Wars (series)
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Wars | |
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First release | Famicom Wars August 12, 1988 |
Latest release | Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp April 21, 2023 |
The Wars series, also known as Famicom Wars[a] and Advance Wars,[b] is a series of military-themed turn-based strategy video games, predominantly developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. The series debuted in Japan in August of 1988 with the original Famicom Wars, followed by sequels on the Super Famicom and Game Boy. These early installments were released in Japan, with Advance Wars (2001) being the first to reach the North American and European markets. Advance Wars was released in the United States on September 10, 2001, but put on hold in Japan and Europe due to the September 11 attacks.[1] Although released in Europe in January 2002, neither Game Boy Advance game was released in Japan until the Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 compilation, which released for the Game Boy Advance on November 25, 2004. The success of Advance Wars in the West is frequently credited as a driving force for Nintendo bringing Intelligent Systems' franchise Fire Emblem outside of Japan, as both series share a similar tactical gameplay style.
In 2005,
Gameplay
The player takes the role of a
The original Famicom Wars game consists of two armies, Red Star (which became Orange Star in later international versions, possibly to avoid associations with Communism) and Blue Moon fighting over square grid-based maps. The two armies could either be controlled by human players, or a human player could play against an AI opponent.[4] The original Game Boy Wars games featured a system similar to Famicom Wars, except the grid was changed so that the grid squares acted more like hexagons; each square is adjacent to six other squares, instead of four. Game Boy Wars also features a different opposing army called White Moon. Otherwise, the rules remain identical, and only in Game Boy Wars 3 were unit levels and a new resource introduced.[5] Super Famicom Wars, the sequel to Famicom Wars, introduced Yellow Comet and Green Earth, bringing the number of armies playable at once to four. It returned to the basic square grid-based map style of the original game.[6]
The Advance Wars games introduced several new elements. The most notable is that COs now have special abilities called CO Powers that can affect the battle in different ways, giving the CO a temporary advantage over the other COs, such as providing allied units with increased firepower or causing damage to opposing units. Black Hole Rising introduced Super CO Powers, and Dual Strike introduced Tag CO Powers.[3][7] Conditions such as fog of war, rain, and snow affect the abilities of units to reveal the map and move around.[8] Days of Ruin removed many of the features added to previous Advance Wars games, greatly weakening CO Powers and reintroducing a unit level system.[9]
Multiplayer
Multiplayer mode is an important part of the Nintendo Wars series. This allows players to compete against friends, each choosing a Commanding Officer to play and country to represent. The Advance Wars series of games, along with the far lesser known
Games
Game Title | Developer | Publisher | System | Release | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Famicom Wars | Nintendo R&D1
|
Nintendo | Family Computer | 1988 | First game in the series. Only released in Japan. |
Game Boy Wars | Game Boy | 1991 | Only released in Japan. | ||
Game Boy Wars Turbo | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft | 1997 | Enhanced version of Game Boy Wars with better AI, more maps, and Super Game Boy support. Only released in Japan. | |
Super Famicom Wars
|
Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | Super Famicom Satellaview, Nintendo Power | 1998 | Only released in Japan. |
Game Boy Wars 2 | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft | Game Boy Color | Playable with Game Boy or Game Boy Color. Only released in Japan. | |
Game Boy Wars 3 | 2001 | Exclusively for Game Boy Color. Only released in Japan. First game of the series to feature a campaign mode. | |||
Advance Wars | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo | Game Boy Advance | Originally only released in North American and PAL regions. In 2004, it was released in Japan as Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2, along with Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. | |
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising | 2003 | Released individually in North America and PAL region. Released in Japan only as the compilation Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2, along with Advance Wars. | |||
Advance Wars: Dual Strike | Nintendo DS | 2005 | |||
Battalion Wars | Kuju Entertainment
|
GameCube | Originally titled Advance Wars: Under Fire, but the name was changed for Western audiences as the game was considered a spin-off of the Advance Wars series rather than a direct sequel. Labeled under the Famicom Wars brand in Japan. | ||
Battalion Wars 2 | Wii | 2007 | |||
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (NA) / Dark Conflict (EU) | Intelligent Systems | Nintendo DS | 2008 | Originally only released in North American and PAL regions. A Japanese release date was planned but later cancelled. In 2013, it became available in Japan through download on the Nintendo 3DS for any players with a platinum status reward through Club Nintendo. | |
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp | WayForward | Nintendo Switch | 2023 | Remake of the original Advance Wars and its sequel, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. |
Cancelled
Game Title | Developer | Publisher | System | Release | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
64 Wars[13] | Hudson Soft | Hudson Soft | Nintendo 64 | 1999 | Also known as Advance Wars 64 (64ウォーズ). The release was initially announced for January 29, 1999. The game was showcased at Space World 1999 in August, where it was announced that the release date was changed to November 1999, but it was canceled for unknown reasons. |
Notes
References
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (20 January 2002). "Advance Wars Review - Page 1 // GBA /// Eurogamer - Games Reviews, News and More". www.eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on June 14, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
- ^ Gach, Ethan (March 9, 2023). "Nintendo Indefinitely Delays War Game Over Invasion Of Ukraine [Update: And Stops Shipments To Russia]". Kotaku. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising Review for Game Boy Advance". GameSpot. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "Famicom Wars". NinDB. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ a b "Game Boy Wars". NinDB. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "Super Famicom Wars". NinDB. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "Gamespot — Advance Wars: Dual Strike Review Page 2". GameSpot. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "IGN: Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising Review". IGN. 20 June 2003. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- ^ "Advance Wars: Days of Ruin First Look - DS News at GameSpot". GameSpot. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "GameSpot — Advance Wars DS First Look". GameSpot. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Preview Feature #3: Battling Around the World". GameSpot. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ "Battalion Wars 2 Review - IGN". IGN. October 31, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ^ "Nintendo Space World 99 Official Guide Book". Internet Archive. Retrieved 3 August 2023.