The Wars series, also called Famicom Wars and Advance Wars, is a group of video games that focus on military themes and use turn-based strategy. These games were mostly made by Intelligent Systems and released by Nintendo. The series first came out in Japan in August 1988 with the original Famicom Wars. Later versions were released on the Super Famicom and Game Boy. These early games were only available in Japan, but Advance Wars (2001) was the first to be sold in North America and Europe. Advance Wars was released in the United States on September 10, 2001, but was delayed in Japan and Europe because of the September 11 attacks. It was released in Europe in January 2002, but neither of the Game Boy Advance games was sold in Japan until the Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 collection, which came out on the Game Boy Advance on November 25, 2004. The success of Advance Wars in the West is often said to have helped Nintendo bring Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem series to other countries, as both series use similar types of gameplay that require strategy and planning.

In 2005, Advance Wars: Dual Strike was released on the Nintendo DS, which followed the basic style of earlier games but added new features. That same year, Battalion Wars, made by Kuju Entertainment, was released for the GameCube in Japan under the name Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars. This game is considered a different version of the main series and is a 3D action real-time strategy game, unlike the turn-based strategy of the main series. A later version called Battalion Wars 2 was released for the Wii two years later. The last major game in the series, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, was released internationally for the DS in 2008. This game changed the series' usual cheerful tone. Like the two Game Boy Advance games before it, Days of Ruin was canceled in Japan after many delays and was finally released as a downloadable game in 2013. At E3 2021, over ten years after Days of Ruin was released, a collection of remakes of both Advance Wars games, called Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, was announced for the Nintendo Switch. The planned release date was December 2021, but it was later changed to April 8, 2022. However, because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the release was delayed again. A new date of April 21, 2023, was set a year later. These remakes were made with the help of WayForward Technologies.

Gameplay

The player acts as a Commanding Officer (CO) in an army, usually from a country named Red Star (later changed to Orange Star in international versions). In Days of Ruin, this country becomes Rubinelle (Laurentia in the European version). In the single-player campaign of Advance Wars games, each level includes a new map and a new opposing CO to defeat. Victory occurs when all enemy units are destroyed, the enemy's headquarters is captured, or another victory condition is met. COs take turns recruiting and commanding units on grid-based maps. Available units include infantry, tanks, artillery, bombers, and other military units. Each turn, units can move and perform actions like attacking or capturing buildings. Some actions, such as capturing, diving, or loading, can only be done at specific times during the game.

The original Famicom Wars game features two armies: Red Star (later renamed Orange Star to avoid Communist associations) and Blue Moon. Players can control both armies or play against an AI opponent. Game Boy Wars uses a similar system but changes the grid so each square has six neighbors instead of four, resembling hexagons. This version also includes a new opposing army called White Moon. Rules remain the same, except Game Boy Wars 3 added unit levels and a new resource. Super Famicom Wars, a sequel to Famicom Wars, introduced Yellow Comet and Green Earth, allowing four armies to be played at once. It returned to the original square grid-based map style.

Advance Wars games added new features, such as CO Powers, which give temporary advantages like boosting unit firepower or damaging enemies. Black Hole Rising introduced Super CO Powers, and Dual Strike added Tag CO Powers. Features like fog of war, rain, and snow affect how units see the map and move. Days of Ruin removed many of these changes, weakening CO Powers and bringing back a unit level system.

Multiplayer is a key part of the Nintendo Wars series, letting players compete against friends by choosing a CO and a country. Advance Wars and Game Boy Wars 3 include map editors, increasing replayability. Famicom Wars allowed two players, while Game Boy Wars supported hotseat multiplayer. Game Boy Wars Turbo is the only version without hotseat multiplayer. Advance Wars games on the Game Boy Advance used link cables for multiplayer. Online multiplayer was planned for Dual Strike but added later in Days of Ruin. Battalion Wars 2 introduced online multiplayer via the Wii’s Wi-Fi, offering three modes and 16 maps. While the multiplayer section was praised, it was criticized for lacking voice chat support.