A new preview for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp has a promising message for the fans who have been waiting for this game for literally years.
Our preview comes from Video Games Chronicle, and they report that Wayforward Technologies have done a fine job in updating the Advance Wars games over from the Game Boy Advance to the Nintendo Switch.
Wayforward essentially left the core of the games untouched, and their update focused on aspects of the presentation, including the graphics, art style, and animation.
Now, it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about what Video Games Chronicle’s Andy Robinson is talking about here. Released in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance, the original Advance Wars released in a time when the console game industry had largely adjusted to the shift to 3D graphics, and subsequently were making games that were longer and deeper, that were only possible in home systems instead of arcades.
The Game Boy Advance was technologically behind its console contemporaries, but it benefited from a nostalgia cycle for 8-bit and 16-bit gaming. Nintendo encouraged this line of thinking by making their first releases on the console rereleases of their classic games, like Super Mario Advance: Super Mario Brothers 2.
Later Game Boy Advance games, even new original games, would evoke that nostalgia for games with sprite graphics. This included the likes of WarioWare Mega Microgames, the Mega Man Battle Network series, and the Sonic Advance games.
In that context, Advance Wars, which has been a long running series for Nintendo but is being introduced to the West for the first time, needs to appeal to that fanbase. Developer Intelligent Systems decides to use an original anime aesthetic, that somewhat evokes the SD (super deformed) art style, but also has its own unique appeal.
The animations for tank and troop movements are cute and charming, distinguishing it from the drab graphics of an SSI game. Characters seem young and relatable, much like the characters in other Game Boy Advance games. Advance Wars is a turn based tactical strategy game, but its welcoming and charming presentation won its way to gamers that would have stayed away from the genre otherwise.
Wayforward was uniquely suited to recreate that feeling on the Nintendo Switch. They themselves are former Game Boy Advance developers, but they have also adapted and learned how to make modern graphics, including CG.
And so, Wayforward was successful in upgrading the game’s presentation so that you could play Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp on HD screens. What would have originally been miniaturized graphics meant for a 2.9 inch screen was reinterpreted as full polygonal models, that you could decently display on a 1080p monitor today.
Furthermore, Wayforward did some specialized work on the characters themselves, so that they have a 2.5D look. They may look like the same sprite based characters, but Wayforward gave them animations that turn the camera around them so we can see that they are actually fully 3D, and seem more lifelike as a result.
You can read more about how Wayforward brought this classic franchise forward for a new generation of gamers in the link above.
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp is releasing exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on April 20, 2023.
