Play Advance Wars Online

Summary

Advance Wars turns the tiny Game Boy Advance screen into a battlefield where each move feels like a chess piece sliding across a colorful grid. You command a handful of units—infantry, tanks, aircraft, and naval vessels—each with its own movement range, primary and secondary weapons, and a limited ammo count that forces you to think ahead. Terrain isn’t just scenery; roads speed you up, forests hide you, and mountains boost defense, while fuel drains each turn, making logistics a silent opponent. Every army is led by a CO whose personality tweaks unit stats, and as you crush enemies the Power Meter fills, unlocking a dramatic CO Power that can swing the tide in an instant. The game packs a tutorial, a sprawling campaign, a high‑score War Room, a map editor, and both hot‑seat and link‑cable multiplayer, giving you endless ways to test strategies. Critics praised its bright, approachable art and deep, balanced design, cementing Advance Wars as a timeless staple of handheld strategy gaming.

Storyline

The story of Advance Wars kicks off in the "Field Training" tutorial, where the Orange Star nation is already at war with neighboring Blue Moon. Blue Moon’s commanding officer Olaf orders an invasion, and Nell, the de facto leader of Orange Star’s COs, appoints the player as a tactical advisor for the Orange Star Army.

From there the campaign sweeps the player across all four countries—Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet and Green Earth—introducing new COs to advise. The player starts with Andy and later gains Max and Sami, each offering distinct abilities, and mission maps and dialogue can branch depending on which CO is chosen. After a victory over Green Earth, Andy is falsely accused by Green Earth’s CO Eagle of unprovoked aggression, while Blue Moon’s COs Olaf and Grit are revealed to have once served Orange Star before turning against it.

The true antagonist emerges as the mysterious Black Hole Army, led by Sturm, who used a cloned doppelganger of Andy to spark conflict among the four nations. Once the deception is uncovered, the four countries unite to expel the Black Hole forces from Cosmo Land, with CO assignments automatically reflecting the player’s earlier choices.