Shantae Developer WayForward Is Making Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

Wow all the developers of the direct games are good and have experience

Yeah, I thought so. The animation work screams "Wayforward."

They're a fantastic developer. I'm sure they'll do Advance Wars justice.

Let’s be honest. This is a WAY better strategy game than Fire Emblem. Everyone should really try it if you’ve missed these gems.

I was so mad that one displaced the other within Intelligent Systems. But hopefully this will get the series right on track for an original AW game.

Not sure about the art style but at this point I’ll take whatever they offer.

This is really cool! Hopefully this leads to Nintendo outsourcing more of their IPs to indie developers. A new F-Zero made by the Fast RMX team would be fantastic!

@Donkey-Kong-Fan Id rather have Sega and Namco make a new F-Zero, after all they made the racing masterpiece that was GX. Sadly Fast isn’t nowhere near to that quality in my opinion :/

So it's in good hands, that's reassuring to see.
Really glad this franchise made it's comback... I've missed it dearly.

I screamed when this was announced. ^_^ Been waiting over 10 years for a new Advance Wars. Even though it's just a reboot of existing games, I'm thrilled. Day 1. Give Fire Emblem a rest, Nintendo.

would've preferred the wargroove team or something, to be honest

@fafonio I actually didn't know they made GX. Now that you mention it, it would make more sense to bring them back for a new game. Still looking forward to potential new Nintendo games developed by indie devs though.

What is easier for someone who's never played a strategy game before, Advance Wars or Mario VS Rabbids? I'd like to try though not sure they're for me or not.

Also WayForward would be good for a Wario Land game.

@Clyde_Radcliffe
Advance Wars 1 has an excellent tutorial campaign to explain what to do. Which the reboot will include.

@fafonio Couldn't possibly disagree more with you regarding which franchise is the "better" strategy game, but one thing that IS true is that Advance Wars more than earned this revival, and that having WayForward help with development is a massive boon.

I'm hoping these remakes knock it out of the park so that the franchise can get new entries in the future.

@Blizzia FE has better RPG elements like story, characters, etc which combine and help hide their REALLY BASIC strategy triangle. Lance - sword - bow. It’s like playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with RPG elements.

Instead AW has over 30 different units who each have their own advantages, characteristics, weaknesses and usefulness. Which combined with terrain affinity, movement range, cost and effectiveness over other units, make for a really balanced and incredibly deep strategy game. Add the COs Powers and it’s a tactical dream.

Advance Wars is the superior STRATEGY game in all aspects. Fire Emblem is a good sRPG but a really basic strategy game overall.

@Donkey-Kong-Fan yes, it was part of an alliance between three companies in the Gamecube era called Triforce. Nintendo-Sega-Namco, and F-Zero AX for the arcades was their best project, which later became F-Zero GX .... which was the perfect baby that was born out of that alliance.

You could even unlock the unique AX tracks and content in GX with a Gameshark Gamecube disc.

I think these collaborations Nintendo are doing with other studios are really positive. Mercury steam and Wayforward just to name two. Ubisoft is the other obvious big one. It will be interesting to see who else they might be working with in future.

Great choice.. and that means intelligent systems.. are busy doing something else 👀

No Intelligent systems? I wonder what they are doing...

I also wonder if this will be physical or download only (same with Warioware). And I hope they get rid of the fog of war. For me the vc version of the first game ended when the fog happened.

knew it the artwork screamed Mighty Switch Force to me

@fafonio I wouldn’t call FE basic but yeah, it’s a strategy RPG so I wouldn’t expect the strategy part to be developed as much as a pure strategy game.

Instant buy! In terms of art direction, the units shown in the battle cutscenes are really too much of a single color. Looking at the blue tanks, it's all plastic blue. The yellow army tanks at least have the dark tracks to make up for some contrast.
There is no offense in changing this.

It's £50 on the eShop, so I hope it gets a physical release so I can get it cheaper. I'd like give the two games a go on Switch, or I'll just buy the originals on the Wii U.

After playing the Shantae games, I'm glad WayForward's gotten this opportunity. They're no slouches and are genuinely good game builders, I have a lot of respect for them.

Nice to see Nintendo hire Indies too.

Now, there is the Ice Climber HD Steamworld devs wanted to make? They are perfect for this task and they know it themselves.

Ahggghhhh I'm torn. I desperately want to buy this game and relive precious memories. But on the other hand, maybe I should just let those memories be precious and play other games and make new memories because I have precious little free time (and a lot of other games to get through). Still, I absolutely loved these games the first time around so it's going to be tempting.

@CactusMan

makes perfect sense. And yes, I have fate in Wayforward. Very sometimes they make stinkers, but most of the time its gold. And with a little bit guidance from Nintendo it should work.

Well, I never played those, so that's really good news.

It's still not forbidden to develope new games/stories/gameplay features though, so I hope we will see newer stuff in the future here. I'm getting kinda tired of the remake culture in general tbh.

@fafonio I mean Fire Emblem is more of an RPG mixed with tactics, but yeah. I also liked the pure tactic gameplay more in AA.

@fafonio I think that Fire Emblem are better games but that they need to take slightly longer between games (Three Houses story didn't fit for me). Agreed that these games are excellent however and hope they become successful enough that WayForward get to make their own game

This is truly great news. Wonder if they will have difficulty levels? The first one got rock hard for me after a few chapters

Based on the gameplay shown this game is coming along swimmingly! It is like the best news in a long time that Advance Wars is coming to Switch. Nintendo and Way Forward are the heroes of 2021 in my view! Can't wait to buy an Advance Wars cartridge and play it on my Switch (Pro, right?!) : )

Nice that great news, but please Nintendo just buy the studio already. Wayforward would be an perfect fit for the company

Hopefully more Shantae than Bakugan in terms of quality!!

Wish Wayforward used the same pixel artists in Shantae Pirate's Curse for Advance Wars but I'm still surprised they were working on this alongside what seems like tons of projects.

@Ralizah Yup, they are among my favourite developers. I've been playing Shantae Half-genie Hero and I've been having a blast. I still need to play the last one to complete the whole series.

Most graphic styles can be overlooked if the strategy part works well. Chess is chess regardless of what style or look the pieces have.

That said, it does look like a ported mobile game.

We know the advantages of playing a game on the Switch on the go. But this does look as
though it was made for the Switch Lite handheld market. I would like to have seen a Fire Emblem style that would look good on the big screen.

But two games at a budget price and I'll probably give it a go, if it scores 8 or above.

Never played this on the GBA but have seen since how revered it was so definitely will pick this up physical for about £35. Now just need Golden Sun remastered or ported.

@fafonio
While FE isn't the deepest tactical game, which it doesn't really need to be, breaking it down to just "lance - sword - bow" is nonsense.

Best news of the direct for me, thought it was dead!
With that in mind I'm more than happy for the remaster than a sequel, if this sells well hopefully they will then do a sequel.

Just hope it releases physically.

@fafonio
Calling FE basic shows how little you know of the series, especially when you state Advance Wars has complexity because of unit types, ignoring the fact that there are different uint types in FE too. On top of terrain also playing an effect.
It's also a great SRPG not just a good one.

glad these are coming out. BUY THESE GAMES NINTENDO FANS. this is how we can show that we fans want more old franchises. this is how we could get a F ZERO or Earthbound. we have to show Nintendo that we want more than just Mario . Pokemon. and Zelda.

good developer. I hate the new art style. Too bubblegum and bland. Looks like a free to play mobile game. Maybe an EA title.

I don't like the 3D graphics, they're quite bland looking. I think the character animation sequences look good, though. Seems like a mixed bag, and frankly, I'm just not that excited about a remake.

WayForward does decent work - I think the Shantae games are good but way overrated. I'm happy they're getting some work directly from Nintendo. I do hope this remake is a gateway to new Advance Wars titles, but I hope we haven't seen the last of pixel graphics from Nintendo, period.

Congratulations, Bozon.

I am glad I am not the only one. Loved the original Advanced Wars, and when I saw the reveal I knew something was off with this “Nintendo” game. Love Wayfoward but this art style is a major miss. It’s all over the place.

The 2D and 3D graphics don’t mix well if at all. Some of the 2D characters can use some tightening up or consistency. And the low quality 3D makes the game looks like one of those mobile games cluttering the eShop.

I hope this is just a work in progress. Else this is a big miss in any hope of really reviving the franchise. Advanced Wars was sleek with a strong visual identity without looking like a game for toddlers or the first Toy Story.

I knew the art style looked familiar somehow but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I think it's a good art style, although it's just a little bit too toy like than what I would've liked to see, particularly the battle map. It's still great to see the series back either way. It's in good hands.

My only concern with development is will the online multiplayer work well? I really hope it will have asynchronous matches, like Wargroove.

This was one of my favourite announcements. I've never played the series, but love Fire Emblem and FF Tactics, so I assume I'll like this.

This is pointless. Who doesn't already have these games on their 3DS? Why don't they make a sequel instead?

I understand re-releasing games that are stuck on consoles that no one has anymore, such as Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess and Wind Waker, but everyone has a 3DS. No one will buy these remakes. Also, why remake a game that was perfectly fine in ints original version? The originals look much better than these remakes, by the way.

@fafonio Oh boy, you haven't played Fire Emblem in recent years at all, have you?

The weapon triangle has evolved mate. Or rather, it's disappeared. It no longer exists. Instead you strategically focus on certain stats, classes, weapons and skills with the traits you want in order to build units a certain way. There's no rock paper scissors to it anymore - that's long gone.

In Three Houses, for example, there's these different weapon types:
Swords
Lances
Axes
Bows
Gauntlets (Brawling)
Monster-only
Black & Dark Magic (Reason)
White Magic (Faith)

Within each weapon type there are a multitude of different weapons with all kinds of effects, ranging from simple damage vs weight difference (affecting speed) to simple stat boosts, to special interactions like hitting twice guaranteed, dealing magic based dmg with a physical weapon class, inflicting dmg to yourself or the enemy after combat, healing a percentage of damage dealt, or simply healing per turn when equipped, inflicting status effects, effective vs certain classes etc.

Increasing your proficiency with different weapon types also unlocks passive/active skills that range from special combat interactions to stat buffs to terrain bonuses and much, much, much more.

FE 3 Houses also has 37 classes, and each unit has certain stats that they're bad at but that if you build into them unlock hidden talents that can make them good with any build.

Increasing proficiency also unlocks a ton of active skills with vastly different effects as well like increased range, ignoring damage reduction, hitting multiple targets or increased accuracy, heck, even preventing movement or moving 1 space after combat, increased damage based on defensive stats, debuffs, effectiveness vs all units etc.

On top of that there are crests, which provide each unit with unique effects that can be enhanced through use of specific weapons or simply building them in ways that allows you to maximize potential output with said crests. You can even get crests later in the game that you can put on units to change the effect.

On top of this, what route you choose to take while promoting your units on the way to the target final class also matters and defines your unit.

Then we also have the support system which affects characters strategically as who you choose for these interactions change their bonuses when they are close to each other in combat - add to that linked attacks which also power up and change based on who you place in the correct pattern, battalions which change up stats and interactions and grant "Gambits", unique special attacks you can only execute usually once or twice a match, with all sorts of effects ranging from group healing to rooting enemies to increasing move values for a turn to decreasing avoidance making you more likely to hit the enemy or increasing stats of nearby friendly units - AND they're vital for use vs big monster enemies - and you've got one hell of a strategy cocktail.

And there's more. But you get the gist. Fire Emblem isn't as much an sRPG as it's a STRATEGY rpg.

It essentially has everything that AW has, and much, much more. Terrain affinity, advantages, characteristics, weaknesses, usefulness in different scenarios, several unit types different movement ranges and movement values in different terrain, different expenses associated with improving the units, and about a million skills and other things that lets you build them in a way that can give you the upper hand over other units.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Mario + Rabbids, 100%. Advance Wars is adorable to look at but strategies get VERY complicated fairly quickly. Most Mario + Rabbids levels are puzzles with a turn-based strategy mechanic. They can be very hard puzzles! But the multi-move, 20 unit planning of AW isn't there.

@Blizzia thank you. You just described an RPG with sprinkles of strategy. Hence an sRPG.
Improving the skills of single units is not strategy in the sense of putting you into a scenario and make you unfold through it with what you’ve got. Instead you unfold with what you have increased or improved throughout the playthrough of your game, not a single combat scenario ... an RPG.

I don’t see you improving stats or leveling up chess pieces, do you?

@fafonio I described a Strategy game with lots of RPG elements.

It doesn't matter which way you attempt to turn it, improving the skills of units to, so to speak, strategically improve them versus certain types of enemy units, is strategy.

The existence of levels or stats that one can increase does not mean that the gameplay is not strategic. Rather, it means that using these elements to improve your units to deal with certain scenarios is pretty much core strategy.

It really just means there's that much more you need to plan around and account for. It's strategy.

It's like saying turning a unit into a mounted class and using terrain boost skills for use in maps where that is useful... isn't the same as deploying a unit working exactly like that in a map where it is useful.

It's the same thing. One might incorporate RPG elements that makes you care about the unit, and makes it, well, not expendable, but it's the same thing.

Since it seems Mario&Rabbids doesn't get a grid in combat it's moving more to a 3D Worms from all I've seen. Which... might be good but doesn't have to be - neccessarily. At first sight it's a big bummer to me tbh.
So Advance Wars is very welcome on my side. (@Nintendo: Now it's definitively time for a new FF Tactics after AW release!)
But: Does the Troops get some textures at some time? This plastic soldier look is hardly appealing. Take a look at Tiny Metal and do it like there.

@Clyde_Radcliffe I think Advance Wars. The tutorial is a nice on-ramp and it is a much more straightforward and less trial and error than Rabbids.

@TheWingedAvenger There was no Advance Wars on 3DS.

This is definitely coming physically, preorder is up on Amazon, etc.

Should be fine I guess, but why can't Intelligent Systems do it?

@Clyde_Radcliffe Mario+Rabbids has strategy but it's also a bit more... RPG like?

It's basically XCOM but with Mario+Rabbids and using Mario's platformer tropes to allow for a lot of movement maneuvers never really seen in other games in a very smooth streamlined fashion.

Honestly, it guenuinely surprised me so the news of a sequel was pretty good. Especially since the original seemed railroaded with world design being more or less literal roads with scripted fight encounters paced along it's lenght... but the next game seem to open up to world into more open areas and to replaced scripted battle encounters with RPG-like roving encounters(a bob-bomb is seen wandering a field and colliding with it is what loads a separate battle map in the sequel, as was teased anyway).

Advanced Wars is a more traditional pure strategy game however, more about fielding/producing units and maneuvering them on a battlefield and battle influenced by types matchup(infantry VS armored vehicles for example) with no RPG elements to speak of iirc and only the "commanders" being unique characters albeit ones that are not displayed on the battlefield itself iirc.

No wonder it looked so good!

@Coxula I dunno about the comment for Mario+Rabbid. Except that movement was more gridless, the pace and moves of battle seemed VERY similar to the original.

The original might have been grid based, but you could literally have your character move within that grid almost however you want to a degree. Moving into one enemies at the edge of the grid for a dash attack before moving to an ally at the very other edge of the grid for a team jump landing you behind cover outside of your movement grid before unleashing a ranged attack at ANOTHER enemies.

And that's not getting into characters that could be upgraded to perform multiple dash attacks per turns.

So with that kind of optic, moving to a gridless "circle" of movement in what still remains a turn-based experience feel like it's not that much of a stretch and even a bit of a natural evolution for the game.

Kinda shocked that Wayforward's best take on "remastering" the games visuals is this homage to Paw Patrol 😲 I kinda liked the 2D character portraits though, that felt kinda right and fitting. Had the whole game looked that way, I would have probably quite liked it. But this 2D and 3D stuff just doesn't gel for me and the 3D stuff itself ... yeah, Paw Patrol and Bob the Builder are still my primary associations here, definitely nothing war-adjacent.

Have preordered already on amazon, need to support this so there is a chance of a new one! Greatest game of all time.

Woah that is quite a combination!

I'm looking fwd to it!

$60 seems steep, but since these are "built from the ground up" then we might get enhancements, additions, and QoL changes that make the added cost worth it, to say nothing of the enhanced graphics and "Switch factor."

I've never played these games myself, so depending on how this turns out it might make the perfect holiday game.

I don't like Wayforwards art style. I do however think that the Megablocks/lego 3D graphics keeps the game bright snd cheery.

My first introduction to advance wars was Days of Ruin which took on a darker color scheme. Definitely enjoyed the story in that game.

Compared to fire emblem I like that this game doesn't usually have individual units you get attached to. In fire emblem that attachment /permadeath causes me to reset a lot.

Nice to see this is in good hands! I hope it does well; haven't played the series - wanting to try it - but I've heard many great things.

@Ludovsky I think I get what you mean but I disagree to some point:
Getting rid of the grid has consequences not only for moving but also aiming. If implemented wrong (and we're talking about UBI, right?) you'll not have the safety if you're covering right, if you hit the opponents you want or close missing them - this could end being a bit more... random. Which might appeal when it comes to adress a bigger audience but is death for strategists.
Besides that: Good bye D-Pad. And that alone (it might just be me, I know) is the death for a strategic game. There are some turn based games out there on switch using analogue stick controls... and they're all crap. I've tried a lot.
So I'm happy games like WarGroove, Tiny Metal and Banner of the Maid hold the flag high. They can't do much wrong with Advance Wars and I'm looking forward to it. And stay sceptical with M&R - but it get's a chance or two of course.
And: No. Having no grid is no evolution. It's just... different.

Would love it if they also did the older Famicom Wars games as well

Also: y'all should download Wargroove if you want to try out exactly this style of game!

As if I couldn't love a game developer more than I already do. My obsession with WayForward becomes even more unhealthy for helping revive a beloved franchise from my childhood!!!

I have my reservations about WayForward (their approach to character design and "comedy" specifically) but they're perfect fits for this kind of project. I've always considered DuckTales Remastered the gold standard for remakes of 2D games.

Wayforward has made a name for themselves and they've done a good job with the Shantae games. Cool to see them working with Nintendo on this, a big surprise honestly.

So Exciting, I personally love the new look. Personally glad they didn't go the Tiny Metal route. I am hoping this is a gateway for more AW games and more partnerships to get out some of the other dormant IPs in big Ns catalog (cough, cough F-Zero, Golden Sun and etc).

On one hand it's great that it's coming back. On the other this basically confirms that Intelligent System have no further interest in Advance Wars.

So nice to know that it's WayForward that handles the remastered of these new Advance Wars games. I'm ready for this.

That’s a let down. I was going to buy this game but I know of 3-ish people who are often contracted for WayForward games who are ***** people.
What a ***** god damn let down that is. AW was a superior series in the day. I might spill the beans on what they’ve done

{spoiler alert is mostly online bullying, belittling of others, trying to halt the careers of others. There’s an Asian-American model who I think is called Chrissy Teigan? I’m not sure if that’s her name or not but look at what she has recently been exposed as doing. It’s that but for the game industry instead of modelling.}

I'm very very happy to see this, but, that design tho. I do like it, but this games had a very serious story and that was one of the things that made them so good, and now, you are just playing with toys on a board. It doesn't feel the same, like there is no risk, there are no stakes anymore.

I knew this artstyle looked familiar, the artstyle looks exactly like the newer Shantae games.

I just grabbed the latest Shantae game on sale and am enjoying it. So this is good news indeed!

This was the biggest game for me.

@Coxula tbh the lack of grid with cover can be simply resolved: cover "hitzones" that are highlighted when you put the character close to cover, allowing you to instantly get into "in cover" mode. Also I need to check but while movement was gridless, environment still was very square shaped on the battle map. So the grid 'layout' of cover may well remain as is, in which point gridless movement is a bit more moot if cover still follow the same axis.

I think you can see a good example on this screenshot: https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/MRSH_screen_bobomb_1206_10.10pm_CEST-4951160c3b5520406f8.50991290.jpg

So pumped for this! I'm hoping this will get a physical release, and that unlike most WayForward games, we won't have to go through Limited Run Games to get it! You would think that two Nintendo games being bundled together would warrant releasing them in physical form, but Famicom Detective Club: The Two-Case Collection exists digitally and only digitally.

The character designs are drastically changed for the worse...

Nell's mole for instance is on the right instead of left. Max's mark is also gone

@TheWingedAvenger there was no Advance Wars (or any Wars game, ftm) on 3DS. Even if you count the DS games, those weren't new games, even for 2011. And you can't play any GBA game on 3DS UNLESS you've bought one prior to the price cut of mid-2011

@fafonio "I don’t see you improving stats or leveling up chess pieces, do you?"
I mean, in chess, a pawn can be promoted and essentially have its movement improved. Just felt like pointing that out.

Anyways, both Fire Emblem and Advance Wars are great strategies game series in my opinion, so I'm happy about Re-Boot Camp's announcement and to see WayForward helping out. Looking forward to its release.

@ARandomCommenter yeah but What i mean is that you retain your status quo in a single match. Yeah you upgrade your chess pieces in THAT match. Fire Emblem retains your levels throughout the whole game, that would be, in chess, akin something like “ha! Your lvl2 pawn can’t match my lvl30 pawn” hence why it’s more an RPG than a strategy game.
Advance Wars resets the status quo within each match, akin to a chess game.

Looks like I will get this first before trying out a new fire emblem game