Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising

Advance Wars 2 is a sequel to Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance.

Advance Wars 2 boasts new Commanding Officers (COs) that were not in the first Advance Wars including Hachi, Colin, Jess, Sensei, Flak, Adder, Lash, and Hawke. Each CO now has an added "Super Power" in addition to the normal CO Power. Also, during campaign mode, the player can use Orange Star, Yellow Comet, Green Earth, and Blue Moon forces instead of just the Orange Star forces.

There are new terrain types such as missile silos, laser cannons and pipelines. This new terrain has significantly altered the game play into a more dynamic style compared the game's prequel. There is a new unit, the Neotank, which costs 22,000 G and is stronger than a Md.Tank. The game has many extra features such has a sound-room and a picture gallery, which can be unlocked as you proceed through the game. This sequel has undergone significant graphical changes although the overall appearance is the same.

Old Commanding Officers

Information on how the CO's changed from AW1:

Andy (Orange Star)

Andy hasn't changed from the last game. However, as everyone else, he got a Super CO Power (SCOP), Hyper Upgrade which heals all of his units 5 HP, increases firepower and increases movement by one space.

Max (Orange Star)

Max got worse in AW2. His units are now only 120% of his normal strengh, instead of 150%. His CO Power is the same. His SCOP, Max Blast, increases firepower more than his COP and movement by 2 spaces instead of one.

Sami (Orange Star)

Sami hasn't changed from AW1. Her SCOP, Victory March, increases all foot soliders' movement by 2 spaces and lets them capture everything in one turn regardless of HP.

Nell (Orange Star)

Same as in AW1. Her SCOP, Lady Luck, increases luck to a ridiculous level (Example: killing a 10 HP Neotank with an Infantry).

Olaf (Blue Moon)

No changes. His SCOP, Winter Fury, damages every enemy unit by 2 HP and lets it snow.

Grit (Blue Moon)

In addition to their +1-range, his indirects now also have a 20% damage boost. His COP got his SCOP. His new COP is a weaker version of his older COP/now SCOP.

Eagle (Green Earth)

His old COP is now his SCOP and strenghens Air-Units instead of weakening them. His new COP just strenghens Air-Units. No change in units.

Drake (Green Earth)

No changes in units. COP now cuts enemy fuel in half too. SCOP, Typhoon, hurts all enemy units by 2 HP and also cuts fuel in half.

Kanbei (Yellow Comet)

Slight boost in day-to-day stats. Besides the now inherent defense boost in COPs, COP now only gives a boost in attack power. SCOP, Samurai Spirit, gives every unit the same attack boost as the COP and a major defense boost, and multiplies counterattack-damage by 1,5.

Sonja (Yellow Comet)

Counterattacks are now slightly stronger. COP is the same. SCOP is the same as COP, but makes counter-attacks special. If an enemy unit attacks Sonja's unit during the SCOP-turn, Sonja fires first, although the animation sais otherwise.

Sturm (Black Hole)

All his units now have a 20% attack and defense boost. He has no COP. His SCOP is a stronger version of his old COP, which damages every hit unit for 8 HP. He's also unchanged in VS Mode and useable in War Room.

New Commanding Officers

Information on the COs new to AW2:

Hachi (Orange Star)

Hachi has the ability to deploy units at only 90% of the default cost with no attack or defense penalty. His CO Power, Barter, reduces this percentage to 50% and also increases his units' defense by 10%. His Super Power, Merchant Union, includes everything Barter does, as well as the ability to deploy ground units from any allied cities. Hachi was once Orange Star's chief CO before he retired. He is considered one of the best COs in the game. As he is so strong, you have to clear the "Hard Campaign" to get him, which is not an easy task.

Colin (Blue Moon)

Colin is able to deploy units for only 80% of their normal price, however his units' attack power is decreased by 10%. Colin's CO Power, Gold Rush, multiplies his current funds by 1.5 and his unit's defense increases by 10%. His Super Power, Power of Money, gives Colin a power boost proportional to his current funds. For each 300G he has, there is a 1% attack boost (so, the attack power of his units is doubled when he has 30,000G). Note that the money is NOT used up when this is used and all units get a +10% defense boost.

Jess (Green Earth)

Jess' vehicular units have a 10% increase in attack power, but all other units are weakened by 10%. Her CO Power, Turbo Charge, gives her vehicular units +1 to their movement ranges, and a 20% increase in attack power. All units receive a 10% increase in defense. Also with this Power, fuel and ammo is completely restored to all of Jess' units. Her Super Power, Overdrive, gives her vehicular units +2 to their movement ranges, and a 40% increase in attack power as well as all her units receiving a 10% increase in defense. All of Jess' units' fuel and ammo is replenished.

Sensei (Yellow Comet)

Sensei gets a 40% power boost for infantry units and battle copters get a 50% power boost. Transport units get +1 movement range. All vehicular units and naval units' attack power is decreased by 10%. Sensei's CO Power, Copter Command, gives his B-Copters an extra attack increase of +25% and all of his units receive a +10% increase in defense. In addition, 9 HP Infantry units spawn on all of Sensei's empty cities; they can be moved that turn. His Super Power, Airborne Assault, is the same as Copter Command except that instead of infantry units appearing, mechanized infantry units appear on all of his empty cities. Sensei used to be a legendary CO when he was young. However, after his retirement, he lost some of that skill and is better known as a good mentor for the other Yellow Comet COs.

Flak (Black Hole)

Flak generally has berserk tendencies; his units sometimes receive extra attack power or lose attack power. The latter occurs more frequently. Flak's CO Power, Brute Force, increases the attack power of all of his units but also increases the chance that their attack power will drop dramatically. It also increases units' defense by 10%. His Super Power, Barbaric Blow, increases the attack power and chance of lowered power even higher that Brute Force does. As with Brute Force, his unit's defense is increased by 10%. When using his powers, Flak tends to attack anything with anything, hoping for "good luck". For example, one of his infantry can completely wipe out a full health neotank. On the other hand, one of Flak's neotanks or rockets can simply do 1 damage to an APC. This applies to Nell as well. Players can take advantage of this. Flak has a reputation for being thick-headed and this has led to the view that he is the least important of the Black Hole COs. He is widely considered the weakest CO in the game. However, his luck is capable of being more effective than Nell's at times.

Lash (Black Hole)

Lash gets an attack and defense bonus for her units depending on the defense rating of the terrain that unit is on. For every 1 defense rating star of that terrain, Lash receives a 10% bonus to attack and defense. Her CO Power, Terrain Tactics, drops her units' movement costs to 1 over any terrain if it is clear or raining, but if it is snowing, this has no effect. Regardless of weather, all of her units get +10% defense. Her Super Power, Prime Tactics, double the bonuses Lash receives from each terrain, increases defense of all units by 10% and drops movement cost over all terrains to 1 for Lash's units (except in snow). Lash is often compared to Sonja; they are both masters of strategy, although in contrast Lash has a childish, immature nature.

Adder (Black Hole)

Adder's lack of any strengths or weaknesses is balanced by his low number of stars. However, each time he uses his powers, his star count increases. His CO Power, Side Slip, adds +1 to each unit's movement range and +10 to their defense. His Super Power, Sidewinder (Snakebite in the PAL version of the game) adds +2 to each unit's movement range and +10 to their defense. Adder is a dark-looking character with narcissistic tendencies and superior in rank to Lash and Flak. He is often humorously compared to Michael Jackson by many Advance Wars 2 players, for his strange behaviour and pale face, although he bears more similarities to Marilyn Manson for his Gothic appearance.

Hawke (Black Hole)

Hawke has a natural 10% increase in all of his units' firepower. However his star-gauge is exceptional high with 5 normal stars and 4 big ones. It also builds a bit slower. His CO Power, Black Wave, causes all enemy units to lose 1HP and adds 1HP onto all of his own units. His Super Power, Black Storm, causes all enemy units to lose 2 HP adds 2HP onto all of his own units. In both his CO Power and Super Power, all his units receive a 10% defense increase. Hawke is Sturm's number one man, and he supervises the other Black Hole COs. The other COs regard him highly and follow his orders.

See also

• Advance Wars
• Intelligent Systems

External links

• Official Website
• Intelligent Systems The official website for Intelligent Systems.
• Advance Wars Bunker The largest Advance Wars community on the web, also with one of the largest fan-made map databases.
• Advance Wars Net The first Advance Wars site on the web, with a debut in the fall of 2001. It is one of the highest ranked Advance Wars websites, and home to Design Maps, the largest database of fan-made maps online, which also includes a system for voting and commenting.
• Advance Wars Custom CO and Debate Board A board dedicated for fan made CO creation and debating about the game.
• AW Revivial Illustrated (with pictures) step-by-step walkthrough for Campaign and War Room of AW1 and AW2.
• Advance Wars By Web A web based form of advanced wars. Players can play each other online.
• GameTab reviews