Advance Wars: Dual Strike [DS]

Bottom line on this one: If you don't yet own a Nintendo DS and have been waiting for a really compelling, justifiable excuse to pick up the system, there isn't a better reason to take the plunge than this candy-colored, endlessly playable, turn-based gem.

Dual Strike marks the third western-market iteration of the Advance Wars series and, despite the new DS bells and whistles, it's still very familiar territory. A bright, cartoonish experience filled with bulbous, super-deformed tanks and bombers, lots of can-do, anime-style characters, and gameplay mechanics that define that holy-grail goal. It's mechanically simple to learn and play, yet another thing entirely to master (particularly against a human opponent).

The armies of Orange Star, Yellow Comet, and the rest of the Macro Lucky-Charms alliance are once again squaring off with the Black Hole Army -- mysteriously arisen from the ass-kicking they got in the last game -- now stronger and weirder than ever. This time around, Black Hole is using a sinister new resource-gathering technology which somehow sucks the very vitality of the earth, reducing once-lively landscapes to barren, craggy wastelands. The process also provides for a new terrain type (desert) and a new weather effect (the visibility-hindering sandstorm).

Obviously, the new big hook is tied to the twin screens. Missions are still conducted on a single screen as before, but can spill over into a "second front" that occupies the upper screen, and actions on the one can affect the other. For example, you'll have a classic land battle taken straight from the classic Advance Wars playbook on the lower screen, while an entirely airborne assault on a Black Hole floating fortress rages on the upper one.

It's just a little more subtle than it sounds: For starters, you don't actually "control" the upper-screen battle in the traditional sense. Rather, you can decide, while moving units normally on the lower screen, to "send" them to the upper-screen front as reinforcements.

AI routines handle the upper-screen action, while the player can opt for broad behavior sets (defensive, aggressive, assault) to set the tone of the battle. Another caveat is that once you pack off, say, a bomber to the upper front, it's gone from the lower battle, and cannot be recalled. Naturally, the different commanding officers leading each screen's battle also bring their own unique strengths and weaknesses into play -- if the primary conflict calls for long-ranged strikes, you probably don't want the close-brawling Max leading it, no matter how much you like him.

How badly you want to win that secondary engagement (or how many of your units you want to commit to it) can differ from mission to mission, because it's generally true that beating the secondary mission can reap rewards in the primary one.

"Dual" is the name of the game here (literally), and the notion even applies to the C.O.s themselves. Pairs of C.O.s with complimentary special powers can be brought into battle and "swapped" at the end of any given turn (so that the player can take advantage of whichever power will be most handy). Furthermore, a full power gauge allows an incredible tag attack, in which two C.O.s can take turns (and employ their powers) in succession, giving the player a chance to really stick it to the enemy. Oh yes, it's satisfying as hell -- until it happens to you.

The weirded-out ranks of Black Hole Army have returned (such as the tittering goth-girl psychopath Lash), along with new members and new units. For example, Pipe Runners are essentially rail-guns -- in the WWII sense, not the Quake one -- and are limited to placement along Black Hole's massive Pipe terrain features.

More new units include the Megatank (think Neotank, but even bigger... and slow), the Stealth Fighter (invisible to ground-based air defenses, when cloaked), and the long-awaited Aircraft Carrier (new home for friendly air units, and near-certain death to everybody else's).

The single-player campaign is suitably massive and explains the game's many mechanics as you go. Other modes include the long-standing War Room and Versus modes, a Survival mode (limits on time, money, and allowable turns), and an odd little offshoot mode called Combat. Combat is a real-time, action-based mode in which players directly control a single unit with the d-pad, zipping onto neutral or enemy properties to start a timed countdown mode. It's cute, but has nothing like the long-term legs of the traditional game.

Finally, players who have the time and the friends -- and don't mind losing either -- can participate in the full DS multiplayer. We loved multiplay in Advance Wars 2, tangly cords and all, but DS Wireless is the real-deal way to go. Kick back comfortably in your corner of the room and plot your best friend's downfall.

If you loved the first two games, you've likely drooled your way through half of this review, not needing to read the rest. If you're new to the series and are looking for a deep strategy game that's easy on the eyes and light on the tone, Advance Wars Dual Strike is a must-have title that'll more than pay for itself in sheer replay value. The endless combat may smack of War Machines Week on The History Channel, but the contentious, jaunty chatter between friendly (and enemy) characters is pure Cartoon Network. Move out!