Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp [Switch] Review – What Is It Good For

You could make a case for the first Advance Wars title on the Game Boy Advance for being the perfect game. An intoxicating blend of simplistic aesthetics and endless strategical depth made for one of the best titles in the …

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You could make a case for the first Advance Wars title on the Game Boy Advance for being the perfect game. An intoxicating blend of simplistic aesthetics and endless strategical depth made for one of the best titles in the genre ever made. And that’s no mean feat.

So how do you improve on perfection like that? Well including the game’s bulkier sequel is a good start. 

This Switch remake of the first two Game Boy Advance titles doesn’t do anything too crazy with the formula, but when it works so well any excessive tweaking would have been foolhardy.

Based around grid-based maps where you have to move around various battle units – tanks, missiles, troops, aircraft, ships – you defeating your foe by either destroying all their forces or capturing their bases. 

Different units can move certain distances, some are more effective against others – and so on. CO Powers also give you little advantages once a power meter is filled too, such as increased firing range and the ability to heal units.

Although both titles have dinky visuals and anime styled characters the gameplay mechanics underneath are rock solid – movement of your units is incredibly simple, but the way they can be used in combination is often breathtaking. 

The amount of scenarios created by just a few units and various types of terrain is masterful, and the way it’s presented mean that even casual players can enjoy the experience – helped no end by the addition of an actual ‘casual’ difficulty mode, which wasn’t present in the originals. 

The sequel throws around time limits and other gimmicks, but is still fun enough to satisfy – just not quite in the same pure way as the original. 

So the core mechanics remain unchanged, so wisely the main differences in this Switch version are additions in the form of new modes – such as a Challenge Campaign – and numerous extras you can unlock via an in-game shop.

As you’d expect there are multiplayer modes too, and you can play up with up to three other people locally – but only one on one online for some reason. There’s no matchmaking either, which is puzzling and possibly the only real issue we ran into with the game.

Ultimately this is an improved version of an already almost perfect strategy game, and its bulkier sequel isn’t bad either. We recommend you sign up forthwith.

The good

  • Rock solid mechanics
  • Huge amount of content
  • Endlessly engrossing battle scenarios

The bad

  • Strange multiplayer restrictions
  • No Dual Strike?
90 out of 100
Simon has been playing portable games since his Game Boy Pocket and a very worn out copy of Donkey Kong Land 2, and he has no intention of stopping anytime soon. Playing Donkey Kong Land 2 that is. And games in general we suppose.