This article was originally published on Ferretbrain. I’ve backdated it to its original Ferretbrain publication date but it may have been edited and amended since its original appearance.
Wargames, from real-time squad-level strategy games to global-level turn-based civilisation-building affairs, aren’t a computer game format that’s much associated with handheld consoles. That appears to have changed, at least on the Nintendo DS – perhaps because it provides sufficient processing power to make reasonably complex games, or perhaps because of it’s incredibly easy and simple networking capabilities making multiplayer action possible to an extent undreamed of in the good old days of the Game Boy. I hear all kinds of good things about Advance Wars but, alas, I’m slightly too stingy to buy it new (at least at the current price).
That doesn’t stop me occasionally buying second-hand DS wargames. Sometimes I do this by accident; I was sure that Lostmagic and Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Remix were RPGs until I played them. This time, though, I’ve done it on purpose, to see if these two alternatives to Advance Wars can scratch my nation-wrecking itch.
Jumbled Thoughts of a Fake Geek Boy 