| Famicom Wars | |
|---|---|
 Cover art | |
| Developers | Nintendo R&D1 Intelligent Systems[2] |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Directors | Satoru Okada Kenji Nishizawa |
| Producer | Gunpei Yokoi |
| Designers | Hiroji Kiyotake Hirofumi Matsuoka |
| Programmer | Toru Narihiro |
| Artist | Makoto Kano |
| Composers | Hirokazu Tanaka Kenji Yamamoto |
| Series | Wars |
| Platform | Family Computer |
| Release | |
| Genre | Turn-based tactics |
| Mode | Single-player |
Famicom Wars[a] is aturn-based strategyvideo game developed byNintendo andIntelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for theFamily Computer. It was released on August 12, 1988, in Japan.[1] It was later re-released onVirtual Console. It is the first game in theWars series.
Players take control of one of two warring nations, Red Star and Blue Moon, as they seek to establish turn-based dominance over each other. After selecting which stage to start the game and setting which, if either, player will be controlled by a person, the Red Star army is given the first turn. The objective in each stage is to either capture the enemy's headquarters or destroy all remaining enemy units in one turn. During each turn, the player is given a certain amount of funds which can be used to build units in factories, seaports, and airports under their command; additional funds are earned by conquering cities near their headquarters. Each unit has their own speciality and unique abilities, with ten land units (including two foot soldier units), four air units, and two sea units. Some units have heavier firepower than others, while others provide support to allies. Only foot soldier units are capable of conquering cities, which can then be used to repair or refuel damaged units. There are 15 maps available at the start of the game, with two secret ending maps dependent on which nation the player fights for when playing against the computer.
Development ofFamicom Wars began asIntelligent Systems changed its direction from creating hardware to developingsimulation games.[3]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Famitsu | 8/10, 9/10, 8/10, 8/10[1] |
| Famicom Hisshoubon [ja] | 4/5[4] |
On release,Famicom Tsūshin four reviewers all complimentedFamicom Wars. They all found it actively distinguishing itself from other simulation games which they described as dull or difficult to understand with information portrayed as numeric data. Two reviewers complimented the graphics and animation, with one saying the battle animations are realistic which will get the player more into the action.[1] The 1989 "All Soft Catalog" issue ofFamicom Tsūshin includedFamicom Wars in its list of thebest games of all time, giving it theBest Simulation and Best Commercialawards.[5]
The originalFamicom Wars was followed by a series of sequels which were released only in Japan as well, which includesGame Boy Wars in 1990 andSuper Famicom Wars in 1998, both which were developed byIntelligent Systems andNintendo, as opposed to a sub-series of sequels to the originalGame Boy Wars, which were developed and published byHudson Soft. The series eventually made its international debut withAdvance Wars, released for theGame Boy Advance in 2001. The maps from bothFamicom Wars andSuper Famicom Wars were later included inAdvance Wars and its sequels.[6]
A group of six soldiers from the game appears in the Wii gameCaptain Rainbow. The soldiers aspire to win the volleyball gold medal.[7]
| Super Famicom Wars | |
|---|---|
 Title screen | |
| Developer | Intelligent Systems |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Director | Toru Narihiro |
| Producer | Takehiro Izushi |
| Designer | Shouzou Kaga |
| Artist | Masahiro Higuchi |
| Composer | Kenichi Nishimaki |
| Series | Wars |
| Platform | Super Famicom |
| Release |
|
| Genre | Turn-based tactics |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Super Famicom Wars is an enhanced remake ofFamicom Wars developed byIntelligent Systems and released for theSuper Famicom on May 1, 1998, exclusively via theNintendo Power service in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the original Family Computer version.[8]
Improvements over the originalFamicom Wars include the inclusion of 8 new types of units in addition to the 16 original units, a faster decision-making process for the CPU, the introduction of Reconnaissance Mode (also known as "Fog of War" mode in later localizations, in which enemy units are invisible during the player's turn when they're not in proximity to the player's units) and the maximum amount of deployed units being increased from 48 to 60 units.[9] In addition to the original campaign between the Red Star and Blue Moon armies, there's a new campaign also consisting of 17 maps involving two new factions, Green Earth and Yellow Comet. In addition there is a 4-players mode consisting of 10 maps involving all four factions. This brings the total count of maps to 44. The player can also assign one of seven generals to each army, which mainly affects what kind of strategies the CPU will employ, although some of the generals do provide passive benefits even when assigned to a player-controlled faction.
The game was digitally released on Nintendo's JapaneseVirtual Console forWii,[10]Wii U,[11] and3DS platforms.[12]
An English-languagefan translation was released in 2018.[13][14]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Intelligent Systems | |
|---|---|
| Kuju Entertainment | |
| WayForward | |
