Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp updates its cosy conflict for a new generation

thesixthaxis.com:

We sit at the nexus of video game remakes. Everything old is new again, no license goes unturned, and hell, if you’re the Ark developers you’re just going to turn off the original game’s servers and fire up some slightly shinier ones. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp brings Intelligent Systems’ perfectly tuned tactics title into the HD era, upgrading the visuals and adding a smattering of modern features along the way, but – and this is a question asked in the gentlest of tones – why?

Let’s start with what Advance Wars is. While Fire Emblem has utterly stolen the tactical limelight from its less fantastical sibling, it was originally Famicom Wars’ turn-based take on real-world conflict that set Intelligent Systems on the path to strategy gaming. Advance Wars then perfected the grid-based tactics, becoming one of the Game Boy Advance’s biggest hits and indelibly linked with Nintendo’s on-the-go system. While we then had a sequel – the campaign for which is included here – a glorious Nintendo DS entry in the shape of Dual Strike, and the slightly weird grittier attempt in Days of Ruin, we haven’t had a true Wars game since then.

In some ways, Re-Boot is late to the party. Advance Wars has already been privy to the HD era when it launched on the Wii U’s Virtual Console back in 2014. This brought with it the ability to stretch the original’s iconic visuals across our huge modern TVs as well as the Wii U gamepad, and whilethis is an absolutely personal preference, they continued to look just as lovely at 1080p as they did on the Game Boy Advance’s 240×160 screen. Sadly, with the recent closure of the Wii U’s eShop the only legitimate way to buy and play the originals is to buy a cart and console to play it on.

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