January 18, 2005 - Game publisher Atlus is usually known for releasing niche Japanese titles in the US for the handheld, localizing these game designs into much more English-friendly products. The company has published games such as Super Dodge Ball, River City Ransom EX and DemiKids, and even brought forth a surprisingly decent rendition of Double Dragon to the handheld platform. Super Army Wars looks to buck the company's trend; this time, the company's gone to the other side of the planet for its next GBA game, scooping up a French-developed GBA title for release next month.

Originally called Glory Days when GBA development team Neko Entertainment began shopping the game around for release, this pure action-based air combat game owes a lot of its design to titles of classic's past: after playing the near final build of Super Army Wars, it's clear that the designers were inspired by the classic Broderbund Wings of Fury, released half-heartedly on the Game Boy Color more than a decade ago, as well as the not-as-familiar Armor Alley, which, in turn, was based on an old Apple game called Rescue Raiders. If you're going to "borrow", might as well lift ideas from great game ideas. And Rescue Raiders and Wings of Fury are two favorites from the days of the Apple II.

Super Army Wars isn't based on any specific war, more generalizing air combat situations in a non-descript timeframe. At the start, it's up to you to combat a chopper and are put to the task of mowing down advancing troops in order to get your own army through enemy lines. By capturing bunkers, you'll upgrade your bank account which will be turned into additional vehicles and troops to march through the land. The second mission, the Wings of Fury inspiration, is airplane-based where you'll need to spray some fire or lay some bombs down on the enemy below, all the while taking out any aircraft ready for a mid-flight fight. Refueling the craft requires a skillful landing on the carrier safely out of harm's reach, and as long as you can land safely you'll stay alive...of course, you can always sacrifice a few plans to take out a bunch of enemies with a very cool-but-deadly belly slide across terra firma.

Atlus is targetting Super Army Wars as a "budget" Game Boy Advance game -- at 20 bucks, you'll get an extensive, 16-mission adventure with a password save function. Watch for the game's release this February, but while you wait, hit the media links for some cool game footage and screenshots.

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