History VideoGame / NintendoWars

* ''Famicom Wars'' (1988; [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem Famicom]])
* '' Super Famicom Wars'' (1998; [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]])

* ''Game Boy Wars'' (1990; UsefulNotes/GameBoy)

* ''Advance Wars'' (2001; UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance)

* ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike''[[note]]''Famicom Wars DS'' in Japanese[[/note]] (2005; UsefulNotes/NintendoDS)
* ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin''[[note]]''Advance Wars: Dark Conflict'' in European languages, and ''Famicom Wars: Lost Light'' in Japanese[[/note]] (2008; Nintendo DS) [[superscript:Club Nintendo UsefulNotes/DSiWare exclusive in Japan]]
* ''Advance Wars 1+2: [[VideoGameRemake Re-Boot Camp]]'' (2023; UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch)[[note]]Developed by [=WayForward=] Technologies[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/BattalionWars''[[note]]''Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars'' in Japanese[[/note]] (2005; UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube)[[note]]Developed by Kuju Entertainment[[/note]]
* ''Battalion Wars II'' (aka ''[[OfficiallyShortenedTitle BWii]]'')[[note]]''Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars VS'' in Japanese[[/note]] (2008; UsefulNotes/{{Wii}})[[note]]Developed by Kuju Entertainment[[/note]]

The ''Advance Wars'' games for, obviously, the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, were the first games to be released internationally, as well as the firsts of their kind to have fully fleshed-out lore. It and the two after it make up a trilogy involving the Black Hole army. Oddly enough, the first ''Advance Wars'' was for a couple of years ''not'' released in Japan, only showing up in a compilation pack with its sequel. The ''Advance Wars'' name has stuck internationally even as the series moved to the DS, while Japan reverted to the name ''Famicom Wars'' for the DS and Wii installments. The ''Advance Wars'' series expanded upon the [=CO=] system from ''Super Famicom Wars'', giving each [=CO=] their own ability which they can summon during the brink of a battle in order to change the odds in their favor.

The ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'' games (which have their own page) are for the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] and Wii and are RealTimeStrategy games with a view and style more reminiscent of a ThirdPersonShooter than an overhead game like ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''. They form their own separate continuity and story. In addition to commanding your forces in real time, all gameplay is from the point of view of a single unit that the player can switch between at any time, while at the same time actively controlling the viewpoint unit itself.

After a fourteen year hiatus, ''Advance Wars 1+2 Re-Boot Camp'', a VideoGameRemake of the first two ''Advance Wars'' games, was announced for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch at E3 2021. It was initially slated for release in December 2021, [[ScheduleSlip delayed]] to April 2022 to allow for the game to be polished, and then further delayed to April 2023 owing to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars The Console Wars.]]

* BattleAgainstTheSunset: In the Nintendo Switch version of ''Advance Wars'', the mission "Rivals!" has Andy and Drake's armies battle each other with a sunset hue on the map.

* ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike''[[labelnote:*]]''Famicom Wars DS'' in Japanese[[/labelnote]] (2005; UsefulNotes/NintendoDS)
* ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin''[[labelnote:*]]''Advance Wars: Dark Conflict'' in European languages, and ''Famicom Wars: Lost Light'' in Japanese[[/labelnote]] (2008; Nintendo DS) [[superscript:Club Nintendo UsefulNotes/DSiWare exclusive in Japan]]

* ''VideoGame/BattalionWars''[[labelnote:*]]''Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars'' in Japanese[[/labelnote]] (2005; UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube)[[note]]Developed by Kuju Entertainment[[/note]]
* ''Battalion Wars II'' (aka ''[[OfficiallyShortenedTitle BWii]]'')[[labelnote:*]]''Totsugeki!! Famicom Wars VS'' in Japanese[[/labelnote]] (2008; UsefulNotes/{{Wii}})[[note]]Developed by Kuju Entertainment[[/note]]

* AndThisIsFor: in the ending of the first ''Battalion Wars'', [[spoiler:Nova punches Ubel for Tundra, then throws a [=KOing=] punch for his father]].

** The Battlestation's method of attacking the destruction objective in the last mission of ''Battalion Wars 2'' basically looks nothing like a human player's approach.

** [[MightyGlacier Battlestations and Strato Destroyers]] in ''Battalion Wars''. Both soak up punishment about as well as a fortress would, and can destroy anything short of another Battlestation or Strato Destroyer in seconds. The problem is that both are slower than anything else in their respective field, and both are not very maneuverable. In the BS's case, it's also extremely vulnerable to an air attack. It's easier to take out enemy BS's with air units while handling everything else with tanks, and Fighters are normally all you'd ever need short of more precise air-to-ground attacks.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Sami, Grit, Eagle, and Sonja]] in ''Dual Strike'', [[spoiler:Will/Ed]] in ''Days of Ruin'', [[spoiler:Pierce]] in ''Battalion Wars 2''.
* BloodKnight: General Herman and Tsar Gorgi in ''Battalion Wars''.

** Bonus Mission 3 in the first ''Battalion Wars.''

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: There's a case that ''helps'' the player in Beachhead in ''Battalion Wars 1''; the CPU-controlled Artillery can snipe off the infantry climbing up the hilly terrain that makes seeing them difficult, from inside the fort on top of the hills. However, in ''Battalion Wars 2'', while there is another case that involves a playable unit in the last mission, it does ''not'' help the player whatsoever: [[spoiler:the Battlestation attacks the guns that fire the weak green lasers coming from the Mining Spider before attacking the blasted digging machine itself, but you don't get to aim at these guns whatsoever]]. This makes no sense because [[spoiler:the Fighters you get are harder, albeit generally more rewarding, to control than the no-brainer Battlestation]], but at least [[spoiler:the Heavy Tanks fire at the guns too if commanded to attack the Spider]].

** Played straight in ''Battalion Wars'' by the combat roll (essentially a third-person circle strafe).

** Ubel in ''Battalion Wars''.

* EscortMission: The ''Advance Wars'' series has some, and there's quite a few in ''Battalion Wars 2''.

* GoshDangItToHeck:
** Windsor's "Dash it all" in ''Battalion Wars 2''.
** Averted in ''Days of Ruin'', where characters are unafraid to say "hell" or "damn" to [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating ensure the game is E10+]].

** And ''Battalion Wars'' too, resulting in the hilarious impression that your character is some sort of [[NonEntityGeneral bodyjacking ghost]] whom the Western frontier have tricked into helping them and kept from leaving the battlefield using some kind of magical InvisibleWall.

* HeroUnit: CO usage in ''Days of Ruin'', as well as an interesting twist in the ''Battalion Wars'' games. In the former case, the CO you're controlling literally boards a friendly unit and provides its CO day-to-day benefits to a radius of units surrounding the CO Unit, building its CO Power meter as it ranks up.

* IAmLegion: [[spoiler:Countess Ingrid]] in ''Battalion Wars''.

** 100% Power in any ''Battalion Wars 2'' mission where the final objective is to capture a facility capable of making units respawn fast.

** Kaiser Vlad in both ''Battalion Wars'' games.

* ManInAKilt: In ''Battalion Wars 2'', the Anglo Empire veteran soldiers all wear kilts (and have fancy handlebar mustaches).

* NoCampaignForTheWicked: All games in the ''Advance Wars'' series, including ''Days of Ruin''. In the first ''Battalion Wars'', however, you could play as other countries including Xylvania and Iron Legion in certain bonus missions. There's also an entire campaign (albeit with 3 missions) in the sequel where you play as the Iron Legion.

* ObviouslyEvil: In ''Battalion Wars'', Xylvania and its predecessor, the Iron Legion. In ''Advance Wars'', Black Hole.

** Xylvania in ''Battalion Wars'' is revealed to be like this, due to Vlad's abuse of the environment for military resources. In fact, one of his primary reasons for expansion is to gain more resources.
*** Although, oddly enough, Old Xylvania looks just about the same in Battalion Wars 2, except that everything's on fire instead of poisonous and green.
*** Bizarrely, it looks like this 200 years before Vlad's stuff, and had steampunk orcs.
** Similarly, the [[MacGuffin Black Crystals]] and Black Obelisk in ''Dual Strike'' turn all of the land around them into desert. If this goes on too long, you get Wasteland. The water turns green (red on the map), the trees die, the ground is dry and hard, and all the bases look abandoned when we see them in battles. Yes, all this just because [[spoiler:some old guy wants to live forever.]]

** Also in Battalion Wars, although not all factions are trios. (Note that these also fall under TwoGuysAndAGirl.)
*** Western Frontier - General Herman (Superego), Colonel Austin (Ego?), Brigadier Betty (Id)
*** Tundran Territories - Major Nelly (Id), Tsar Gorgi [[spoiler:(until his death, at least)]] and Marshal Nova (Ego/Superego interchangeably)
*** Xylvania - Kaiser Vlad (Superego), Countess Ingrid (Id), [[FunetikAksent Kommander]] Ubel (Ego)

** Lampshaded in Battalion Wars, where Nova's promotion of Mjr. Nelly to [=CO=] is a Really Big Deal to the traditionalist Tundrans.

** Advance Wars pre-Days of Ruin had trappings of this as well, though not as strong as in Battalion Wars. Orange Star is America, although they suffer the least from this, since they were the sole protagonist country of the first game. Blue Moon is Russia and Canada, while Yellow Comet is Japan. Oddly enough, Green Earth is an amalgam of all of WWII Europe, despite that including opposing forces in real life. Since Green Earth turn out to be good guys, the only influences from Nazi Germany come from military tactics; Eagle has a strong air force and a power that allows his units to take another turn to represent blitzkrieg.

** ''Every'' nation in ''Battalion Wars'' is this, with the Western Frontier as the US, the Tundran Territories as Soviet Russia, the Solar Empire as a combination of China and Japan, the Anglo Isles as Britain, and Xylvania as WWII-era Germany... but [[AC:[[InSpace kinda sorta vampires!]]]]

* ThoseWackyNazis: While not ''technically'' Nazis, the Xylvanian commanders from ''Battalion Wars'' cover most of the character types.
** And a few Black Hole [=COs=] at the very least ''dress'' in a manner clearly meant to suggest Nazis -- Flak (grunt soldier), Adder (officer), and Sturm (general) most obviously.

** From all the way back in Super Famicom Wars, the default Yellow Comet CO was a man in a snappy uniform with a toothbrush 'stache by the name of "Hetler".

** Technique scoring in the ''Advance Wars'' and ''Battalion Wars'' games (Days of Ruin attempts to be a shining example of this but ends up merely a revamped one)

* CloningBlues: Barely touched upon in the first 3 ''Advance Wars'' games, but a huge part of ''Days of Ruin''.
** To clarify, the main characters were all cloned by the enemy in the first 3 games to lead enemy troops, but the issues with that were never discussed (unless a very brief moment with ''Dual Strike''[='=]s [[spoiler:Andy clone]] is counted).

*** Also averted in ''Advance Wars Days of Ruin'' in most cases. Infantry cost 500 more while Mechs are cheaper by 500, Bike Infantry were introduced that cost the same as Mechs, and the leveling up system was introduced, where a unit "levels up" and becomes stronger when it destroys a unit (up to three levels). What really killed the strategy though was the change to how CO Meters charge; in prior games they charged by dealing damage and charged even more for taking damage, and so destroying the opponent's Infantry would just end up charging their CO Meter more than you charge your own. However in DOR, CO Meters now only charge from the damage you deal, and not just that, the rate it charges is now based on the amount of pure HP damage, rather than it being on monetary cost like before. As a result, if you give your opponent a bunch of cbeap units to easily kill like Infantry, they'll just end up maxing their CO meter out and getting a full CO Zone quickly, ensuring a fast demise for the Infantry spammer. The technique score for missions also factored in mass-production as well, penalizing those who would generally build more units to overwhelm their opponent as opposed to simply losing too many.

** If Admiral Greyfield/Sigismundo's unsettling behaviour (or the very title of the mission in the North American version) didn't clue you into the fact that he's a villain, there's also that a negative jingle plays when he builds a temporary port when he's nominally working alongside you in Mission 13: Greyfield Strikes/Rearguard Action.

** Alluded in ''Black Hole Rising'' and its reboot, where a higher ranking Black Hole CO will come and insinuate this fate for whoever is about to lose their factory and thus control of the country they were supposed to conquer. Sturm never says it but furiously muses to himself that his subordinates have all been failures and that after the final battle, he "will make... adjustments." [[spoiler: He never gets the chance.]]
** Greyfield/Sigismundo in ''Days of Ruin'' casually threatens his soldiers with execution for just about everything, including losing small battles. Villainous insanity aside, this is the first major clue that he's not the competent commander that he claims he is...

There are two wikis for the turn-based games, [[https://warswiki.org/wiki/Main_Page here for the franchise in general]] and [[https://advancewars.fandom.com/wiki/Advance_Wars_Wiki here for the Gameboy[=/=]DS games.]] [[TheWikiRule of course]]. ''Battalion Wars'' also has its own [[http://battalionwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battalion_Wars_Wiki wiki.]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: The fact that Sturm is noted to be an alien raises the question if the same can be applied to everyone associated with Black Hole. It doesn't help that the likes of Adder and the ''Dual Strike'' antagonists look very freaky to begin with, while the [=BH=] foot soldiers are FacelessGoons in astronaut-like suits in ''Black Hole Rising'' onwards (in ''Advance Wars'' they lack character portraits but their battle sprites are {{PaletteSwaps}} of Orange Star humans). It is worth noting that Flak, who is a straightfoward human (albeit a large one), was promoted from Black Hole grunt all the way up the chain of command, implying that at least some of Black Hole's forces are normal humans.

* CharacterSelectForcing: In the first GBA game, if the player selects Sami or Max and loses on the first battle against Drake, Nell will outright tell the player: "How about using Andy next time?" This makes sense since Drake's power damages units and Andy's power repairs them, but a BonusBoss can only be unlocked if the player uses only Sami for the next few missions.

** The standard five are cities, which simply provide income on each turn, bases, which allow you to deploy ground based units, airports, which allow you to deploy aircraft, harbours, which allow you to deploy naval units, and lastly, HQs, which are [[KeystoneArmy the keystone to a faction;]] having your HQ captured [[DecapitatedArmy will cause you to instantly lose]], while the opponent who captured it will instantly gain all your properties. All assets from the main series minus the missile silos repair/resupply units stationed on them, with respect to unit type (airports repair air and ground units, harbours repair naval and ground units, but cities/bases won't repair air or sea units).

* AmbiguouslyHuman: The fact that Sturm is noted to be an alien raises the question if the same can be applied to everyone associated with Black Hole. It doesn't help that the likes of Adder and the ''Dual Strike'' antagonists look very freaky to begin with, while the [=BH=] foot soldiers are FacelessGoons in astronaut-like suits. It is worth noting that Flak, who is a straightfoward human (albeit a large one), was promoted from Black Hole grunt all the way up the chain of command, implying that at least some of Black Hole's forces are normal humans.

** The mission "Enigma!" has you facing off against Sturm as Max. Because Max specializes in close range combat and Sturm's CO power has him dropping a meteor on a cluster of your units for maximum damage, Sturm's CO meter never builds up since it would be a little unfair to have him heavily damage Max's units every time when they're designed to be up close and likely be clustered together.

** A perhaps accidental one to the Bible: Rachel and Jake are the names of the first two [=COs=] you have access to in ''Dual Strike''.

** A possibly inadvertant one to the Doom Patrol: Dr. Caulder. It's hardly a common name...
** Another perhaps accidental one to the Bible: Rachel and Jake are the names of the first two [=COs=] you have access to in ''Dual Strike''.

* OffModel: In the first two ''Advance Wars'' games, the overworld sprites for the Lander are facing the wrong way, making them look more like tugboats.

** Played with in ''Days of Ruin''. The first time you meet Waylon, he's a {{Jerkass}} JiveTurkey in need of rescuing, and all his Fighter does is immediately end turn. In those few seconds, all you hear of his theme is a strange, discordant guitar riff that sounds fitting for a comedic relief character. It isn't until he reveals his true colors later on that the rest of his theme plays out as a much more sinister and memorable rock theme that still uses the earlier minor key riff. It can be a straight MusicalSpoiler if the player accidentally lets Tasha attack his Fighter and her air unit survives her turn, thus letting him open fire on her on his turn and revealing the boss music for a few seconds.

** ''Re-Boot Camp'' takes this to another level, as Nell gets increasingly annoyed and eventually just [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaves]] if you do it enough. Even ''more'' notably, once she peaces out, a generic Orange Star soldier takes her place for any dialogue she'd normally have (such as exiting a map without saving).

** ''Re-Boot Camp'' also changes the end mission screens to reflect the CO that finished the map (routed last enemy, captured HQ, or destroyed the mission objective) if there are multiple [=COs=], with each having a unique victory quote for each campaign mission. Not only do they include lines for the less commonly picked-characters for maps where you can select your allies, but they even accounted for Sami potentially finishing To The Rescue (unlikely but possible) and Sea of Hope (quite unlikely), and Kanbei finishing Drake's Dilemma (unlikely but possible). [[note]]They do however just have generic War Room and Versus victory quotes in this case[[/note]]. The only exception is Andy in T-Minus 15, since he has no foot soldiers and cannot capture the silo cities to win.

** Yellow Comet is unambiguously based on a LighterAndSofter version of Imperial Japan.

** The Black Hole CO is not the first character named [[VideoGame/Borderlands3 Flak]] voiced by [[Creator/ProZD SungWon Cho]].

** Played with in ''Days of Ruin''. The first time you meet Waylon, he's a {{Jerkass}} JiveTurkey in need of rescuing, and all his Fighter does is immediately end turn. In those few seconds, all you hear of his theme is a strange, discordant guitar riff that sounds fitting for a comedic relief character. It isn't until he reveals his true colors later on that the rest of his theme plays out as a much more sinister and memorable rock theme that still uses the earlier minor key riff. All while attempting to murder Brenner, his batallion, and countless others.