You play as a rookie Commanding Officer (CO) for the Orange Star army, and you're under supervision by Nell, a top notch CO. Before you can start the actual game, you have to complete a tutorial, which covers pretty much everything, except tactics, which you have to develop yourself. When you do start, you choose an assisting CO. Who you choose can affect the outcome of the battle, as each of them is very different.

There are nine CO's to choose from, and two secrets. You earn the first four by working your way through the story mode, whilst obtain the rest by fulfilling certain requirements. Each of the Commanding Officers has their plusses and minuses. There's Andy, the all-rounder of the group, who has average units of each type, with no major strengths or weaknesses. Max, the slow but strong guy, who has almost unbeatable direct fire units, but his indirect units suffer from this. Sami is the infantry expert; her infantry have the best distances and find it much easier when it comes to capturing cities. Then there's Olaf, who is the bumbling idiot really, but you'd best not underestimate him, when it snows, he has the edge, and you had best stay away during this period, rain is his downfall however. Grit is the indirect fire master, he has the best range of the lot, but his direct fire units leave a lot to be desired. Eagle, has air superiority, but his naval units are pitiful compared to everyone else. Drake is the king of the sea, and his naval units will give you a run for your money. Kanbei has great attack and defence on all of his units but the price you have to pay to build and maintain them is high. Sonja is the best of them all when it comes to Intel and Recon, and all her units keep their health hidden; she does suffer from chronic bad luck however. Each CO also has their own unique music, which does sound pretty good, and it's probably some of the best music to come out of the GBA's small speakers so far.

There's a wide range of units to choose from as well, all with their plusses and minuses, you'd best get used to using them all, as one single mistake could cost you the battle. You get two types out of ground, sea and air units, and these are direct fire, and indirect fire. Direct fire units have to be next to an enemy unit to attack, and are usually the stronger of the two, with higher armour ratings and attack power. Indirect fire are for distance attacks, these are maybe a little weaker than direct fire units, but they're good for defence as you can whittle down attacking units power, then finish them off with direct fire. Indirect fire basically has longer range, with higher attack, but less defence, they cannot attack anything right in front of them, only over a distance. Also one of the big differences is that while some may have stronger attack and defence, they suffer from lack of distance they can travel. Weaker units are usually good for guerrilla warfare, and they're usually a cheap price. Of course, it's always best to make your own decisions.

The battle system is a fairly easy one to follow, but difficult to master. You and your opponent each take turns. In your turn, you move all your units, build units, and attack. To get money to build new units, you need to capture cities. This is done by moving an infantry onto an enemy or empty town, and then using the option to capture it. You capture towns depending on how many people are in your group. Usually, towns have a rating out of twenty, and choosing capture, will take off how many people are in that units group. CO Sami can do this easily, as she can capture towns the easiest. After a number of turns, your chosen CO will charge up power, and eventually be able to use CO Power. This is always very helpful, and it's always good to use it when you think it's suitable enough. These can range from fixing your units, making it snow, increasing attack and double distance.

The sound has to be heard to be believed, never has a catridge game sounded so good! Each CO has their own unique music, ranging from rock to western. The sound effects for the wide range of vehicles are also probably as good as you can get on a cartridge. Everything from the sounds of caterpillar tracks to helicopters, it's all very impressive.

Multiplayer is a excellent also, you don't even need to have a link cable or two GBA's. You each choose a CO, and one of you chooses a map. You take your turn, and when you're finished, you pass it over to your friend. They won't be able to see what you've done, as the screen will fade out as it switches to them. It's best to choose the option Fog of War in multiplayer, this is where it's much like Command and Conquer, only if you leave an area, the fog returns. This can lead to some interesting battles, and some that will be absolute nightmares if you don't prepare properly.

There's also 1 cart link-up, and 4 cart link-up. There can be up to 4 players in a 1 cart game, but you're restricted to one CO and one map, but you can still enjoy the game a fair amount. 4 cart link-up is where it's at really. Basically like 1 player, but with 4 players, the only problem is, you'll have to be prepared to wait if you're up against some new players.

Advance Wars is a great game, with more to offer than you think. A game that can be recommended to everyone, and should you need a little more persuasion, Intelligent Systems, the makers of Advance Wars, also made Mario Kart Advance. War has never been so fun.