When the original Battalion Wars debuted on Nintendo GameCube in 2005, it stood out from the crowd. Featuring a carefully concocted blend of action and strategy, and a visual style that flew in the face of convention, the game was praised for possessing that most rare of qualities – originality.

Two years on, the team behind Battalion Wars are back with a follow-up that promises to once again tear up the rulebook on run-of-the-mill action games and bring Wii owners a scintillating strategy experience. We caught up with Kuju, the makers of Battalion Wars II (BWii) at their London studios to hear them explain why Wii is the perfect fit for a franchise that has taken pride in doing things differently right from the start.

The roots of the Battalion Wars series date back to the early days of Kuju, which was founded in 1998. Having worked hard to develop the concept for an action game with a strategic twist, the company was keen to find the natural home for a project oozing with creativity and originality. Among those working on the original GameCube title was Kuju’s Creative Director, Tanc Dyke-Wells who recalls the earliest stages involved in trying to bring the franchise to the right audience.

“Basically we had a concept for an original prototype, for which we built a demo, and the key idea was really to create an action game well fitted for a console audience, but an action game that offered you more power and a sense of command as well as some of the depth that you get in a real-time strategy game.

“We showed videos of the Battalion Wars prototype to a number of people, but with Nintendo there was just a really good fit. They were looking for titles which were original, and Battalion Wars is certainly something of a cross-genre hybrid game, and I think as an innovative company they really found that interesting.”

Before long, the kernel of an idea for a game that married frantic action and careful strategy evolved into the finished Battalion Wars for GameCube and invited players to unleash their military might across action-packed campaigns that called for them to use brains as well as brawn. And while the game brought to fruition much of what Kuju had envisioned, they were soon dreaming up ideas for a sequel.

Along with the rest of the Battalion Wars team, Kuju’s Lead Designer Andy Trowers was involved in planning the future of the series and identifying the key elements that would push the follow-up to a new level. As well as retaining the unique style and gameplay of the original, the desire to respond to feedback from fans was among the most important considerations for Kuju when planning BWii, says Andy.

“We spent a long time after the first Battalion Wars came out searching forums, reading reviews and getting a feel for what people wanted in the next game. The multiplayer was clearly something that everybody wanted to see and naval units was another thing that just kept recurring time and time again. We took these things on board, and they were actually ideas that already fitted in with what we wanted to do.

“Among the things that we really wanted to keep was the mix of action and tactics, as that was key to the franchise really. We also wanted to keep the fun aspect and didn’t want to go down that ‘serious war’ route. There are so many titles out there at the moment that are ultra-realistic shooters, and we wanted to take the game to a different place really and have a bit more fun with it. That’s something that was very important to us.”

For Tanc, BWii’s distinctive visual style summarises much of what the series is about and embodies a desire to put fun first.

“The kind of entertainment experience we wanted to create was something quite playful, with a certain light-heartedness. Something fun, primarily – not dingy or gritty or some kind of commentary on current affairs. It’s humorous and funny, as well as satisfying in terms of shooting and blowing stuff up!”

“We spent a lot of time on the control system because we wanted to get it right and make sure it was something that worked really well. We found that it (Wii) improved the experience immeasurably and made things a lot more accessible as people seemed to pick it up and get it straight away.”

The gist of how Wii has transformed Battalion Wars lies in the ease with which would-be generals can now direct proceedings on the battlefield. From prompting a soldier to dodge enemy fire with a quick tilt of the Nunchuk to pointing and pressing with the Wii Remote to issue instructions to your Battalion, it’s easy to see how the joy the developers felt at first trying out Wii has translated into the experience of playing the finished game.

Topped off with the addition of naval units, the inclusion of facilities that alter the face of battle and an online mode that will have you locked in worldwide warfare, BWii brings to fruition ideas that have been in development since the release of the first game; ideas that gained a new lease of life on Wii and once again ensured the name Battalion Wars remains synonymous with a daring approach to game design.