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I am amazed by how much work was put into this. Everything is translated, it almost feels like a localization by Nintendo, and is just good. If you want to play the old Famicom/Gameboy Wars games, and want to play the SFC version, this is your best bet.

If you've ever wondered where Advance Wars and its sequels came from, seemingly out of nowhere, you've got your answer right here! This second entry in the "Wars" franchise was only available in Japan, and downloaded over-the-air to a special cartridge that you linked to your TV signal, the BS Satellaview.

The gameplay should be instantly familiar to anyone who's played the GBA and DS entries in the series - 2 to 4 players take turns building, and giving orders to, their units, seeking to either completely decimate opposing armies, or capture their HQ to force an immediate surrender. It's sort of like an addictive blend of rock-paper-scissors meets military strategy game...good for young-un's in training and grown-up armchair generals alike.

Each unit has a special purpose that lends itself to a particular set of conditions, like using the Artillery unit to rain down explosions on the unfortunate Light Tank sitting on the other side of a mountain-range, or using an APC to protect and carry either an Infantry or Mechanized Infantry unit over greater distances; good for making early-game land-grabs!

While you may think that you actually need two controllers to play local multiplayer, you can actually assign multiple players to the same controller and pass it around, so you can have a 4-man free-for-all, 2v2 cooperative slugfests, or test an expert player's mettle in a 3v1 bout...or set all players to use the Computer player and watch the fireworks!

When you go to choose a C.O. during a match setup, you may want to check their Level, because some higher-tier characters have special buffs, like increased aggression, additional resources, or combat veterancy. Thankfully, you can consult the in-game manual if you ever get stumped on how the game mechanics work, so don't worry too much about your choices; if the CPU wins a match, and claims a territory as a result, you can always come back later and settle the matter on your own terms.

As for the English translation itself, it feels spot-on and flows naturally with the original Japanese script, whatever it might have been. I'd bet that Nintendo could've made Wars a bit more of a household name over here in the States, had it 1) not been overshadowed by the N64 and 2) released it on a proper "offline" cartridge. This translation is the next best thing, and for that, I salute everyone who has worked day and night to resurrect this lost gem of the Super Famicom library!

I love playing Advance Wars and when discovering Super Famicom Wars, I played it non stop. But I feel really nervous when fighting CPUS since I don't know Japanese, I really can't tell what the info is telling me and the options to add levels into it. So I search for an English translation, sadly, there was none until December 24, 2017. I have went to this website just to find this translation of a game I wanted for 3 years. This is a real Christmas gift, thank you.