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Let me start by qualifying myself as a strategy RPG nut. These are long games and, it takes a lot of thinking to get through one. It's the perfect recipe for a road trip where one is most susceptible to boredom. Advance Wars plays so nicely into this niche. We took a trip to my girlfriend's parents house this weekend, and after a couple of battles, I'm there without even realizing the time. If anything, this game leaves you wanting to play for hours longer while you're sitting around the house.

This game is turn-based strategy played on a grid like one would expect in an SRPG. Comparisons to a chess match are not unheard of when referring to the genre, and Advance Wars is no exception. Instead of fantasy settings, as in Final Fantasy Tactics and Vandal Hearts, the main protagonists in this game are military officers and vehicles. Just about any type of weapon of war is represented here. They are as small as a company of infantry and as large as a bomber or battleship. Each has a certain number of spaces it can move and an action it can perform. The ultimate goal is to work your way through the Campaign mode earning coins to spend on maps and other Commanding Officers that you can use later in Versus mode.

The game starts you off by only offering Versus mode or a Tutorial. The tutorial is your gateway to the Campaign and all that comes with it. It's an interesting approach, making you complete training before letting you jump into the story, but I think it's well worth the few hours it takes to complete. Plus, it doesn't drag with needless info. It's an introduction to each of the units offered to you, and how to plan for a battle under multiple circumstances.

Advance Wars puts you into the role of helping a Commanding Officer (CO) in a one-on-one fight against another CO and his troops. Each CO has their own strengths and weaknesses. One CO may gain extra power in head to head combat while his opponent may have increased indirect fire range. Plus each has a special power that you charge up an unleash. This usually accentuates the advantage that they inherently possess.

What separates this game from others in the genre is that there isn't any unit management after a battle. There are no levels to be raised, and no items to buy or equip. It's more like Command and Conquer where you get a set of units to control for that particular battle, and sometimes you get bases where you can manufacture (buy) new units. You usually gain victory by decimating your opponent or capturing their headquarters. At the end of a battle you are graded on your performance based on speed, power, and tactics.

There is a perfect blend of simplicity and complexity that makes this game so highly addictive. For example, infantry can move three squares per turn while mechanized infantry can only move two. But, if they are moving through the mountains the mech infantry are not slowed down at all while it takes a movement cost of two squares for regular infantry to cross them. Battles are no exception. It's a variation on the simple game of rock/paper/scissors. A medium tank destroys regular tanks and ground troops, but is very weak in defense against indirect fire (artillery and rockets). Some units can't even attack others, such as an infantry unit trying to fire at jet fighters. There are even varying levels of advantage. Mech infantry are strong against tanks, but a bomber will wipe them out in one turn. Thankfully the manual lists these out on a chart until you are comfortable enough to go it alone. Plus the game lists the relative percentage of damage you can do before you confirm the attack. Attacks are also limited by how many units, out of ten, are still left functional or alive, and defense can be increased by fighting from the woods, mountains or a city.

You see how deep the game can be and how far ahead you have to plan out your attacks. This is further complicated in some battles by what the game calls "fog of war". In fog of war your unit's vision stats come into play. You can only see a certain number of squares around you, and you can't see a unit in the woods or in a reef until you are adjacent to them. This is particularly difficult when you are up against indirect fire units who are taking pot shots at you from who knows where. It's up to you to scout out areas with your hummers (who have great vision) and find hiding places for your own troops.

The graphics and animation are a perfect fit. Bright colors are used that make it easily accessible to play in any decent lighting condition (a must for GBA games). The maps are simple flat backgrounds displaying water and roads and mountains, and the units are small but easily recognizable. Once a battle is initiated, though, it switches to a small animation defining the outcome. These scenes look great and show bullets flying and units being destroyed. Plus, each army's vehicles and troops have their own personality by being drawn slightly different. The Green Army's tanks look like something out of Germany in the WWII era while the Blue Army sports a more modern look. It's wonderful attention to detail like this and the character portraits of the CO's that make Advance Wars shine on the GBA.

The sounds effects are nice to have on to help with the sounds of war. You'll hear the fighter jets flying which sounds different than an attack helicopter, and you'll hear all the gunshots and missile launches. The music is just filler, and does a good enough job to keep the game from being silent while you're planning your actions.

There are over a hundred maps supplied, so I wouldn't worry about the game losing its reply value anytime soon. Just in case you were worried about that number, it even offers a map creation mode that will let you create the environment as well as place the starting units. Once you've passed the tutorial, you'll also open up link mode for playing against another friend with a GBA and a shop to buy new maps for all modes. I think everyone needs this game, and I think if you don't have a GBA, you need to get one just so you can play Advance Wars.