The Wars series, also called Famicom Wars and Advance Wars, is a group of military-themed turn-based strategy video games. These games are mainly made by Intelligent Systems and published 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 released in North America and Europe. Advance Wars was released in the United States on September 10, 2001, but its release in Japan and Europe was delayed because of the September 11 attacks. Although it was released in Europe in January 2002, neither of the Game Boy Advance versions of the game was released in Japan until the Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 compilation, which came out for the Game Boy Advance on November 25, 2004. The popularity of Advance Wars in Western countries is often linked to Nintendo bringing another game series called Fire Emblem, made by Intelligent Systems, to international markets. Fire Emblem and The Wars share similar tactical gameplay styles.

In 2005, Advance Wars: Dual Strike was released for the Nintendo DS. This game kept the basic format of earlier versions 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 spin-off of the main series. Unlike the main series, Battalion Wars is a 3D action real-time strategy game. A sequel 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 was different from earlier ones because it had a more serious tone. Like the two Game Boy Advance games before it, Days of Ruin was canceled in Japan after several delays. It was finally released as a downloadable game in 2013. At E3 2021, over 10 years after the release of Days of Ruin, a collection of remakes of the two Advance Wars games, called Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, was announced for the Nintendo Switch. The planned release date was December 2021. Later, a new release date of April 8, 2022, was announced. However, on March 9, 2022, it was announced that the game would be delayed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A new release date of April 21, 2023, was set a year later. These remakes were made with the help of WayForward Technologies.

Gameplay

In the game, the player acts as a Commanding Officer (CO) leading an army from a country, often named Red Star (later changed to Orange Star in international versions). In Days of Ruin, the country is called Rubinelle (Laurentia in the European version). In the single-player campaign of Advance Wars, each level includes a new map and a new opponent CO to defeat. Victory occurs when all enemy units are destroyed, their headquarters is captured, or another specific goal is met. COs take turns recruiting and controlling units on maps divided into a grid. Available units include infantry, tanks, artillery, bombers, and other military forces. Each turn, units may move and perform actions, such as attacking or capturing buildings. Some actions, like capturing or loading, can only be done at certain times during the game.

The original Famicom Wars featured two armies, Red Star (later renamed Orange Star) and Blue Moon, fighting on square grid-based maps. Players could control both armies or play against an AI. Game Boy Wars used a similar system but changed the grid to resemble hexagons, where each square is connected to six others instead of four. This version also introduced a new enemy army called White Moon. Rules remained 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 map style.

Advance Wars added new features, such as CO Powers, special abilities that give temporary advantages, like boosting allies’ strength or damaging enemies. Black Hole Rising introduced Super CO Powers, and Dual Strike added Tag CO Powers. Weather conditions like fog, rain, and snow affect how units move and see the map. Days of Ruin removed many features from earlier Advance Wars games, reducing CO Powers and reintroducing a unit level system.

Multiplayer is a key part of the Nintendo Wars series, allowing players to compete against friends by choosing a CO and 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 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, featuring three game modes and 16 maps. While the multiplayer section was praised, it was criticized for not supporting voice chat.