Ahem! May I have your attention, please? I wish to tell you about an amazing game for the Nintendo DS; Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Stats
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: Strategy
Regular Retail Price (U.S.): $34.99

~~~~Overview~~~~
The Advance Wars series has been out for awhile in the U.S. The original one, Advance Wars, was for the GBA. It was a strategy game; you built units, moved units, battled with units, lost units, etc. The game's war-based gameplay attracted many. In addition to moving tanks, infantry, artillery, and other units on the battlefield, the game put you into the control of a CO (commanding officer). Each CO had different strengths and weaknesses; some proficient with air units, some good with long-range units. And they also had special CO Powers that enhanced their abilities to turn tight situations into amazing comebacks.

A sequel, Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, soon followed. It still had the same gameplay mechanics that made the first one great, only now there were even more COs with new powers to choose from. In addition, the main Campaign mode was now less tight, allowing you to choose which missions to take. The game also introduced Super CO Powers, suped up versions of CO Powers which are stronger but take longer to charge up for.


-------Review-------
Years later, the Nintendo DS is the newest of Nintendo's systems, with unique ways of gameplay; The Touch Screen. Soon, after the DS had been in the market for awhile, more games came out. One of the more recent ones; Advance Wars: Dual Strike. This sequel introduces a ton of new things that make the Advance Wars series even greater.


First off, you can use the touch screen to move, create, attack, and so forth with your units. I personally prefer to do it the classic way; contol pad along with the a+b buttons (x+y aren't used much).


Second, there are seven new units: Carriers, Black Bombs, Stealth Fighters, Ooziums, Megatanks, Piperunners, and Black Boats. I'll explain them in detail.

Carriers: Carriers can hold 2 air units and replenish their ammo+fuel. It also has missles that can attack any air unit from far away.

Stealth Fighters: These air units can attack any unit. They can also turn invisible; then only other stealth fighters and regular fighters can attack them.

Ooziums: Ooziums are giant black blobs that can destroy anything (any unit) in one hit. However, they can only move 1 space.

Megatanks: Megatanks are the strongest ground units. Their firepower and armor exceeds that of even a Neotank. They move slow and consume alot of fuel, though.

Piperunners: Piperunners can move only on pipes and onto adjacent factories. They can attack any unit indirectly, even air units. They have only light armor though.

Black Boats: Black Boats can carry 2 Infantry units and can restore ammo, fuel, and HP to any nearby units.


Third, you can now fight with 2 COs at the same time. I'll explain it in detail.

1. You can pick up to two different COs for each player.
2. You start out in control of one of them. At the end of your turn, you can swap for the other CO if you wish.
3. Once both your CO's Power Meters are full, you can perform a Dual Strike, which allows both of your COs to move on the same day. In detail: One of them goes first, activating their Super CO Power. After their turn is over, you then swap out for the other CO. Every unit gets to move again, and the current CO's Super CO Power is in now effect. This whole process is called Tagging.
This allows you to choose COs that cover each other weaknesses. Also, certain COs get bonuses by taggin with other certain COs (example: Eagle gets a big bonus if he tags with Sami).

Fourth, there are now even more COs to choose from. It's now even easier to find the CO whose style fits you best.

Fifth, there are new DS battles that have two battles going on; one battle on the top screen and one on the bottom. You can send units up to the top battle from the bottom battle if you so wish.


Overall, this is a great strategy game for the Nintendo DS. If you have a DS, I highly suggest that you get this game. You'll be blown away. It's well worth the $34.99 (U.S.).

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Whew! I hope that convinces some of you to think this is a good game. Oops! I forgot to talk about the multiplayer; You can play multiplayer in three ways:

1. Pass the DS: You can play with only 1 DS; you just pass the DS when its the next player's turn. Great if your friends want to play but don't have a DS themselves or if you don't like Single-game Download games (see below).
2. Single-game Download: You can download software to a person who doesn't have the game but has a DS to play a simple battle.
3. Multi-game Battle: This is the best of the three ways. People who have the game and a DS can participate. It's awesome because you don't have to pass the DS around so you all can sit down in seperate spots looking at your own screen.

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Now I think I've covered everything. If you have AWDS, or even if you don't, talk about it here. Perhaps you want to talk about your favorite COs. Or maybe you want to talk about your style of battling. I love this game, and I hope you do to!