10 Times Video Game Spiritual Successors Were Better Than Official Sequels

Even though Intelligent Systems' Wars franchise has been around since the 80s, 2001's Advance Wars helped the turn-based franchise find newfound popularity. The cartoony war-game was astoundingly addictive, spawning a slew of direct follow-ups. 

Though Advance Wars has plenty of copycats, none followed the blueprint better than 2019's Wargroove. As enjoyable as Advance Wars is, it takes a while to get the hang of, which is why each instalment starts with a lengthy tutorial. However, Chucklefish's pixel-art title's controls and mechanics are easy to pick up, allowing players to delve into it straightaway. It also allows players to create their own maps and link missions together.

While Wargroove was scratching that nostalgic itch, WayForward dropped a remake of the first two Advance Wars instalments in 2023. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp was a wonderful blast from the past that was worth a revisit for hardcore fans. But despite the graphic overhaul, it was diminished somewhat by dated mechanics, an unbalanced multiplayer, and lack of matchmaking.

Just to really put Advance Wars in its place, Wargroove 2 came out the same year, outshining the competition with ease. The sequel offered more content, better designed campaigns, a greater variety in missions, and a new rogue-like mode,