[EXPlay] Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (Nintendo Switch)

Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.

In this explanatory review, we’re covering Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp by developer WayForward:

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (The Explanation)

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is developed by WayForward and, as you can imagine, is a reboot of the original Advance Wars that was released on the Gameboy Advance back in 2001. The routes of the series goes further back than that though as the first entry in the series, Wars (also known as Famicom Wars) debuted on the Famicom back in 1988.

There was a long hiatus between the last Advance Wars game and the Switch Reboot and while it was meant to release in 2022, it was complicated by worldwide events that would have made its release rather insensitive with certain parts of Eastern Europe in a state of war. After a yearlong delay, the game is now available to play on the Nintendo Switch.

For those of you who may not have played Advance Wars before, they are a series of turn-based strategy games that task players with maneuvering their military units around a map and routing the enemy. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp consists of the same core mechanics but with an all-new visual overhaul that WayForward is typically known for, as well as performance fixes and optimization. The game is a combination of both Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising but you will only be able to play the first game when you first boot up the game. The second game will become available upon beating the first.

In the earlier stages of the game, players will be tasked with ordering their limited faction of units that range from standard infantry and mechs to light tanks and APC’s. The further you get into the game, you will gain access to more sophisticated units and take combat to the skies and sea. You will also be able to capture cities that will help replenish units that are placed on them and provide optimum cover against enemy fire. You can also take control of factories, airports and naval bases to create more units for your army.

For the most part, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is relatively straightforward. use your units to take out the enemy’s units. Where strategy comes into play is how each unit has advantages and disadvantages to other units. Infantry and Mechs are cheap to manufacture and good for taking capturing cities. Unfortunately, they are easily overwhelmed by tanks and bombers. Tanks on the other hand, are good at providing heavy firepower against enemy units and shutting down access through narrow passes. However, they are not able to capture cities and some tanks are not able to counter attack or fire upon aircraft.

Another feature worth touching upon is that Each army has a CO in command. CO’s have perks that can increase the strength of your units, improve their capture rates, or recover their HP but CO’s have to be activated first. After every after every few turns or so, CO’s will be able to use their abilities when prompted and if used wisely, can truly turn the tides of battle.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp has a series of game modes outside of its two main campaigns. There is a local multiplayer mode that allows up to four players to take control of their own army and duke it out against the other players. Local Wireless also supports up to four players and Online multiplayer is limited to just two players. There is the War Room that allows players to try out different scenarios against a CPU and you can also create your own maps to use in fights against other players. Hachi’s Shop gives players the option to purchase new CO’s, maps and music to use in the War Room and when building their own maps. Purchases can be made with the in-game currency that you earn upon claiming victory in the main campaigns.

It has certainly been a long time coming for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp on Nintendo Switch but it surely is a welcome one. The game is a lot of fun and fans of strategic games will definitely get a kick out of this one. The voice cast is also very notable as it has the likes of Veronica Taylor, Kaiji Tang, Joe Zieja, and Cristina Vee, to name a few along its ranks.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (The Gameplay)

Game Specifications:

Developer: WayForward
Publisher: Publisher
Platform: Nintendo Switch | Version: Digital
Category: Strategy
No. of Players: 1-4 (Single System) / 1-2 (online)
Release Date: EU & NA: April 21, 2023
Price: $59.99
File Size: 6.7 GB
Nintendo.com Listing