One of the coolest things about games that take place on different time periods is the fact that you can learn from many diverse cultures without having to spend a lot of money on plane tickets. The Dynasty Warriors franchise is a vessel that takes you on a trip to ancient China, only so on the PlaySation 2 console. With the portable version, we visit the Three Kingdoms period where we'll learn about many famous warriors who fought to have total control of the country. The problem with this trip, however, is that it is so long and tedious that it is not enjoyable at all.

Facts and Features:

The long-running Dynasty Warriors series makes its debut on the Game Boy Advance.

Players choose from 13 characters from Chinese history, and then develop their skills and outfit them with hundreds of different weapons as they battle and brawl their way through 180 challenging battle maps.

Players build up their strength to unleash an awesome Musou attack and lead their kingdom to victory.


When the Han dynasty ended, three kingdoms rose from the ashes: Shu, Wei, and Wu. You have to be in command of one of thirteen famous warriors to battle against enemy troops, and in the process you'll claim all the victories you need to gain control of the big Chinese empire.

That is the premise of Dynasty Warriors Advance, where not long after you start the game, you will find yourself in a strategy map full of forts, characters, and shops. First, you must set up your characters and prepare them for the attack; you are the blue team and the enemy is red. The game mixes strategy with action, but not in the same way found in the excellent Fire Emblem games where you pick an attack, wait for fighting animations, and continue planning your strategy in the battlefield. Here, the action portion of the game is really "action packed", meaning that as soon as you enter a battle, you will directly control a character -- running, attacking, and performing combos with the A and B buttons, all in real time. Of course, if you are a fan of the console versions, you'll know that this is exactly how the game is played, kind of...

You see, the magic of the console versions lies in the high number of enemies that appear on-screen at once. With Dynasty Warriors Advance, you still fight hundreds of enemies, but only half-a-dozen characters are allowed to appear on the screen at the same time. What does this mean? Basically, it means you can expect long, agonizing battles that aren’t even enjoyable when all is said and done.

The game is also 2D, which – even though expected – doesn’t really work well with the franchise’s traditional structure. And before you argue that I'm being unfair because 2D is the best that GBA can handle, you should take a look at games like Advance Wars and Fire Emblem -- excellent strategy games that couldn't be done better in 3D. Dynasty Warriors Advance has a top-down view, which in a sense is a disadvantage because you don't have the same sense of scale that the console versions are known for. The game is also lacking many of the small details that good 2D strategy games have. The environments are very repetitive, so don't be surprised if you're playing a new mission and you start to wonder if you've already been there before. The art is also insipid, with big headed characters and horrible backgrounds. Oh, and the presentation complains don't stop there. The audio portions of the game are also monotonous, simple, and uninspiring. Very poor indeed.

The gameplay is also affected by the "shrinking" of the game. Like I said, the number of different enemies is nowhere as high as the console versions, and if you are a Dynasty Warriors fan, you'll definitely notice the lack of variety in the enemy department. The AI is - ironically - not so intelligent. Beating the enemies is easy as pie, mostly because they hardly even block your attacks, their attacks aren’t that strong, and when they are it is probably because you are fighting the most "difficult" enemies; you know, the allegedly "more powerful and therefore have a greater damage rate” enemies. There are a lot of weapons though, so you won't complain about a lack of variety there.

Closing Comments:
Gamers be warned: this is a very, very long game. Don't get me wrong, I love extensive games, but this is one of the few exceptions where I would have preferred a short campaign, as opposed to a 20+ hour experience. Its three scenarios (each featuring a different story), the free mode, and the challenge mode are all part of the long and tedious package that Dynasty Warriors Advance offers.

If you are expecting a somewhat profound combat experience in Dynasty Warriors Advance like the one in the console versions, you probably have the wrong idea about this portable version; Dynasty Warriors Advance is anything but a deep game. What this is, however, is a button masher, and if you are into punishing your thumb until it hurts, then you will probably have a decent trip on the Dynasty Warriors universe.

-- Miguel Yanez