I played a really fun mission in Advanced Wars Days of Ruin... it was small... simple... but really hit home how fun this game is and how easy it is to have something you can just pick up and play.

The beach assault (called Coastal Assault I believe) was a simple mission where you get an array of units and you have to assault this beach. The first time I played the mission I failed because I was too hasty... I moved before I thought... and therefore entered a stalemate.

The second time I realized that I needed to adhere to the traditions of military combat... take out the air defenses with long range naval attacks... send in the bombers to soften the beachhead... then assault with heavy weapons to clean everyone out... bring in the infantry to mop up...

All weekend I kept my DS on hot-standby. If I found myself forced into watching a kids show or something, I would pop open the DS and bang out a few rounds in Advanced Wars... It has been awhile since I had a killer app for the DS, but Advanced Wars is that. Dual Strike got me to buy the platform and Days of Ruin re-energized me for it.