Portal: Famicom Wars
| |
| Famicom Wars | |
| Developer | Intelligent Systems |
| Games | List of all games |
| Debut | Famicom Wars (1988) |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
Famicom Wars, also referred to as Advance Wars or simply the Wars series, is a series of tactical role-playing games developed by Intelligent Systems. This series precedes Intelligent Systems' more well-known tactical RPG series, Fire Emblem, and the games typically take place in a contemporary setting where players control a CO (Commanding Officer) coordinating soldiers and military vehicles on battlefields in a conflict with an opposing side. Like Fire Emblem, the series was originally released only in Japan until the release of Advance Wars, which redefined the series. Traditionally throughout the series, the player is allied with a certain side, which was originally called Red Star, but this was changed to Orange Star when the series went international with the release of Advance Wars in an attempt to prevent comparisons with Communism. The series originally pitted the protagonist against a faction called Blue Moon, but later games have added more color-themed factions: Green Earth, Yellow Comet and Black Hole.
History[edit]
The series started with Famicom Wars, which was one of the first games to be developed by Intelligent Systems during their shift from making hardware to software. This was followed by handheld games on the Game Boy in the form of Game Boy Wars and three more games that were developed by Hudson Soft:: Game Boy Wars Turbo, Game Boy Wars 2, and Game Boy Wars 3. In 1998, Intelligent Systems released Super Famicom Wars, an enhanced version of the original Famicom Wars that was released over the Super Famicom's Nintendo Power service. It was also the first installment to add more factions in the form of Green Earth and Yellow Comet.
In 2001, the series was revived on the Game Boy Advance with Advance Wars, which was the first installment of the series to be released internationally and was made with beginners in mind. It was also used as a testing ground for releasing Fire Emblem games internationally as well. Advance Wars featured a colorful cast of characters and more of a story than previous Wars games. It was followed by two sequels: Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 and Advance Wars: Dual Strike for the Nintendo DS in 2004. The original release of Advance Wars was delayed in Europe and Japan due to the terrorist attacks of Septemeber 11, 2001. In Japan, the game was not released until the second game was developed, at which point both games were released packed together as Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2.
A spinoff of the series, Battalion Wars, was developed by Kuju for the Gamecube in 2005, followed by a sequel in 2007 for the Wii in the form of Battalion Wars II. These games had Famicom Wars in the Japanese versions of their titles, and first game was almost called Advance Wars: Under Fire internationally until it was decided to use a different title to differentiate it from the standard Advance Wars games. The Battalion Wars games deviated from the other Advance Wars by featuring real-time gameplay and was controlled from a third-person perspective with elements of gameplay from third-person shooters, while also featuring differently-named factions rather than the standard Red/Orange Star and Blue Moon. The second game incorporated some more elements from the mainline games, such as factories for units and naval battles.
In 2008, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin was released for the Nintendo DS. It followed the previous Advance Wars games in terms of gameplay for the most part, while featuring a darker storyline set in a separate continuity from the Advance Wars games. This was the last original Wars release to date.
Wayforward would later develop an enhanced remake of the first two Advance Wars games for the Nintendo Switch called Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp. After being delayed from a 2022 release due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the real world, the game was ultimately released in April 2023. The game has a new visual style and gameplay features, in addition to voice acting for the game's characters.
In Other Series[edit]
The series has since been referenced in the Super Smash Bros. games, where one Assist Trophy in the third and fourth games will summon miniature soldiers and tanks from Advance Wars (using their original sprites) to attack the enemy. Brawl also featured stickers of some of the Advance Wars characters, while Super Smash Bros. Ultimate featured Spirits of some of those characters as well as the tank and infantry in absence of the Assist Trophy.
Continuity[edit]
Before Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, there was seemingly no continuing storyline in the series. Each previous game was disconnected from the other, but featured similar units and the same two to four armies.
The Advance Wars continuity spans three games and tells of the efforts of the Allied Nations to defeat the machinations of the Black Hole army. Each game kept the same units and COs and only added to the rosters with new characters and units, rather than replace and reinvent with every single game. The series ended up as a trilogy that ended with Dual Strike.
The Battalion Wars continuity spans two games and follows the General Herman and the Western Frontier in their battles against their enemies, most notably Xylvania and Kaiser Vlad.
Finally, Days of Ruin features its own continuity set in a post-apocalyptic world.