A remake of a strategy masterpiece that doesn't quite nail the presentation. The toy soldier aesthetic is nowhere near as charming as the original retro pixel art, though I guess it does make the game look newer (even if it looks like a mobile game). The character art is hit or miss with some designs looking too simplified while others are genuine improvements.
There's also limited voice acting, but this aspect of the presentation also falls flat. Most characters are only voiced for the occasional sentence and a few grunts. And the character castings and performances are hit and miss too.
The new music, on the other hand, is fantastic! The original's soundtrack was held back by the GBA's sound capabilities, so the upgrade was much needed. Shoutout to Sensei's Power theme in particular, that track rocks.
There's also HD rumble whenever you move your cursor or a tank moves on the map. Of all the things to focus on in a remake I don't know why they chose this, but strangely it's a good addition? It makes the game feel good to play for some reason.
I didn't use the online multiplayer because there's no random matchmaking and I don't know anyone else who owns a copy of this game. Why would I? It's an extremely niche strategy game that Nintendo went out of it's way to make sure nobody bought. Nintendo really set up this game and franchise to fail by delaying this game for 2 years.
Overall I love Advance Wars, and while I think the developers do too, the final product wasn't the slam dunk it could have been. I'd give this game a lower score than the original advance wars games due to the presentation (it still gets 4 stars for being Advance Wars). But it's still nice having these two games widely available and also be on the same cartridge.
There's also limited voice acting, but this aspect of the presentation also falls flat. Most characters are only voiced for the occasional sentence and a few grunts. And the character castings and performances are hit and miss too.
The new music, on the other hand, is fantastic! The original's soundtrack was held back by the GBA's sound capabilities, so the upgrade was much needed. Shoutout to Sensei's Power theme in particular, that track rocks.
There's also HD rumble whenever you move your cursor or a tank moves on the map. Of all the things to focus on in a remake I don't know why they chose this, but strangely it's a good addition? It makes the game feel good to play for some reason.
I didn't use the online multiplayer because there's no random matchmaking and I don't know anyone else who owns a copy of this game. Why would I? It's an extremely niche strategy game that Nintendo went out of it's way to make sure nobody bought. Nintendo really set up this game and franchise to fail by delaying this game for 2 years.
Overall I love Advance Wars, and while I think the developers do too, the final product wasn't the slam dunk it could have been. I'd give this game a lower score than the original advance wars games due to the presentation (it still gets 4 stars for being Advance Wars). But it's still nice having these two games widely available and also be on the same cartridge.