Advance Wars
↗ 12%
😍 8.5/10
(GameBoy Advance - US, Strategy)
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Complete
$94.97
Loose $34.32
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Developed_By:
Intelligent Systems
Published_By:
Nintendo
Released On:
09 Sep 2001
Advance Wars is a turn-based strategy game that takes inspiration from a classic Japanese game. Players take on the role of commander, battling against the computer AI in various missions involving submarines, warships, infantry, tanks, and other equipment.
The objective of the game is to defeat the enemy by using your units effectively. You can capture buildings on the map to gain resources, which can be used to repair damaged units or purchase new ones. During combat, two units face off against each other, with the outcome determined by their strength, terrain conditions, and other factors.
Up to four players can play together using the Game Boy Advance, either wirelessly via the Game Link Cable or by swapping a single console at the end of each player's turn. The game requires strategic thinking and planning ahead to emerge victorious.
Nintendo Media PN:
AGB-AW2E-USA (United States)
Nintendo Media PN:
AGB-AWRE-USA (Canada)
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Number of Players Supported:
1-4 Players
Multiplayer Game Modes:
Free-for-all / One-on-one (VS)
Miscellaneous Attributes:
Multi-Link Cable, Battery Backed RAM, Single Cartridge Multiplayer Support
Prices as of 09 Oct 2026
Typical $83.06–$87.50 (last 90 days)
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Complete
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Manual
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Market activity: active · about 296 sales a year
Activity is a 12-month sales count. Dashed segments rest on two sales a year or fewer.
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Manual
Game Guide
Extracted from the original game manual
Advance Wars is a turn-based tactical strategy game where players command military forces to defend their nation against invading armies. Set on a strategic world map, players must deploy and maneuver ground, air, and naval units across varied terrain to capture key locations like cities and headquarters. Success requires mastering battlefield tactics to outmaneuver rival commanders and secure supremacy in the conflict.
Story
Advance Wars Dossier
The winds of war are blowing, and the Orange Star Army needs your help weathering the storm. As a special advisory commander in Advance Wars, you'll go head-to-head with seasoned campaign veterans in an all-out fight for supremacy. It's turn-based wartime strategy at its finest, and you'll need polished tactical skills if you hope to survive the coming onslaught.
You'll meet a colorful cast of commanding officers during your military career, both as foes and allies, and their varied skill levels will continually test your prowess. Learning from these COs is the key to your success on the field, so keep your eyes open and your mind alert!
Current Situation
Advance Wars takes place in four countries. In the upper northwest corner of the map is Orange Star, to the east is the neighboring country of Blue Moon, to the south is Green Earth and off the east coast is the island nation of Yellow Comet.
We have received reports that unknown forces are attacking both Green Earth and Yellow Comet and that they have suffered significant damage. We're not isolated from this outbreak of hostilities, either. The Blue Moon Army, under the command of Olaf, has invaded Orange Star!
We need your help to begin driving the invaders back across the border.
Introduction
Welcome to Advance Wars! My name is Nell. I'm a CO in the Orange Star Army, and I will be your instructor and advisor throughout the course of this campaign. Let's get started!
World Map
The world map features four major forces:
•
Orange Star Force
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Blue Moon Force
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Yellow Comet Force
•
Green Earth Force
Each force is associated with its respective capital city:
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O.S (Orange Star)
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B.M (Blue Moon)
•
G.E (Green Earth)
•
Y.C (Yellow Comet)
Terrain
Terrain plays an important role in formulating an optimum battle strategy, as it affects troop movement and may also provide defensive cover.
Headquarters
Each army in the field has a headquarters that acts as its base of operations. An HQ can supply ammo and fuel, restore HP, and provide superior defensive cover for all ground units. Victory is yours if you can capture your enemy's HQ.
Bases
Bases are the deployment points for all ground units. In addition to providing supplies and HP to these units, they also provide high defensive cover.
Airports
Air units enter the field of battle from these air bases, and they are also where air units receive supplies and regain HP. The defensive cover rating of airports is high.
Ports
Ports are the deployment points for all naval units, and they also provide them with ammo, fuel, and places to regain HP. Ports are safe havens for ships and subs because of their excellent defensive cover.
Cities
Cities can be allied, neutral or controlled by the enemy. Both infantry and mech units can capture neutral and enemy cities, which then become able to provide ground units with supplies and HP.
Controls
L Button
Move cursor to units awaiting orders
+ Control Pad
Move cursor
A + B + START + SELECT
Reset the game
START
Begin game
SELECT
Display Map Menu
R Button
Display intel on units and terrain features
A Button
Confirm selections
B Button
Cancel selections
Up
Select setup in Options Menu
Down
Select setup in Options Menu
Left
Select unit to delete in Options Menu
Right
Select unit to delete in Options Menu
How to Play
Preparing for Combat
Insert the Advance Wars Game Pak into your Game Boy Advance.
Note: This Game Pak is not for use with Game Boy or Game Boy Color game systems.
When you turn the power ON, the Game Boy logo will appear followed by the opening cinema. Once the opening cinema is finished, or once you press the A Button or START, you'll see the Advance Wars Title Screen.
Name Entry
Press START or the A Button on the Title Screen to move to the Name Entry Screen. You can enter any name you like. Use the + Control Pad to choose a letter and the A Button to confirm your selection. Press the B Button to cancel a selection.
When you have finished entering your name, move the cursor to OK and press the A Button. Next, the game will explain more about the mechanics and continue on to the Mode Select Screen.
! Once you have saved a game in progress, the Name Entry Screen will no longer be displayed.
Mode Select
There are eight modes to choose from in Advance Wars, but only three modes are open at the beginning of the game.
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Field Training: Go here to receive special instruction on the art of war.
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Vs. Mode: This is the single-system, single-Game Pak multiplayer mode.
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Link Mode: In this mode, you can link up two or more game systems for more multiplayer action.
Additional Modes
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Campaign: Play through the Story Mode here.
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War Room: Go here to test your strategic prowess.
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Stats: Select Stats to view your combat record and rank.
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Design Maps: This mode allows you to design your own maps.
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Battle Maps: Enter Battle Maps to purchase items with the coins you earn.
Combat Progression
Battles consist of a CO issuing orders to his or her deployed units, then selecting End to complete that turn. All COs in the field do the same. When all armies have finished issuing orders, day one of the battle is complete. This process repeats until one army emerges victorious.
War Funds & Unit Deployment
War Funds
It takes funds to deploy units into the field. You receive funds by capturing and holding neutral or enemy properties. The more properties, the more funds your army receives. Unused funds are carried over to the next turn.
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Cities, airports, ports, and bases are the only properties that can be captured.
•
Funds cannot be carried from one map to the next.
Unit Deployment
To deploy units, place the cursor on a deployment property-a base, airport, or port-and press the A Button. Then on the Deployment Menu use the + Control Pad to select the unit you want to deploy and press the A Button to confirm the decision.
•
New units can be used on the turn following their deployment.
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A single army can deploy a maximum of fifty units.
Moving Units
To move a unit, you must first select it. Place the cursor on the unit you want to move and press the A Button. Once a unit is selected, its movement range is displayed. Place the cursor in the space you want to move the unit to and press the A Button. The unit will follow the path shown by the Movement Arrow.
•
The Movement Arrow is the red arrow that traces the route from the selected unit to its destination.
After a unit reaches its selected destination, the Wait command appears. When you select this command, the unit changes to a darker color. Darkened units cannot receive further orders until the next turn.
! You can move all of your units using these steps. You cannot deploy more than one unit per space.
About Fuel
Units consume fuel as they move. Planes and ships burn fuel even when they are not moving. When out of fuel, ground forces are unable to move, while air and naval units either crash or sink.
Capture
When you move an infantry or mech (mechanized infantry) unit to a neutral or enemy property, the Capture command appears. Select this command to make your unit begin securing that property.
Fire
When a unit is in position to attack the enemy, Fire will appear in the Command Menu. Select this command to display the Attack Cursor. Use the + Control Pad to choose which enemy unit to attack and press the A Button. Your unit will begin its attack.
You command both direct and indirect combat units. Direct combat units move into attack position next to the enemy and fire in the same turn. Indirect combat units must move into attack position some distance from the enemy and then wait a turn before firing.
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The benefit of indirect fire is that the attacking unit is safe from counterattack.
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Developing a strategy that uses these two distinct unit types successfully is one of the keys to becoming a solid CO.
⚠️ The attack range varies among indirect combat units.
If you reduce an enemy unit's HP to zero, the unit vanishes from the field of battle. Of course, the same thing occurs if one of your units has its HP reduced to zero.
Supply
You can supply your units with fuel and ammo. There are two ways for units to receive supplies.
1. All units that are on bases or adjacent to an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) will have their fuel and ammo automatically replenished at the beginning of each turn. The units on bases will also regain two HP.
2. You can also resupply a unit by moving an APC into an adjacent space and selecting Supply from the Command Menu.
All units are capable of receiving supplies. If there are multiple supply vehicles deployed,
Tips & Maps
End
Select End to end your turn and press the A Button to confirm after finishing issuing commands.
Fog of War
A phenomenon that limits visibility so units only see as far as their individual vision ranges allow.
Vision Range for Infantry and Mech Units
Normally has a vision range of 2, which extends three spaces farther when climbing mountains.
Design Maps
A mode for creating original maps that can be used in Vs. Mode, Multi-Pak Vs. Mode, and traded with friends.
Creating Original Maps
Use L and R Buttons to select items from menus and place them on the map, using up and down to scroll through colors for army units and bases.
Design Maps Menus
Includes the Terrain Features Menu and the Unit Menu for selecting bases, terrain, ground, air, and naval units.
Terrain Features Menu
This menu includes HQs, cities, all types of bases, as well as roads, woods, rivers, and other terrain features.
Unit Menu
Allows selection of infantry, mech, tank, rocket, and other ground units, as well as air and naval units.
Roads
Allow units to traverse maps without hindrance but offer no other terrain benefits.
Plains
The most common terrain type, providing limited benefits with only minimum defensive cover.
Woods
Units here are only visible to adjacent units and air units when Fog of War is present, and provide above-average defensive cover.
Mountains
Traversable by mech, infantry, and air units, offering great defensive cover and increasing infantry and mech vision range by three in Fog of War.
Rivers
Cross much of the terrain and can only be traversed by infantry, mech, and air units, offering no defensive cover.
Bridges
Essential for allowing ground units to cross bodies of water, but provide no other terrain benefits.
Seas
Traversable by naval and air units only, offering no terrain benefits.
Shoals
Provide loading and unloading points for landers, are almost fully traversable, but provide no defensive cover.
Reefs
Units here are only visible to adjacent units and air units in Fog of War and offer little in beneficial features.
Climate
Map features like rain or snow that affect the movement range of all deployed units.
Air Units
Includes fighters, bombers, battle copters, and transport copters, all deployed from airports.
Ambush
Occurs when a unit runs into a hidden enemy in Fog of War, forcing it to wait until the next turn for new orders.
Bases
Terrain features like cities, ports, airports, ground bases, and HQs that can be captured to form a successful strategy.
Commands
Any order to a deployed unit, such as Move, Fire, Wait, or Capt.
Ground Units
Includes infantry, mech, recon, tank, Md tank, APC, artillery, rocket, anti-air, and missile, all deployed from ground bases.
Indirect Combat
One-sided combat where units with an attack range of two or more spaces fire on enemies to avoid counterstrikes.
Movement Cost
The percentage of a unit's movement range required to traverse specific terrain types.
Naval Units
Includes battleships, cruisers, landers, and subs, all deployed from ports.
Neutral Cities
Gray cities appearing on almost every map that infantry and mech units can capture to create allied bases.
DAMAGE MODIFIERS
This chart ranks the severity of damage a unit will inflict on another from A to E, where A represents the highest damage potential and E the lowest.
Enemies & Characters
Infantry
The cheapest unit to deploy. Can capture new bases, but has weak firepower.
Mechanized Infantry
Uses bazookas against vehicles. Strong against tanks, and also able to capture bases.
Recon
Strong in combat against infantry units. Has a large movement range.
Tank
A small, inexpensive tank. Its large movement range makes it easy to deploy.
Md Tank
Possesses the strongest offensive and defensive ratings among ground forces.
APC
Able to transport infantry and mech units. Can also deliver fuel and ammo. Carries no weapons.
Mobile Artillery
An inexpensive indirect-combat unit. Fires on enemy units from a distance.
Rocket Launcher
A powerful unit capable of firing on both ground and naval units from a distance.
Anti-Air
A specialized unit that is strong against air, infantry, and mech units. Can't cope with tanks, though.
Missile
Wreaks havoc on air units. Has a large vision range in Fog of War.
Fighter
Rules the skies and inflicts heavy damage on other air units.
Bomber
Inflicts heavy damage on both ground and naval units.
Battle Copter
Can fire on many types of units, which makes it easy to deploy and invaluable on the field.
Transport Copter
Can transport both mech and infantry units. Carries no weapons and cannot fire.
Battle Ship
Has a huge attack range. Its cannon does tremendous damage against other naval units.
Cruiser
Can do heavy damage to subs and air units. Can also transport up to two copters at a time.
Lander
Can carry up to two ground units at a time.
Sub
When submerged, can be attacked only by cruisers. Find by colliding with it.
Andy
Andy is a well-balanced CO with no real weaknesses.
Max
All of Max's direct combat units have superior firepower, though his indirect combat units are weak with limited range.
Sami
Sami is an infantry specialist whose mech and infantry are experts at capturing bases, and her transport units have a large movement range.
Olaf
Olaf has an affinity for cold weather, and his troops are not affected by snow, though rain shortens their movement range.
Grit
Grit is a long-distance attack master whose indirect combat units have an extended range, while his direct units have low firepower.
Eagle
Eagle is a master of the skies with very powerful air units, but his naval units are fairly weak.
Drake
Drake rules the seas with supreme naval units, but air combat is his weak point as his copters and planes are not highly regarded.
Sonja
Sonja's troops have a large vision range during Fog of War and keep their HP hidden, but she suffers from chronic bad luck.
Kanbei
Kanbei hosts an army with exceptional defensive and offensive ratings, but the deployment costs for his troops are high.
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