The Wars series, also called Famicom Wars and Advance Wars, is a group of military-themed turn-based strategy video games. These games are mostly 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 was delayed in Japan and Europe because of the September 11 attacks. Although it came out in Europe in January 2002, neither of the Game Boy Advance versions was released in Japan until the Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 compilation, which was released for 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 outside of Japan, as both series have similar tactical gameplay styles.

In 2005, Advance Wars: Dual Strike was released for the Nintendo DS, which followed and added new features to the basic format of earlier games. That same year, Battalion Wars, made by Kuju Entertainment, was released for the GameCube in Japan under the title Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars. This game is considered a spin-off of the main series and is a 3D action real-time strategy game, different from the turn-based strategy of the main series. An expanded version for the Wii, Battalion Wars 2, was released two years later. The last major game in the franchise, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, was released internationally for the DS in 2008 and had a more serious tone than earlier games. Like the two Game Boy Advance titles before it, this game was delayed in Japan after many delays and finally released as a downloadable game in 2013. At E3 2021, over ten years after the release of Days of Ruin, a collection of remakes of both Advance Wars games, called Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, was announced for the Nintendo Switch, with a planned release date of December 2021. A later release date of April 8, 2022, was announced, but on March 9, 2022, it was said that the game would be delayed until further notice due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A new release date of April 21, 2023, was announced a year later. These remakes were made in partnership with 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 for international versions). In Days of Ruin, this country is replaced by Rubinelle (called 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. Players win by destroying all enemy units, capturing the enemy's headquarters, or meeting other victory conditions. COs take turns recruiting and controlling units on maps divided into squares. Available units include infantry, tanks, artillery, bombers, and other military equipment. Each turn, units can move and perform actions, such as attacking or capturing buildings. Some actions, like capturing or loading, can only happen 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, fighting on square grid-based maps. 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 enemy army called White Moon. Other 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 two new armies, Yellow Comet and Green Earth, allowing players to control four armies at once. It returned to the original square grid map style.

The Advance Wars series added new features, including special abilities called CO Powers, which give temporary advantages, such as boosting unit strength or damaging enemies. Black Hole Rising introduced stronger 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, letting players compete against friends by choosing a CO and a country. Advance Wars and Game Boy Wars 3 include map editors, increasing replay value. Famicom Wars allowed two players to compete, while Game Boy Wars supported hotseat multiplayer. Game Boy Wars Turbo is the only version without hotseat play. Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance used link cables for multiplayer. Online multiplayer was planned for Dual Strike but first added in Days of Ruin. Battalion Wars 2 introduced online multiplayer through the Wii’s Wi-Fi, offering three game modes and 16 maps. While the multiplayer section was praised, it did not support voice chat.