Advance Wars released in North America on September 10, 2001, to fairly high ratings. Nintendo Power even gave this release a perfect rating of 5 stars, saying that “Advance Wars treads on new ground, taking the strategy genre to a place where gamers of all tastes will be gung-ho for it". The only platform that this entry was released on was the Game Boy Advance (as the game’s title implies), though it is only one entry in the Wars series. It was developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo.

As previously mentioned, Advance Wars is but one entry in the Wars series. In fact, it is the 7th game in the series. Yet, it was the first to release outside of Japan, as Nintendo didn’t think that a strategy game would appeal to Western audiences. Advance Wars was rather popular with Nintendo’s US marketing team, and such is the reason for its release. In fact, the great success of Advance Wars is often credited for changing Nintendo’s views on Western audiences (as well as being credited by Kentaro Nishimura for the US release of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade). With this in mind (as well as nostalgia if one has played the game before), high expectations are set for this title.

The expectations are well met, I would say. To begin, the tutorial can be spoken of: it is concise, informative, and overall a wonderful tutorial. The tutorial begins when the title is first opened, and has quite a few different parts (all explaining a different mechanic, under the “field training” category). It begins by establishing a conflict between the player character’s faction (Orange Star) and the Blue Moon faction. This is good tutorial design, the narrative drives the character into small skirmishes in defense of their homeland, and in doing so establishes a reason for the game’s mechanics to be learned. You are learning them to protect your home nation from invaders. The invader in the tutorial missions in particular is Olaf (a commanding officer in Blue Moon), and the player is taught by Nell (a commanding officer in Orange Star). In terms of actual mechanical performance, the tutorial performs brilliantly as well. The tutorial teaches the player how mechanics function, how the environment affects their function, and then the player is given the opportunity to complete the mission in a very free-form way. You can ask Nell how to complete the mission or find your own method via the mechanics that are being introduced. The introduction of mechanics, then the opportunity to be handheld or use your understanding of the mechanics to forge your own method is a good way to teach someone strategy games in general, and it’s surprising that most games still haven’t adopted such a method. 

Once the tutorial is completed, the player can move onto other game modes: the traditional campaign, the challenging “War Room”, and the multiplayer vs mode (link mode for multiplayer with separate game boys). All of these game modes are good in their own way, and for the purposes of this article speaking about the campaign should be sufficient. The campaign contains over 30 missions. The campaign’s narrative begins where the tutorial’s narrative ends. Nell cannot leave the capital, and as such the player is taught thereon by Andy, a rookie Orange Star CO. The war between Blue Moon and Orange Star goes on, and of course it falls to the player to resolve it. More characters are met through the campaign, but the main focus is on the gameplay. In each level the player will start at a different location, with a different set of units, fighting a different set of enemy units. The player can use the environment (each tile has a different defense rating that affects the damage units receive) and units to fight the battle in any way they deem fit. After the player completes a mission, they will receive a rating based on their performance in 3 categories: Speed, power, and technique. Nothing is gained from higher ratings (save personal pride perhaps), but it is worth mentioning. The gameplay is easy to learn, but has a high skill ceiling to obtain the highest of ratings. It rewards careful forethought and planning, but punishes impulsive action. 

All in all, Advance Wars is a wonderful title with a lot of fun to be had. It is easy for newcomers to the genre, but with enough substance (and alternate game modes) to challenge even those who are experienced with strategy games. I would thoroughly recommend the title to anyone who thinks it sounds like a fun experience, as well as to those who aren’t quite sure (it’s a great entry point).

It’s a commonly known fact that a large variety of teenagers in this generation watch shows on Netflix. They watch all kinds of different TV shows and movies. However, TV shows tend to be more popular due to the fact that they last longer than movies, so you can see your favorite characters for hours upon hours. Another thing that teenagers love about Netflix is all of the different genres they provide for you to watch. 

These TV genres include: supernatural, comedy, crime, drama, and romance. Some of these TV shows have more than one type of genre. Supernatural shows are shows that contain some type of event or person that occurs unnaturally, or without the understanding of science to account for this event or person. Comedy shows are shows that contain lots of jokes and humor to make the audience laugh. Crime shows are shows that take you through a crime that has been committed along with officers of (typically) the law while they try to solve it. Drama shows are shows that revolve around exciting and emotional events or people. Lastly, romance shows are shows that display (usually over time) people falling in love. 

For example, the show The Vampire Diaries is a supernatural, romantic drama. Another show would be Riverdale. It’s also a romantic drama, with a little crime mixed in it. Grey’s Anatomy, a popular medical drama focusing on a single hospital, is also a romantic drama. The very popular Netflix original show You is also a romantic drama. Starting to see a pattern? Romantic dramas are very popular among teenagers.

Comedies are also quite popular among the younger generation. Everyone has heard of the show Friends, which circles around six friends in New York. Friends is a romance and a comedy show. How I met your Mother is also a romantic comedy, however, it focuses on a story of a man and his friends while he encounters countless relationships in order to find “the one”. Another wide-known comedy is the Office, set in a paper company, revolves around the employees of said company. 

Shows that involve some type of supernatural being or event I’d also a popular genre. Supernatural involves two brothers as they track down and get rid of supernatural beings. The show Lucifer, where Lucifer himself helps a detective solve crimes, it is a Supernatural-Crime romantic drama. American Horror Story, which has a different story line every season, is a supernatural drama. The Umbrella Academy is about a group of “siblings” who have supernatural abilities, it is a supernatural drama. 

Some teens also enjoy watching crime centered television shows. Criminal Minds is by far one of the most well-known crime shows. It takes the audience with a group of FBI profilers as they try to stop and capture serial killers. NCIS is a crime show that also takes the audience with them, however, this time instead of FBI profilers they are agents who solve crimes in the military, mostly the navy.