Advance Wars: Dual Strike - Reception

Reception

Advance Wars: Dual Strike was well-received, receiving an aggregate score of 90% and at both Game Rankings and Metacritic. 1UP.com commented that the game "is a much greater step forward in the series than its predecessor, Advance Wars: Black Hole Rising" and that the game was greatly enhanced by the addition of a second screen. While the game had drawbacks, including the dialogue, the lack of depth in the Combat mode, and the unbalanced COs, it was also cited as "the standard against which other strategy games, handheld or otherwise, should be judged."

IGN praised the game for being "a fantastic single player game...enhanced further with multiplayer focus for single and multiple cart users." Though IGN thought the game "doesn't offer anything entirely new or unique," the game contains "some of the most engrossing turn-based action on the Nintendo DS system."

In general, the game was generally found to be extremely similar to previous games, which had both drawbacks and benefits. GameSpot commented that the visuals were all felt "recycled" but the game had great depth and addictive regardless. Game Informer considered the game "the first must-have title for the system" while the innovations improved an already solid core gameplay. Similarly, EuroGamer commented that the game correctly ported the game to DS without losing the essence of the GBA game. The "variety and depth" did not cause a loss of the "unique and enjoyable" aspects of the game.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike was the 301st best-selling game of 2005 in Japan, selling around 35,000 copies in its first ten weeks.

The game was awarded the Editor's Choice Award by both IGN and GameSpot. GameSpy also awarded the game "Game of the Month" in August 2005. It also won Best Strategy Game for the DS and was a runner-up for the Best Strategy Game on any platform in 2005.