Military Madness reviews & comments from when it was new (1989-1990)

[handygrafx]

My favorite TurboGrafx-16 game has always been Military Madness.   This thread will be for old reviews & comments from around the time it came out:  late 1989 in Japan, early 1990 in the U.S.


From USENET


http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/ca42e3cf442d5d84?dmode=source

I just got Military Madness for the TG16 last night.  It's a
super-duper war game - all strategy, no arcade action at all.  The
main map where you see all the pieces has the usual slick graphics,
but the interesting part is the close up when attacking.  You get to
see the armies shooting it out, and the graphics are very well done.

There are over two dozen different types of weapons/units, making the
game very difficult - it's definitely not for the casual player!
There are even "man" pages!  If you're into war games, I highly
recommend it.  One thing that's really lame is that the opposing
armies are green and blue, and the particular shades used are very
difficult to tell apart; any other two colors would have been ok, even
black and white!  I wonder how this color combination ever managed to
survive development?

With 32 levels of increasing difficulty, I think it'll keep me busy
for a long, long time.  Oh yeah - price was $55.

--Neil

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/93a61ce6a55f0726?dmode=source

Military Madness is one of the best games for the Turbo.
        Pick it up, even if you're not a wargamer this one will
        appeal.  The graphics are well done, and the game play
        is excellent.  Each of the 32 levels gets harder than the
        last, so even the most ardent gamer will take weeks of
        non-stop play to finish.

review from EGM Number 8 - March 1990





USENET

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/13020765a97311d7?dmode=source

TGX-16 Game Review

Title: Military Madness
Type: Strategy
Platform(s): TGX-16
Price: 54.99

One word describes this game perfectly: Awesome.  One word can also describe
the people who play this game: addicts.  If anyone has any doubts as to what
game to buy first for the TurboGrafx-16 my recommendation is to get this one
before anything else. I am NOT biased towards strategy games as this
statement would suggest, but I do LOVE this game!

My preferences seem to be towards RPG type games and mindless shooters, but
I consider myself a well rounded gamer (I play just about every type of game
there is).  Military Madness is one of the best strategy games I've ever
played.  Basically the scenario goes like this: The AXIS empire has built a
super weapon and plans to use it to conquer earth.  To save the earth you
must command your forces through sixteen maps until you reach the final
map in which you can capture the weapon and destroy it.  The maps are very
easy at first if you are used to strategy games, but even the most experienced
will have trouble with the later ones.  Once you finish the first sixteen
scenarios you will see the game ending.  You will then be put into the
advanced stages.  The advanced stages are another sixteen maps that are
identical to the first sixteen.  The only difference here is that both you
and the enemy have better weapons to use very early.  The initial positions
of your forces and the AXIS forces are also different.

Graphically, this is not the best of all TGX games but it is excellent
considering that this is a strategy game.  Your units are represented as small
icons.  When there is combat the game zooms closer to the combat field.  The
opposing units are now really detailed and the battle is graphically displayed.
This is a pretty nice effect, since you can see what's going on instead of just
viewing the results of a battle.

The sounds to this game are fair.  Pretty much what one would expect from a
strategy game.  It'd be unfair to include this in the ratings, so I'll exclude
it this time.

The game play for this game is the BEST!  If you like war games you'll love
Military Madness! There are several strategies that you have to learn, besides
how to move your troops.  Surround effect, support effect, and other things
that determine the result of an encounter are all vividly explained in the
online manual so that it's easy to get started.  To play this game you
basically move your units around the field of battle in an attempt to
wipe out the enemy or capture a factory.  Factories can either be neutral,
yours or the enemy's.  They usually contain units which you can use if
you control that factory.  Factories also repair damaged units. To win the
game you must wipe out all the enemy units or capture their prison camp.  Sounds
simple, but with 32 maps to conquer and a fairly decent computer opponent
you'll have many a sleepless night trying to beat this one!

Overall this game is a must get for anyone owning the TGX-16.  The playability
is by far the best in any TurboGrafx game so far and it is also one of the more
challenging games.  Well worth every penny you spend!

Graphics: 7
Playability: 10
Challenge: 10
Fun Factor: 10
Overall: 10

        -Zandos Rhoe

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/bf8ac8c82733209a?dmode=source

Yes!  I second the motion that Military Madness is the best TG16 game
to date (and yes, I've finished Ys).

I would only add that the sound is encoded in Dolby Surround.  If you
don't have a four-speaker dolby surround system, you are missing quite
a bit.  I played it for a long time before I hooked it up to my
surround system, and was stunned by the improvement.  I also tried out
Axe and Devil's Crush, but unfortunately those did not improve when
hooked up to a dolby decoder.

I've finished Military Madness all the way through twice, and now when
I play I like to let the computer get all the neutral factories so I
can try to hold with only what I started with.  Makes it a lot more
challenging!  Hopefully Super Daisenryaku will be out (in English)
pretty soon for other Military Madness addicts like myself.

--Neil W.

[MissaFX]

16 bit sound?  16 bit sound?  The PC-E has 16 bit sound?

[nat]

16 bit sound?  16 bit sound?  The PC-E has 16 bit sound?

Sure, why not? What does "16-bit sound" even mean?

[handygrafx]

16 bit sound?  16 bit sound?  The PC-E has 16 bit sound?

EGM staff didn't really understand gaming tech the way the staff of EDGE & Next Generation magazines did. 

[MissaFX]

16 bit sound?  16 bit sound?  The PC-E has 16 bit sound?

Sure, why not? What does "16-bit sound" even mean?

To me it means the sound is either made up of 16bit samples or the D/A converter is 16bit.

[Black Tiger]

16 bit sound?  16 bit sound?  The PC-E has 16 bit sound?

Sure, why not? What does "16-bit sound" even mean?

To me it means the sound is either made up of 16bit samples or the D/A converter is 16bit.

"16-bit" was the term used to describe the TG-16/Genesis/SNES generation back in the day.

By "16-bit sound" they meant that the games sounds cool and different from the previous generation.

The Intellivision has a 16-bit cpu, but that doesn't make it more of a real "16-bit" console than the TG-16.

[nat]

Exactly what I was getting at.

[handygrafx]

What about the guy in that usenet post that claimed MM had surround sound ?
I wonder if he's right...Yet how could that be??  Unless it's some software sound trick.

[spenoza]

Or just a surround sound stereo "enhancing" the sound for him.

[ceti alpha]

The Intellivision has a 16-bit cpu, but that doesn't make it more of a real "16-bit" console than the TG-16.

Interesting, I didn't know the Intellivision was more advanced than the PCE/Turbo. I'm going to switch to the Intellivision forums.  Seriously though, I'm glad EGM and GamePro didn't know this back in the day. The minute it "came out" that the Turbo only had an 8bit CPU the Turbo became a pariah in the console wars. They would have had a field day saying shit like, "If you're looking for a real 16-bit system you're better off getting the Intellivision. The sound may actually suck, but at least it's 16 bit."

[Necromancer]

Nice little blast from the past - thanks for sharing.

[handygrafx]

Nice little blast from the past - thanks for sharing.

Welcome.  As I find more stuff worth reading, I'll post it.


As for the sound quality in Nectaris ~ Military Madness, you can experience somewhat better sound & music in the Windows 95 port of Nectaris released in Japan which is freeware ^__^  get it here! You'll need WinRAR. You might have to try a few times before it properly installs (no english).  Once you do though, you'll be treated to Nectaris as it was on the PCE but with better audio as I said, and, mouse support which makes playing it a joy.   

While the audio is nothing to get excited about, if for some reason you are a raving Nectaris fan who needs to hear better sound than what you hear in Nectaris/Military Madness on PCE, TG16, Turbo Duo Neo Nectaris ( the original was included in NN) and Wii VC, then download the PC version.

Or, have even more fun by hunting down the incredibly rare Sharp X68000 version-- It might be easier to find the ROM and an emulator for that, though.  I used to have the ROM but lost it when my old HDD died a sad death.

So with the Win95 PC Nectaris you now have "16-bit quality sound" or something like that, not a technical definition.  I guess it sounds more like what you would hear on a 16-bit console or computer with FM Synth.

[Black Tiger]

Or, have even more fun by hunting down the incredibly rare Sharp X68000 version-- It might be easier to find the ROM and an emulator for that, though.  I used to have the ROM but lost it when my old HDD died a sad death.

Unfortunately, you'd probably have more luck tracking down a physical copy of the X68000 version.

So with the Win95 PC Nectaris you now have "16-bit quality sound" or something like that, not a technical definition.  I guess it sounds more like what you would hear on a 16-bit console or computer with FM Synth.

Or an 8-bit console with fm synth.

[MissaFX]

"If you're looking for a real 16-bit system you're better off getting the Intellivision. The sound may actually suck, but at least it's 16 bit."

I'm 99% sure though it only operates on 12bit code.

[nat]

Trying to classify sound by "bits" is a ridiculous concept.