Advance Wars has all the makings of a classic, from its fun and addicting gameplay to its appropriate graphics and sound, this game set the standard which all other portable turn based strategy games will have to live up to.

While the story in this game might be subpar, the characters( COs) and their powers are creative and are evenly matched out. Max's powerful tanks are evened out by the fact that he has very weak rockets, while Sam's ability to make her infantry capture bases really fast is offset by the fact that all her other ground units are weak and for a long-range specialist like Grit, his powerful rockets, who get extended range, are matched by his weak tanks. Each of the different units match up well and none of the units seem particularly overpowering or unfair, though when you fist see an MD tank roles through your undefended rockets or artillery you might think so. The different maps in the story mode have different objectives, from saving a certain unit to defending a base for a certain number of days, to destroying a specific unit or just plain capturing the enemy base. While this game mostly relies on a money system in order for you to create units is sometimes just gives you a set number of units to start out with and those are probably the funniest levels, all tactics, with no resources involved. Other than that the game gets great replay value from the 150 or so maps in the vs. and war rooms, while the map creator just adds to the fun that can be had, especially since you can play against a friend on those created maps.

Don't be thrown off by the colorful, childish graphics, they are actually quite useful and you can clearly tell the difference between a mech and a infantry. One other thing to not is that when to units battle it changes to another screen in which the units battle each other out, sort of like Fire Emblem. These animations can be turned off if you are short on time but they are fun and engaging to watch.

The sound might not be the focus of the game, the tunes for each CO is fun and upbeat and they never get tired or old. Also the sounds for each of the different units is distinct so that you can clearly tell the difference between them. Overall this is an outstanding game that and any GBA owner will want to pick up.

a true clasic. its one of those games where you have to be good at staregy. its hard enough to scream and cry if you lose and do a dance if you win (even if your in airplane packed with peaple.) its storyline is one of the best ever. good enogh to make a movie about. you can go back and playit for years and when word goes out of a sequel get it reseverd a year before it done.overall it a great game.

This game is essential GBA. Some of the character art for Nell and the others is not the same in the sequel versions (AW:2, AW:DS), so be sure to play the first installment.