Play Advance Wars Online

Summary

Advance Wars feels like a miniature war theater that fits perfectly in your pocket. You command one of several armies on a grid that behaves like a chessboard—each unit has its own movement range and a distinct attack profile, from close‑range infantry rifles to long‑range artillery launchers. The game throws more than 115 missions at you, plus a map editor so you can craft your own battlefields, and the War Room mode challenges you to high‑score runs while ranking you from #100 up to the top spot. COs add personality: each comes with unique powers that build up as you eliminate foes, letting you boost your troops or cripple the enemy at a crucial moment. Multiplayer is surprisingly versatile, supporting hot‑seat play on a single GBA or link‑cable battles with separate cartridges, while the tutorial (“Field Training”) smooths the learning curve for newcomers. All of this wrapped in bright, comic‑styled visuals explains why it remains a beloved staple for handheld strategy fans.

Storyline

Advance Wars on GBA opens with the “Field Training” tutorial, where Orange Star fights Blue Moon’s invasion led by CO Olaf. Nell, the de‑facto leader of Orange Star’s commanders, makes the player a tactical advisor. The campaign spans four nations—Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet and Green Earth—starting with only CO Andy to advise, then unlocking Max and Sami, each altering units and dialogue.

Mission maps and conversations can split based on the chosen CO, creating alternate routes that later rejoin. After beating Green Earth, Andy is wrongly blamed by its CO Eagle for an unprovoked attack. The Orange Star army then repels a Blue Moon incursion, invades Blue Moon and learns Olaf and Grit once served Orange Star, while Yellow Comet’s Kanbei and others, fearing further aggression, declare battle.

Green Earth CO Drake tells Eagle the whole conflict was orchestrated from the start. Sonja of Yellow Comet teams with Grit to uncover the true mastermind. They expose the Black Hole Army, led by Sturm, which used an Andy doppelganger to spark war, prompting all nations to unite and drive the Black Hole forces out of Cosmo Land.