Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is a fun remake lacking in ambition
More than 20 years after the first Advance Wars' release, Nintendo and developer WayForward have remade the first two games and put them together into one generous package – including two lengthy campaigns, a challenge mode, local and online multiplayer, and a map editor.
At the time of their original launch on the Game Boy Advance, these two titles were regarded as among the pinnacle of the turn-based strategy genre, and for the most part, the core mechanics have aged well.
The gameplay in Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp remains virtually identical to how it was back then. For each grid-based map, you take control of a commanding officer (CO) with the aim of leading your army to victory against the opposition. You and the other COs take turns commanding your respective armies, which includes having your units move, attack the enemy, and capture properties.
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Capturing properties increases your funds for new units, while there are a number of other layers in place that are key to understand and utilise in order to gain a decisive edge over the enemy: certain terrain offers greater defence, each unit type has strengths and weaknesses, and each CO comes with their own traits and powers that affect their army.
Everything comes together to create a largely satisfying strategy experience at its core. Putting your plans into action and slowly overwhelming the enemy is rewarding, and this perhaps shines brightest in the War Room mode's challenge maps, where a greater flexibility in strategy and approach helps to produce battles that feel more personal.
At the same time, the decision to keep nearly everything about these games the same doesn't come without its drawbacks. The genre has evolved a fair bit over the last two decades, and with this remake now existing in a different point in time, the lack of ambition in updating the gameplay shows in various ways.
In particular, the missions in the first Advance Wars' campaign are hit or miss, with a rigidity in the way you're forced to tackle many of the maps. While keeping things unchanged is understandable from a historical perspective, that doesn't prevent playing through the campaign from being a bit of a chore at times in the current era. The second campaign fares noticeably better by comparison, allowing for more expression and improvisation.
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The updated visuals are also worth discussing, with the remake employing a more cartoonish, toybox-inspired look this time around. Being a war game, there is a danger that a more light-hearted, jovial tone may come across as tone-deaf (even after ignoring the fact that the Blue Moon army is said to be based on Russia).
The tabletop aesthetic, with maps represented like they're a physical board game instead, is a fine workaround in that regard, and is rather charming at the same time. On the other hand, the battle animation scenes – which can be turned off, at least – combined with the saccharine voice acting and parts of the writing come across as a little jarring.
Aside from the audiovisual presentation, the Advance Wars remake plays it considerably safe. That isn't a bad thing in itself, particularly since the foundations of the game mostly hold up. There is still plenty of fun to be had here. But it also means that this package is less interesting than it could have been.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is out now on Nintendo Switch.
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