MichaelROLeary's review of Advance Wars: 1+2 Re-Boot Camp.

Review in Progress (Will give star rating when completing AW2 before year's end.) Advance Wars There are highlights to Advance Wars, and I think it shows why it's a classic Game Boy Advance title, but after the amount of time this remake took its age is evident. First, the most obvious, it feels extremely peculiar to have high school anime friendships set against a war backdrop. And even more so when the twist comes into play. On top of that vibe aspect, this game is 75% tutorials. It's really strange that it wants to keep teaching me things I learned in hour one at hour nine. Like, it almost feels like the game itself expects you to stop playing and come back months later needing reminders on your old save. I think if things were paced out (infantry and tanks in the first world 5 missions, then heavy tanks in the next five, then navy in the next five, then air force in the next,) things could have felt a little less tedious. The deluge of every tactic being dumped on you within the first few mission just stretches everything out in an annoying way. Art design for cut scenes and still pop-ins on missions is stellar. I really adore how these characters look when I disassociate the weirdness of these kids in wartime becoming friends, but that makes the actual gameplay art feel lackluster. Maintaining the 2D anime style on the battlefield would have gone a long way and even though it'd feel a bit like stickers, I believe it would help for things to not feel so disparate. Unfortunately, as someone without nostalgia for the series who played it for the first time with Reboot Camp, Advance Wars just doesn't hit the expectations that long-time hype set.