"It's war..again!"

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising is the sequel to one of my favorite Game Boy Advance games. The first was a blast (literally), so I was sure to get the sequel.

As the name suggests, AW2 is a war video game. You travel from continent to continent trying to defend the countries of Wars World from the clutches of the Black Hole Army. The gameplay is turn-based, requiring a lot of strategy in order to win each battle. Unlike the original AW, AW2's missions come in groups. You select a mission in any order you want, then when you have cleared those that are available, more missions open up. This way if you're stuck on a level, you may skip it and go onto another.

Story 8/10
Believe it or not, this game has a decent plot. Instead of just going out and saving the world like so many video games, this game starts with your home country being attacked, and you must defend it. You start with a choice of three Commanding Officers (COs). Andy, Max, and Sami are responsible for defending their country, Orange Star. After things have cleared up on their world, more trouble lurks on other continents, where you take control of different COs.

Graphics 8/10
Not the best graphics I have seen on GBA (cough*GoldenSun*cough), but AW2 has some pretty decent graphics. The background of the main menu screen is littered with newspapers about war, which was a nice touch. During battle, all units are recognizable on the map, so you can tell what are yours and what are the enemies. When two units engage combat, the short battle (about 4 seconds) shows one unit shooting, blasting, or bombing the other, resulting in an explosion. All the COs are designed as uniquely as can be. Everything has a nice military feel to it.

Sound 7/10
All the sounds on a battlefield, tanks rolling, gunfire, the ''ffffffeeewwwww BOOM'' of a bomb being dropped, it's all good. Each CO has his or her own theme song, suited to match the person. The only problem is, the music and constant gunfire can get annoying. But hey, that's what a volume knob is for.

Gameplay 10/10
Without a doubt, the finest you can get on GBA. I can't explain everything here, but don't worry, the first few levels are designed to help you learn how to play the game. I'll start with COs. Different COs have different strengths and weaknesses, like a larger firing range or is quick at capturing cities. One CO can see further in fog than others, which gives her an advantage.
All the different terrain features are put to work here. You have mountains, rivers, ocean, and forests. Man-made features include missile silos, long pipes, cannons, as well as cities (here's a tip: captures as many cities as you can). There is so much to talk about here, so I will let you see for yourself.

Final Score: 9/10
Why am I giving it a 9 instead of a 10, you ask? Maybe graphics and sound brought down the score. Maybe the game is just too similar to the original (normally I don't have a problem with that). Maybe I liked the original better? Nah. For whatever reason, I'm giving the game a 9. Still, this game is one of the best for GBA. Buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/03, Updated 07/02/03