Advance Wars is a turn-based tactics game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo, released for the Game Boy Advance in September 2001. Players command armies of infantry, tanks, artillery, and air units across a series of campaign maps, outmanoeuvring rival Commanding Officers with distinct abilities and playstyles. Accessible enough for newcomers yet deep enough for strategy veterans, it brought the long-running Famicom Wars series to Western audiences for the first time and became an instant classic.
Advance Wars was developed by Intelligent Systems — makers of Fire Emblem and Paper Mario — and released in North America on 10 September 2001, shortly after the Game Boy Advance launch. It was the Western debut of the Wars series, which had run in Japan since 1988 under the name Famicom Wars. Set in the fictional continent of Wars World, the game’s campaign follows Orange Star commander Andy across four warring nations, each commanded by a roster of COs with unique passive bonuses and powerful CO Powers.
Advance Wars is a grid-based tactics game in which two armies — each comprising infantry, vehicles, naval units, and aircraft — take turns moving and attacking across maps divided by terrain types. Forests and mountains provide defensive cover; roads and plains favour faster movement. Capturing cities and bases generates funds and repair facilities, making territorial control as important as combat. Each CO brings a distinct army-wide bonus — Sami’s infantry capture cities twice as fast, Eagle’s air units move further — and builds a CO Power meter through combat that, when activated, can turn the tide of a battle in a single turn. The campaign introduces mechanics gradually across 28 missions; a VS mode, map editor, and link-cable multiplayer extend the package considerably.
Advance Wars received critical acclaim on release and is frequently cited as one of the greatest Game Boy Advance games ever made. Edge ranked it #23 on their 2017 list of the 100 greatest games of all time, praising its combination of depth and clarity. The game spawned three direct sequels — Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin — and a 2023 remake, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, for Nintendo Switch. Its influence on the handheld strategy genre is substantial, and it remains a defining example of how to make complex systems feel immediately legible.