Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the latest game in the Portable Wars series that has been running in Japan since 1988 but was only brought over to the West as Advance Wars in 2001. Since then it has had a sequel on the GameBoy Advance as well as an outing for the GameCube under the name Battalion Wars. Now a new game has been released which implements the DS's touch screen brilliantly. Luckily, the developers, Intelligent Systems (also the creators of the similar Fire Emblem series), have decided to keep the original Advance Wars name but have implemented the DS into the subtitle, ie: Dual Strike. Although it is very similar to the two previous Advance Wars games, Intelligent Systems has added a lot of new content to keep the veterans of the series coming back for more. Included in the new additions are new Commanding Officers, (or COs for short), new game modes, new units and most importantly the game uses the DS's twin screens in dual-screen battles, where you will need to fight your enemy on two fronts at once.

In Advance Wars, there are a grand total of six different gameplay modes. Each has something original to offer the player. The main mode is Campaign, which essentially is the main story mode of the game. In this you need to defeat the Black Star forces in almost 28 different missions. After completing this, you will then unlock the Hard Campaign which is obviously a harder campaign that the original Campaign. Because the missions aren't identical in the two campaign modes, it does mean that you essentially get two complete story modes to play through before completing the game. Then there are the War Room and Versus, in which there is very little variation, except that in Versus you can play with another player by giving them the DS for their turn. In War Room you can gain points to level up your CO. Survival mode offers something a little different. Essentially, you have to battle your way through a series of maps with one limiting factor, of which there are three possibilities: the amount of money you have to spend on units, the time you are allowed to complete it in and the number of turns you can take. The final mode is the most original of all. It is called Combat and unlike the others is played in real time. You need to go around a map as a solitary unit trying to destroy the enemy forces or capture their HQ. It works quite well, as it provides something a lot less strategic, and many will welcome the change of a mode.

Newcomers to the series will quickly discover, within the first few missions in Campaign mode, the large amounts of strategy needed to win a battle in Advance Wars. They may feel put off by this. But once you've had the experience of completing a mission on your fifth or sixth attempt after previously thinking it was nearly impossible, you won't want to put down the game. The controls in the game are very simple and have now been made even easier by the DS's touch screen. All you need to do is touch a unit to select it and then touch where you want it to go. The only problem is that you can very easily (by a slight mistake) end your turn instead of selecting something else. While it may not sound like that big of a deal, it can lead to the difference between winning a battle and losing one. Unless you suffer from random spasms in your hands, this won't be happening all that often. You can use the D-pad to move around and select things, which is occasionally easier especially after long periods of playing.

There is very little graphical improvement in Advance Wars DS when compared to its two GBA prequels. Although there have been slight improvements graphically overall, it looks much the same as its predecessors. Just because the graphics don't push the DS to its limits like other games, doesn't mean that they look bad. In fact, I feel that the developers have made the right choice in not trying to go for a 3D look in the game, as it gives the game some character. The cut-scenes and menu screen look a lot better than the in-game graphics and show slightly more of what the DS is capable of. The bright colors of the previous two games remain, and it always seems like the scenery and units are far too colorful and bold to be part of a large war. The battle animations also look better than they used to, and it is always fun to watch your massive Megatank go against an already weakened fleet of infantry and watch them get completely destroyed.

The music in the game is not as much of a let down as the graphics. Intelligent Systems has created a great set of songs that fit in excellently with the whole battle theme of the game. There are different songs for the different Commanding Officers that all sound great and fit in with their character. Although some of the battles may end up lasting up to (or even more than) an hour, you will never get bored with the motivational music that accompanies your victory or defeat. The sound effects in the game of capturing the enemies HQ or defeating a unit always sound great and make you want to continue playing just for the background noises.

Advance Wars DS was always going to be a game that would keep you playing for hours on end. If you are going to collect all the 300 medals in the game by building or destroying a set amount of units, capturing so many bases or attacking a certain number of times directly, you will need to play for a minimum of 50 hours to get one of the medals. But I'm sure if you collect all 300 medals, you will definitely end up playing the game well in excess of 100 hours, unless you are a strategic god. The added joy of multiplayer will also keep you playing the game for months after you buy it. Unfortunately, there is only one mode for single cart multiplayer, this mode is a two-player version of Combat. Even though it is fun, it is nothing compared to the multicart multiplayer. In this you can have full battles against your friends. Advance Wars DS was released too early for Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection, and as a result is not able to be played online. Hopefully, if a sequel is made for the DS, it will be the first in the Nintendo Wars series to be playable online.

There are a wide variety of units that can traverse the air, sea and land; each with different disadvantages and different advantages over other units. While the standard units of battlegrounds are there: infantry, artillery, tanks and helicopters; there are also units that aren't used predominantly for combat, such as transport units like the lander, T-copter or APC. There is also the recon which can easily scout out the whole map and is very useful in Fog of War missions. The more interesting units are the Neotank and Megatank, two of the most expensive and damaging units in the whole game, and with just a couple of either unit you can easily turn a whole battle around in your favor. To build these units, you will need money, and in the game you get money at the start of every turn, depending on how many bases you own. Each base will earn you 1000 in new funds every day. To take over a base you need a unit of infantry or mechs and you send them to the base to capture. It will take a full unit of infantry just two days to take over a base. If you do the same successfully with the enemies’ headquarters, you will win the battle.

Each Commanding Officer comes with its own Power and Super Power. To use these in the game you need to fill up the power meter, which can be accomplished by doing well in the battle. In some battles you will be able to have two Commanding Officers fighting together in an attempt to beat a common enemy. When you are playing with two Commanding Officers and both power meters are full you can unleash a Dual Strike. Both Commanding Officers attack the enemy in one turn as well as having both Super Powers in the same turn. This move can be very important in battles and usually ends up being the turning point between winning and losing.

Advance Wars is a brilliant game that will keep you playing until a sequel is released, or possibly even further. Despite the disappointment of the lack of online multiplayer and the fact that there is only one mode for single cart multiplayer, the multicart multiplayer more than makes up for that as well as the ability to design your own maps that can be sent wirelessly to friends. You can see how well they can compete on your landscape. The controls are as sharp as previous Advance Wars games, but now there is the added advantage of the touch screen and stylus. And although the graphics show very little advancement from the GBA games, they still manage to suit the gameplay, which has improved since Advance Wars was last seen on a Nintendo portable.

Gameplay - 10.0 The gameplay from the prequels has been improved upon, especially considering the stylus and touch screen.
Graphics - 8.0 Although they aren't a whole lot better than the previous two games, the unique visual style gives the game a lot of character.
Sound - 9.0 Intelligent Systems has made a great set of tunes, perfect for committing acts of war.
Lifespan - 10.0 This game will keep you playing for months on end until you've got every last one of those 300 medals. With multiplayer it will last you even longer.
Tilt - 9.0 The single cart multiplayer is nowhere near as good as the multicart version, but then again most DS owners should buy this.
One of the best games to be released for the DS so far, an essential purchase for any strategic gamers.