This week for Retro Game Friday I’m covering a game that I really enjoyed back in the day. It’s Advance Wars!

Plot Synopsis: The story of the Advance Wars begins in the “Field Training” tutorial mode, with the nation of Orange Star in a war against the neighbouring nation of Blue Moon, with Olaf as the Blue Moon Army commanding officer (CO). Olaf suddenly ordered an invasion of the Orange Star nation, and is in battle with the Orange Star Army. The campaign continues the story that started in the tutorial. Nell, the de facto leader of the Orange Star COs, gives the player the duty of a tactical adviser for the Orange Star Army.

Plot: The plot’s not amazing, but that wasn’t the draw of the game. It was always about the gameplay.

Gameplay: The gameplay is a lot like other strategy games, with Fog of War and various units that do well against certain units and are terrible against others. I particularly enjoyed using aircraft, but I could use pretty much anything to beat the game, as long as I had time. Missions with a time limit were my biggest headache, as I’m sure it was for other players, but I didn’t really mind them too much. That being said the game was turn based and wasn’t real time like Starcraft or Warcraft RTS games.

Art: The game’s artwork was done in pixels which means that it still looks as good as the day it was made. Anyone who has been reading this column knows I have a soft spot for pixel based art.

Music: Like most portable games I never listened to the music, so I don’t remember a thing about it.

Overall: This is a great game and well worth the trouble of finding a copy.

For those who like: Strategy Games, Turn Based Strategy, Great Gameplay, Excellent Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.