Military Madness on Cell phone, anyone play it?

[esteban]

I love this version. THe only game i have bought on my cell phone. The missing battle animations is fine, since they cut down on time and I am usually on the toilet playing with low time. I love it so far though, i wish they would make a DS version =)

Ha. I had to hit "control + +" a few times in order to read the tiny text.

[cavein2000]

I love this version. THe only game i have bought on my cell phone. The missing battle animations is fine, since they cut down on time and I am usually on the toilet playing with low time. I love it so far though, i wish they would make a DS version =)

Good point, how does tactics dual strike for the DS compare?

[Mattgyver]

Updated 7/7/2006

Alrighty, my meaningless report is in for Military Madness on mobile devices (maybe not Verizon though - looks like that one is actually a little different/better, but I have yet to verify)

I bought the game for $4.99 from Cingular for my Sony Ericsson W600i. The overall experience was good, the game is very stable, and I didn't run into any bugs. Although to fit onto a mobile device, it was definitely altered. However, for only $5, I feel it was worth it. With that said, the following is a comparison of the mobile Military Madness game compared to the TG16 version.

Graphics:
------------------------------------------------

1) The maps look great, everything seems to have been copied exactly.

2) The units on the map look good as well. However, when they move, there is no animation, they just jump from hex to hex.

3) The hex cursor is a little smaller, and the hex grid (when displayed) feels a little tight. On the TG16 each grid hex was right next to each other with only a pixel or two between them. On the mobile version, each place on the grid is far apart, and much smaller. Just strange I guess figuring the rest of the map is spot on.

4) Battle animations only show explosions. Units do not roll onto the battlefield, they don't position themselves, raise their turrets, fly in, whatever, they just appear - you hear a shooting noise - then they explode.

5) Units fighting each other appear on the same plane - aircraft are shown at the same level as tanks. If you just glance at the screen, you may think your Eagles are some kind of tank if you didn't know better.

6) Factory captured screens are not animated, and they are very tiny - taking up the center of the mobile screen, and no bigger than 80 x 50 pixels (just a guess)

7) There is no overview map of the moon when moving from level to level.

The intro screen is pretty much the same, just with modified menus and such to fit a mobile device.

9) On each level, there is no side info panel showing the units on the map, the name of the map, and so on. This however is available from an options menu during play.

10) When engaging enemy forces, the surround and terrrain effect hexes at the bottom of the battle window do not 'add themselves up' or indicate any bonuses to attack through a quick animation. These bonuses are still there, but they are already taken into account and displayed prior to the battle display opening up. This is one of my favorite things removed on the mobile version. I love surrounding the opponent on either side, then laughing when his defense goes through the floor, and my attack goes through the roof. It warms my heart to rip apart a full company of 8 Giants with nothing more than a Rabbit and Eagle.

11) There is no after battle graph, only two lines of text indicating how many units on each team were destroyed.

12) 'Titans' have been renamed to 'Monsters', and the 'Falcon' is now the 'Falco'. After doing a little research I found these unit names are actually the Japanese names of those same units from the PC Engine / Duo cd game Neo Nectaris. It makes me wonder why they would only name those two units according to the Japanese translation, and leave everything else alone?

13) The intro is pretty much the same - uses the same small framed graphics and story.

14) The tutorial is a really stripped down version covering only the highlights, and it is mostly text with no user interaction required.


Sound:
------------------------------------------------

1) The music, though heavily modified, is basically the same. The instrument set used for the MIDI hasn't been messed with too much, and that "wah-wah-wah-wah" noise when you end your turn is, in spirit, close to the original. You'd have to hear it to know what I mean.

2) Sound effects have been cut back a little, but nothing is completely missing. Honestly, I turned my sound off after stage 3, ad only checked it occasionally.


Gameplay and Opponent AI:
------------------------------------------------

This was my favorite part - trying to figure out how the computer thinks. The TG16 version was actually tough in spots, and I don't know if there are more than a couple ways to guarantee victory on any particular level - especially after stage 12. Overall, I would rate the computer on the mobile version a 2/10. It was very stupid. The TG16 version would probably be around a 7/10 (I can give you my synopsis on how it could be improved... but the CPU is already pretty evil). The poor mobile AI didn't make it a lot less fun though, but it certainly was a dissapointment on the later levels when my hard learned strategies didn't matter. I feel it doesn't have nearly the replay value as the TG16 version. Read on...

1) The mobile version does not allow password entry. You must reach any particular level by playing through to access it from the main menu.

2) You can save at ANY point and continue just as easily. There is only 1 save file.

3) It is 1 player only. You can only play as the Allies (blue team).

4) The computer will not explore the map or establish any sort of planned group offensive/defensive line. This will become apparent on Stage 4. The exception is with foot units (Charlies and Kilroys) and transport vehicles. They seem pre-programmed to acquire factories and generally travel to points of interest.

5) Any Axis (green team) offensive action or movement will ONLY be triggered by a blue unit being in range. Since aircraft have the most range, they alone tend to go after you. Slow moving tanks won't budge for the entire level unless you are careless enough to come within their range. If you completely move your units out of range of any enemy units, you can expect to see lots of "End Turns" without a single Axis unit moving. You can basically load up a Pelican with some Charlies, fly outside of the enemy units' range, and swoop in to their base for an easy and un-eventful capture. It's more like a stealth game or something - if they can't see you, they won't budge.

Try this on Stage 1, pull all your units back to your base and end your turn. The Axis will ONLY move their Charlies. Since you are out of the tank's attack range, they won't budge. You can sit there forever and they will not try to get you. They will capture your base if you are not sitting on it though.

6) No attempt is made to protect the Axis base. If the Allies are within capturing distance, nearby Axis units will not move to protect the base or squat on it.

7) The computer will typically not use gang-up tactics to quickly eliminate any one Allied unit. The most I have ever been attacked with were 2 Hunters, and they did not go for the surround attack bonus.

All Axis indirect attackers (Atlas, Hadrian, Octopus, Lynx, Hawkeye) will NEVER attack. Ever. Never Ever. Never Never Ever. You can walk through a dense forest of these and they will just sit there and stare. Not once was I the target of an indirect attack.

9) Since the Axis indirect attack units will never fire at you, this also means you are never really within their attack range, therefore - these units will typically never move.

10) The computer will never directly load a transport vehicle with a unit in a factory. For instance; after unloading a Pelican from their factory, the next unit to be unloaded is an Atlas. They will not load the Atlas into the Pelican. Instead, it will be unloaded into the next available spot. The same goes for Triggers (land mines), ground units, foot units, and so on. Nothing will ever get loaded into a transport vehicle fresh out of a factory.

11) Transport vehicles typically take a few turns to successfully get loaded. The computer will tend to move their Charlies a few times independantly from the Mules, then after a couple turns of dancing around, they will finally load the Mules. Just in time for me to blow them away with some Eagles I had nearby. It's strange - and the final result only put them a few hexes from where they started.

12) The only levels in this game are the original 16. There is no second moon.


That's about it! Pretty exhaustive I think. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments - especially if you have played the Verizon version of the game. I am interested to see how that one differs. Nothing beats the TG16 classic though!

Matt

[esteban]

Alrighty, my meaningless report is in for Military Madness on mobile devices (maybe not Verizon though - looks like that one is actually a little different/better, but I have yet to verify)

Rock on, Matt! Tons of great stuff there

If you have any edits / changes / additions, just edit your post above. At the top of your post, note when you last updated it.

Excellent!