I won't post a selfie for now, afraid you'd see my hand that's got calluses from GBA 😂. I'm an old handheld console player; my GBA, PSP, and NDS are still tucked away in a drawer. I still remember playing 'Advance Wars' on the GBA back in the day, staring at the screen for ten minutes just to calculate one square of range; and the tank stages in 'Metal Slug' on the PSP, taking turns with my deskmate playing all afternoon. Now I occasionally revisit them with mobile emulators; my phone usually has PPSSPP, Drastic, and My Boy installed, for PSP, NDS, and GBA respectively. I've also tried RetroArch, which is convenient for integration but a bit tricky to set up. Every time I hear the startup sound, my youth comes back.
Recently, I've been lurking in the selfie and socializing section and saw someone talking about mobile games, so I want to recommend one too—'全民坦克联盟' (National Tank Alliance). At first, I was drawn in by names like T-34, Tiger, and Sherman; a World War II tank cluster battle just sounds exciting. After downloading, I followed the tutorial, and the controls aren't complicated: formation, upgrading, and advancing through maps. The tanks fire automatically, so I mainly manage positioning and skill use. The next day, I actually got a five-star orange tank, making map progression noticeably easier. That feeling of 'new vehicle in the garage' is a bit like back in the day getting a hidden unit in a simulator.
Compared to the original handheld tank game, it lacks the tense, turn-by-turn strategy of a war chess game and instead offers the thrill of real-time firepower and collection-based progression. The 200-plus tanks are not just for show; I've currently unlocked over thirty. The T-34 is highly mobile, making it satisfying to flank the rear; the Tiger tank can hold the front line, and paired with anti-tank guns at the back, the battles feel layered. There are bonuses like the lucky cat and daily card flips for diamonds. I usually save diamonds to draw tanks instead of spending them recklessly, so even free-to-play players can gradually assemble a team. This game is developed by Beijing Huaqing Feiyang, runs on Android 4.0, is free to download, and in-app purchases are optional.
There are drawbacks too, such as too much auto-battling, resources running low in the later stages, and you'll need to spend time if you want to climb the ranking. But as a casual pastime on mobile, it's quite enjoyable. If you also like tanks and don't want to repeatedly mess with saves in an emulator, you can give it a try. I haven't deleted the emulator from my phone, and I've kept this game too, which is like a double joy for old players 🚀.