Nintendo initially planned to give the Game Boy Advance a large-scale release in mainland China through their subsidiary in the region, iQue. However, they ultimately pulled out following rampant piracy of the system's first few Chinese releases. Consequently, Chinese localizations of several other games were cancelled despite being mostly complete and sent to the Chinese government for review. On March 25, 2019, game preservationist collective Forest of Illusion would leak twelve of these Chinese-language builds online, covering the following games:

• Advance Wars
• DK: King of Swing
• Densetsu no Starfy
• Densetsu no Starfy 2
• Famicom Mini Collection
• Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
• Kuru Kuru Kururin
• Kururin Paradise
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit
• Polarium Advance
• Tomato Adventure

In the Japanese release, Nell wears a buttoned-up tank top and a short skirt. During localization for the international release, it was changed to a full shirt and a skirt that reaches the knees.

Olaf's hair and beard in the Japanese release were changed from white to brown, and the traditional 'Santa Claus' hat was replaced with one reminiscent of stereotypical Russian Officers.

Sonja's glasses were removed in the English version of the game - changing her look from a stereotypical book-smart Japanese schoolgirl to an image slightly more suited for an intelligence and recon officer. Her uniform was also changed from red to green.

Grit was changed from the Japanese to English release. His only uniform change was from a blue-trimmed cowboy hat to what appears to be a Russian-styled military cap.

Drake was changed in the English version from the Japanese version. He was changed from what looks like a traditional pirate to a more modern naval captain; sporting a captain's hat instead of a do-rag, as well as a proper naval uniform instead of a jacket.

Kanbei was changed from the Japanese to English release, and his change is probably the most striking - he was changed from what looks like a traditional Samurai to more of a World War 2 era Japanese general, losing the ponytail and samurai armor. The sword is kept, though.

The game has an odd glitch that allows the player to edit maps that they are currently playing in either the Campaign or War Room modes. This allows the player to simply make the enemy immediately surrender and win.