After 33 years, Advance Wars’ first appearance on Game Boy has finally been translated

One of the earliest entries in Nintendo’s beloved turn-based strategy series, Advance Wars, has finally gotten the English translation it’s deserved for 33 years.

Advance Wars actually predates the Game Boy Advance by several decades. It debuted as Famicom Wars on the Japanese equivalent to the NES back in 1988, spawning a series that would feature titles like Game Boy Wars and Super Famicom Wars on successive platforms. Nintendo never went back and translated the earlier entries, which means sporadic fan translations have been the only way to enjoy these games in English.

Now, the list of fan translations finally includes 1991’s Game Boy Wars, which gave the series the portable format it’s primarily known for today. The translation patch was posted over on Romhacking.net earlier today and you will, of course, need to provide your own game ROM in order to make use of that patch.

A word of warning, though: If you’re coming to Game Boy Wars hoping for the same charming characters and goofy commander rivalries that defined the series’ modern entries, you’re going to be disappointed. Early Wars games did not feature a campaign, and while bits of the cartoonish charm that would define the series are present here in Game Boy Wars, you are going to be playing a much more straight-laced tactics game.

For my money, fan translations are among the gaming community’s most noble endeavors, making games like the long-running Dragon Quest MMO, a lost entry in the beloved Yakuza series, and Japan’s most beloved cozy game available to a whole new audience of fans.

Ready to be reminded of the best Game Boy games of all time? 

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more