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58 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Advance Wars DS, the DS game of year!, September 13, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Video Game)
Advance Wars DS is a portable strategy gamers' dream. With 8+ levels of unlockable skills requiring at least 8
hours per CO, the play time of this came could surpass 80 hours easily. Complicating matters would be the unlocked CO skill's
battling your unskilled CO later in the game. An example of the skills are receiving cash for destroyed enemy units,
reducing production costs for your CO by 5%, increased direct fire attack by 5% and a city fighter skill yielding 5% bonus
in cities. Up to four skills can be used at one time by one CO with at least 5 different skills per level.
Two CO's can now be used and switched while playing the game. Kanabei can be used to conduct ferocious attacks and
replaced the next turn with Colin to get cheaper unit production. Coupled with
the skills mentioned above you can customize your skills for power vs profit. After you have filled your CO power meter,
both CO's are filled, you can conduct simulataneous CO super powers to devastating effect on the battlefield.
Another option available in Versus Mode including Design Maps is four levels of AI. Defense, Assault, Normal and Strike.
The AI modes can become very challenging, increasing gameplay value for any given map.
A new History menu item is available in the game. History will provide a through overview of anything you have ever done
in the game with medals awarded for suprassing certain amounts. For example medals are given for XXXXX number of credits.
Multiplayer mode has been revamped with new trading options. Coupled with wireless capability of the DS, Advance Wars
DS will instantly become a classic around any public gaming setting. One word of caution, every player will need a
copy of the game. A copy of the game is almost mandatory from a training stand point. We all know training fellow
gamers can be challenging at times.
All of the game features covered until now, have very little to do with campaign mode. Campaign mode in Advance Wars DS
is just as challenging and refreshingly different as the original editions. Move your troops around obstacles and fight
the bad guys as only Advance Wars can. The tutorials are as always, integrated into the game play and can be quite
frustrating to the "casual gamer" like me.
Graphics in the game are basic with a sort of 3D perspective of the battlefield. Birds randomly fly across during
gameplay. I welcome the large bulky text and simplistic menu system.
Sound is the same as always.
I have enjoyed Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2 for almost three years now.
Hit:
1) History, I enjoy seeing how many units fell in battle.
2) Three M's, Maps, Maps and more maps. This new version delivers!
3) 3 second average load time to the main menu! No waiting for boring company logo and the idle animations are fun to watch.
4) Two CO's.
5) Customizable AI for Design maps.
6) Customizable skills for CO's!
7) New weapons in game: black bomb (5 damage to all affected units) and megatank.
8) New CO's!
Miss:
1) Using the stylus, this veteran likes his control based gameboy. Which still works flawlessly!
2) Music, I keep it switched off.
3) Maps in Design Room are not any bigger.
4) Dual Screen battles are to much of a good thing. Luckily they are not the focus of game play either!
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect way to kill time on long and short trips, September 25, 2006
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Video Game)
I'm a man in my late 30s who used to enjoy video games, but between work, going back to school, and children, I just don't have time for gaming any more. So it's been ~5 years since I tried any gaming system, much less a handheld (which I've always viewed as worthless from a gaming perspective). Recently, I had a long business trip, and friends recommended the Nintendo DS Lite and Advanced Wars: Dual Strike. I bought both on their recommendation and I can honestly say it is a truly fantastic experience. It made the trip fly by, I wasn't even interested in the movie or reading. It even worked great to defuse my frustration about having to wait for an hour in a slow-moving security line. In this review, I'll speak about the game, and will write a separate review for the system.
AW:DS is exactly what I was looking for. A solid, turn-based strategy/tactics game. The Campaign mode did an excellent job of teaching you how to play, introducing new elements over time. As seems to be the norm these days, many elements are not initially available but unlockable after accumulating a certain number of play points. This has the effect of hooking you even more -- you want to just unlock that one extra feature!
Detailed info about the game:
Units include air, naval, and land units in 6 different classes, including transports, units that specialize in attacking only certain types of targets, ranged units, cloaking units (subs + stealth aircraft), bombs, repair units, etc.. Each unit has common stats (vision, speed, range, health, attacks-vs-armor, attacks-vs-soft targets, mobility type, etc.) as well as unique capabilities (extra vision when stationed on mountains, can transport units, can repair, etc.). One of my few criticisms of the game is that I wish the complete stats of the units were available from within the game, as opposed to just descriptive text explaining their capabilities.
Some maps are played with open information, others are played with fog of war. You can choose from a variety of COs, each with unique capabilities and drawbacks, adding an extra dimension to the game.
The game also makes good use of the DS features, such as wireless multiplayer support. Best of all, though, was the use of the 2nd screen. In most cases, the 2nd screen was used for status & details of the selected terrain/unit, and you could always return to that mode. In special circumstances, though, the 2nd screen shows movies related to the mission (e.g. a space weapon powering up). Best of all, though, were the two-front battles (e.g. a battle on the surface and an air battle 30,000 feet overhead). Winning on the 2nd front isn't usually required, but doing so helps you on the main front. In addition, some units can be sent from the main front to the 2nd front, depending on the scenario (e.g., when the 2nd front is a sky battle, only aircraft can participate). The dual screen made for an excellent and unique gameplay experience.
My only quibbles are minor. I wish the "wait" command was not the default for any unit, as too often I mistakenly skipped a unit's turn and was not able to undo. (Either that or provide an undo command.) I wish the Campaign mode allowed you to return to maps you had previously unlocked to show them again. It might be nice if the campaign was branching rather than linear (though there are hidden scenarios with extra bonuses if you work to find them). But overall, this is exactly what I was looking for: a strong strategic game that can kill 15 minutes or 15 hours.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Advance Wars is a blast, December 21, 2005
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Advance Wars: Dual Strike (Video Game)
The Advance Wars series is the best handheld strategy series to date. Using a simple interface but complex tactics, Advance Wars has always been a game that the hardest of hardcore or the newest of newbies could pick up and enjoy. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have managed to bring all of the strategic action to the Nintendo DS in the best way possible, Advance Wars: Dual Strike.
Advance Wars was great, but Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising took everything and made it better. Similarly, Dual Strike is basically AW2 with a lot of new stuff and a continuing story. The Black Hole army was defeated but once again they're trying to recover and gain power. It's up to the Allied Nations of Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth to rise against the Black Hole forces and silence them once and for all. New Commanding Officers come into play and mix up the story, but the old protagonist Andy has been replaced by an annoying new guy named Jake. Jake wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't an Orange version of your typical suburban wannabe...but that's a different story.
The gameplay remains largely intact, with the same turn-based stuff we've all played and loved for four years. Each side gets a turn and the battle cycles around until a headquarters location is captured or all units of one side are destroyed. There are 25 units (which includes six all-knew units) at your disposal, ranging from infantry units to stealth planes. Using different types of terrain for transportation and defense, the goal is to finish each battle with as much success and as few casualties as possible. Every once in a while during the campaign, players are forced to complete missions within a certain number of days or before a missile explodes overhead. These different parameters require for near-perfect strategizing, so progression through the game takes a lot of skill. Capturing different properties is as vital as ever, especially when you factor one of the new properties. Also, using COs and their CO Powers effectively makes things much easier or harder, depending on your skill. As I said, there are several new COs and getting used to their different strengths and weaknesses is going to take a lot of practice.
Some big things that really change the gameplay are the introduction of dual-screen combat as well as tag-team battles with multiple COs. Sometimes it's up to you to win the war on two fronts and defeat an enemy CO while also fighting a completely separate battle at the same time. These matches require a lot of attention and detail because they're essentially two battles in one. Choosing the proper CO for each battle is only the start, because victory or defeat can make or break the whole battle. Fortunately you can control both COs if you wish, but there's an option for AI-controlled COs for newer players. I found myself controlling the other CO myself, because the AI-controlled COs usually went and got themselves killed pretty quickly.
The tag-team battles make up the second half of the game, where you fight a normal battle with two COs. You can switch between the two at any time and take advantage of their capabilities, which makes things interesting. For example, series veteran Max has always been good with tanks but is terrible with indirect units like Rockets and Artillery. If I were getting pounded away by enemy Artillery, I'd probably want to switch Max for another CO so I could counter the enemy without having to get too close. However, if the enemy decided to change its plan and send tanks after me, Max's superior firepower would take care of them with ease. Furthermore, the multiple COs can now unleash what is called a Dual Strike (hence the subtitle in the game's name), where both COs use their CO Powers and attack in the same round. Being attacked with a Dual Strike can ruin an entire battle, but hitting your foes with a Dual Strike gives a much higher chance of winning.
In addition to a 28-mission campaign, there are several other options that deserve credit. Nintendo provides an excellent multiplayer option, allowing up to eight players to wage war using only one cartridge. Also, the War Room mode from the previous games makes a return. New gameplay modes include Survival and Combat. In Survival mode, you are given limited time, funds, or turns and you must finish the battle before that limit is reached. Combat mode is interesting to say the least. It's basically a real-time game where players drive around manually and shoot with the A button. Capturing buildings and destroying units is as simple as before, but you don't take turns doing it. It's not a big enough experience to call a full game, but if anything, it might be interesting to call it a very basic handheld preview of the GameCube's upcoming Battalion Wars.
Something that surprised me was the fact that Dual Strike has good music. Nintendo has never been known to develop the best MIDI handheld tunes, but Advance Wars sounds pretty good. Finally I can play a Nintendo game without turning the music off. The sound effects pack a punch for such a small game, as well. In the graphical department Advance Wars excels with updated graphics from the previous games in the series. The map itself looks similar, but the archaic structures now look a little more modern with a slightly three-dimensional look. The actual cut-scenes through which battles are shown look much better than before. The animation is cleaner, the color is brighter, and the explosions look much more fiery.
I'm just going to come out blunt in conclusion: I love this game. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have served up three straight strategic masterpieces. The Advance Wars series has always been good, and fans of strategy or the AW series should definitely buy Dual Strike. It's easily the best DS game, and I might go out on a limb to say that it's my favorite strategy game. Advance Wars rocks.
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