Pixel Commander offers more Advance Wars-like strategy on iOS and Android

• Pixel Commander brings Advance Wars-like strategy to mobile
• But unfortunately, there are more than a few hiccups that hold it back
• However, it only strengthens the great other releases available on mobile

The Advance Wars-like has become a genre in and of its own over the years. And who can blame people for wanting to emulate the classic strategy release? After all, it made wargaming accessible, fun and deep enough to satisfy both casuals and veterans alike. So newcomers emulating it abound, such as today's subject, Pixel Commander!

Now available on iOS and Android, on the surface, Pixel Commander offers a mixture of the high-level, stylised gameplay of Advance Wars and real-time strategy to go with it. You'll have a far larger theatre of war, with continents to cross and cities to take over as you duke it out, along with the expected pixel graphics.

But, unfortunately, Pixel Commander bears more than a few shortcuts that look a bit lacklustre, especially next releases such as Wargroove 2. Or if you really want to head outside of the genre, the newly released Crunchyroll Game Vault exclusive Metal Slug Tactics.

State (iO) of decay

Whether it's the fairly acceptable-looking if somewhat truncated pixel graphics or the word salad description on both Google Play and the iOS App Store (which name drops another release called State io repeatedly), it seems there's more than a touch of the gen AI about this.

Which is a shame, because as mentioned above, the Advance Wars-style genre of strategy is one that's a hit for a reason. It's simple but has plenty of space for depth. So it's a shame that Pixel Commander bears many hallmarks of something held back by cost-cutting.

But in any case, this is one drop in the ocean when it comes to an absolutely humungous genre on mobile. Want to put your budding Sun Tzu skills to the test? Check out our list of the best strategy games on Android for some of our top picks!