. Hachi is the final unlockable CO, unlocked by beating the Hard Campaign. Colin of Blue Moon is a rich kid whose CO power multiplies his funds by 1.5 times. Sensei of Yellow Comet is skilled with battle copters and infantry. Jess of Green Earth is very Max-like. She is very skilled with vehicles and direct combat.
Black Hole is the big addition, since they were only fought twice in the first Advance Wars game. Four new COs make their appearance for Black Hole. Flak is the dumb brute who has no real outstanding abilities, but can get lucky or unlucky in terms of damage. Lash is a terrain expert. Adder has no outstanding abilities but no weakness either. His CO power gives him extra movement. Sturm's general, Hawke, is a deadly CO who deals extra damage. His CO power heals his units and damages his opponents'.
Gameplay (10/10)
You'd think it would be difficult to keep the innovative, cartoonish gameplay from the original and yet improve the game and keep it from getting old quick. There is only one additional vehicle in the game, and that is the Neotank, which can be unlocked in campaign mode by finding the enemy's secret labs.
Aside from the one additional vehicle, not much else has changed. To keep the game from redundancy, missions will often throw a new aspect at you to keep you from getting familiar with the system. Black Hole has built various cannons and lasers that can fire on you at the beginning of every turn. Troop placement becomes incredibly meaningful. There are also missile silos that work similar to capturing a city. An infantry or mech unit can fire one of these suckers off and deal damage to a group of units, enemy or ally.
The engine itself is still very much the same. There are various different units that can be deployed, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Graphics (7/10)
Very much the same as the first release.
Durability (10/10)
There is no good reason to put this game down. The Hard Campaign can be unlocked after beating campaign mode once. Unlike the original's Advanced Campaign, this Hard Campaign is actually possible, making it a challenge but not a disaster. It is also by far one of the best games to pick up and play with a group of friends, either on the same system or on separate systems.
Previous Games
Advance Wars (9/10)
Overall Score (9.1/10)
Rounded Score (9/10)
Final Thoughts:
There is no reason to not try this game.