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THE DYNASTY WARRIORS SERIES - on PS2 and now on Xbox - has been hugely popular with gamers all around the world. A series that focuses on China's history and re-enacts the wars with you playing as one of the head officers, is now heading for the Game Boy Advance. The only problem with porting games from current gen systems to a portable 2D system is that developers have yet been able to reflect the fun or style of the original into the successor. So how does Dynasty Warriors Advance stand up?

Once you get through the obligatory developer and title screen, the first thing you may notice - and the one thing you will probably be running for if you're not a fan of manuals - is the tutorial option. This is where everything you can think of is discussed. Sadly it isn't one of those "this is how you do it, now have a go" kind of tutorials. It shows you some pictures and explains each move/item/movement phase. This is best left alone, as it is all stuff you learn within your first few minutes into the game. Another strange, but by no means uselss, addition to the menu is an encyclopedia. This is where you can read about and view everything you have unlocked: officers, weapons, items and even body counts for the levels you have played.

The game is split into three different game modes. The first of the three is where you will spend most of your time and is labelled Musou Mode. You choose which side of China you will be fighting for - Wu, Shu or Wei - and are then introduced to three officers. Each officer has his own skills and weaknesses and even differs when it comes to which skill will be upgraded in which order.

Upon selection of one of these officers you are slung into battle. Each opposing side has a different story and there are a total of 180 levels to battle your way through. Once the story begins we suggest taking very careful note of who's whom, as you will find it all too easy to forget who is on your side, which character you are and whom you are supposed to be trying to take down. Once you have yourself accustomed to this - a big hint is in the colours they wear - then it's all a matter of defeating whomever you need to defeat to make it through to the end. Levels are made up of two phases: a movement and a battle phase. The movement phase takes place in a zoomed-out view of the landscape and is turn-based.

Places you can move to are noted with either a blue or red dot, if you move to a red dot - unchartered territory - you may only move the once before ending your turn; if you are backtracking through the blue dots then you may move two squares. So you might have to strategise where you are heading so you can make the trip back to a struggling team-mate much quicker. Upon ending the turn your allies move, and then the enemies. If two opposing characters meet on the same dot then battle ensues. If you happen to be one of those two characters then you are introduced to the stats of the group you have come across and then brought right into the battle phase of the game.

This is where most of the fun happens. The graphics come across as the Chinese war equivalent of Cannon Fodder, which is not a bad thing by any standards. No more turn based, it is now you against up to 40 odd fighters. Thankfully they only enter the screen five at a time and vary between spearmen, swordsmen and bowmen. Ocassionally you will stumble onto an opposing teams officers who won't show mercy if you haven't figured out some of the mroe important combos in the game. Fighting is as simple as you can get, but it's the simplicity that makes the battles so endearing. You never find yourself struggling over the controls, and there is nothing more satisfying than unleashing a continuous assault combo and following it up with a Musou attack to find you have taken out three bowmen and a swordsman, and have the enemy officer on his last legs.

At certain times throughout the game you are shown small cut scenes that help motivate you into carrying on with the mission. You might come head to head with the leaders right hand man, beat him to near death, and then sit and watch as it ends in a very anime style final slice. Although you may come away from the battle as the victor, there are three ways to win a battle. There is a timer in the top right hand of the screen which counts down in silver. Finishing the battle before this time runs out sees you with a 'triumph' win. Not only do you find yourself earning an extra move in the movement phase but you also get a little top up on health. After the countdown finishes it changes to a red countdown. Finishing the battle before this timer ends sees you earn a 'victory' win. There's no bonus health here but you do get an extra move. Any win after that is considered a 'close call' - no bonus for you.

Free Mode is the next game mode. This is simply where you get to replay any level with any officer you have unlocked. Satisfying certain conditions in Musou Mode allows certain scenarios and officers to become available. The final mode is Challenge Mode: set new records in either the Endurance, Time Attack, or Battle Luck challenges. Endurance is exactly that: see how many enemies you can take down before they do unto you. Time Attack sees you up against 100 enemies and it is up to you to keep besting everyone's times. Lastly is Battle Luck; there's a certain amount of stages to pass through and once all enemies in each stage have been taken down, two boxes appear. One allows you to progress to the next stage, the other means you have to try again. All three modes can be very entertaining and, if you know someone who also has this game, it can get very competitive.

The other strategy in this game that you need to deal with is the semi-RPG sections. After certain situations are met you will find your character levelling up, allowing him to wield weapons you have found scattered around the landscape, some of which are charged with different elements, allowing them to burn, electrocute or poison enemy squadrons.

As you fight you will find the Ability gauge in the bottom right corner slowly filling up. As it hits its peak it will highlight one of the small images located around it. Check the manual to see which is which, or keep an eye open when selecting your officer, as each of these relates to a special power upgrade. Every time the gauge fills, the highlighted icon will rotate around to the next; once it gets to the one you want to upgrade simply hit the R button. Each can be upgraded twice and each affects a different attribute. It is almost guaranteed that, because of simplicity of battle, near the end of your first time through the game you will find yourself with all of these already upgraded.

Graphically, Dynasty Warriors Advance does nothing more than what it needs to do. The Musou attacks are brought into the 2D world without losing the impact they delivered in the 3D counterparts, and the officers are all visibly different, from weapons they wield to the way they attack their enemies.

Like most games, though, Dynasty Warriors does have its graphical highs and lows: battling in a burning village versus a windblown sandy area. One looks amazing whilst the other makes you wonder what's wrong with your screen. It's also nice to see Koei add a couple of voice clips into the game. This is nothing major but definately a surprise you don't expect.

Dynasty Warriors Advance should be on every older gamer's to-buy list, simply for the retro feel of the battling.

Our only major gripe is that there is no multiplayer option. It would've been great to be able to fight side by side or even against a friend's opposing army, but when that's the only downside, and there is already a lot of replayability, then it just doesn't seem so important.