If you love strategy games but feel a little silly calling your Nintendog’s name out loud in public, then Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the perfect DS game for you. Advance Wars: Dual Strike is the third installment of the popular series that started for the Gameboy Advance in 2001. Whether you’re a fan of the series or just a fan of strategy games like I am, you will find this title a must have for your Nintendo DS.

Advance Wars is a tactical turn-based strategy game, similar to Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics. Instead of individual characters with various statistics and weapons, you are given units to command on a battlefield as Commanding Officer (CO). The entire game takes place on a planet called “War World” shortly after the ending in Advance Wars 2. The various villains you meet through the single player campaign work for the Black Hole army whose goals are shrouded in mystery as they wreak havoc and destruction in Omega Land.

The single player campaign starts off slowly to show newer players to the series standard function and tactics of various troops and units. This is done through story-driven missions to keep your interest in the game’s colorful (and sometimes annoying) cast of characters. Rachel, who is a young and ambitious CO following in her older sister’s footsteps, is the first character you meet. Jake is a young and energetic teenager whose clever and eclectic dialog made me want to stab him (in the face). I was able to tolerate it the first few times he said “Owned”, but after he added “weak sauce” to his witty speech I began to skip through the dialog entirely. The rest of the characters are colorful and sometimes a little over-the-top, but I soon learned that their personalities matched their special abilities.

Each CO has a strength and a weakness. One CO will boost his direct-fire units power, but as a result his indirect-fire units (ranged) will suffer in firepower. Finding the right combination of CO abilities becomes important in determining how easy or difficult a battle will be. Throughout the course of a battle a CO’s power meter will increase. A power meter is consisted of 6 stars. At 3 stars, a CO can use his/her first power, and at 6 stars a super power becomes available. In a tag battle when both CO’s have a full power meter, they can unleash a Dual Strike super power. If timed correctly, a Dual Strike can often end the battle.

New to the series is the ability to fight two battles at once. Normally, the top screen of the DS is used to display statistics and information while the action happens below. In a dual-screen battle, there will be combat happening on both fronts. By default a dual-screen battle will be controlled automatically by the computer, but if you like a challenge you can set the game to be controlled by you at all times. Usually the dual-screen battles are linked somehow. In some of the earlier missions a floating air base drops bombs from the top screen to the bottom screen. If you win the battle on the top, your troops will get a boost in power on the bottom screen battle.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike offers different player modes, aside from the single player campaign, such War Room, Versus mode, and Survival. As you play single player you earn credits that can be used to unlock new maps and COs. The WiFi features are extensive as well. You can play up to three other players via WiFi, or against a friend in a pass-and-play style using one DS.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike is a great portable game that every strategy game fan should own. The developer, Intelligent Systems, has done a spectacular job with this new title that will appease hardcore fans as well as newcomers to the series.

4.5 out 5 Stars