Why has the world forgotten Military Madness/Nectaris?

[Lord Thag]

I've been playing MM on my turbo, and it's even more fun than I remember it being. It's far deeper than the more modern clones like Advance Wars in so many ways. The myriad different units, the excellent hex based system that takes into account support and surrounding. All of this stuff is way ahead of it's time, and it's FAR more challenging than any it's 'modern' decendants.

In short, this game is by far the best console stragtegy game I've played. It's challenging, easy to pick up, really hard to master, and the presentation is excellent.

Why did the world forget this game?

[nectarsis]

It came to early IMHO.  In Japan, tactical/srpgs were around for awhile.  They didn't take off hardcore until Advance Wars/FF Tactics/Fire Emblem/etc. took off.

[Necromancer]

I think it's ignored because it's too challenging for the many gamers that loathe to see a game over screen.  Sadly, few people nowadays seem interested in games that require real strategy and forethought, rather than amassing a huge army and overwhelming the enemy.

[nat]

Military Madness is one of the handful of US games I don't have, and I have actually never played.  :oops:

I do like the Langrisser/Warsong series from the 16- & 32-bit era, as well as Power Dolls on the PC-FX so I might take a liking to MM.

[Lord Thag]

 

Really? Yeah, you really need to play it. I like it better than Warsong (which I'm assuming is the same as the US port for genesis ... was it?). What I really like about MM is that, while the game is brutal at times, it never forces you into winning a scenario one way. Advance Wars does that all the time to artificially inflate difficulty. You have to figure out the 'trick' for the level, and there is no other way to beat it.

MM/Nectaris allows you to do all kinds of things in most scenarios, while (amazingly) preventing you from using cheap strategies to 'quick win' a scenario. The music is great, the graphics are perfect for this type of game, and there is an entire extra campaign to play if you (snicker) beat the first one. A quick code allows you to switch sides, so there is literally years worth of gameplay on that tiny little Hucard.

Another thing I like is that each force (axis/allies) have different 'flavors'. There are several different kinds of tanks and planes, and each side has units that they primarily use. The Axis side, for example, usually gets those !?$@?! Hunter fighter/bombers, as well as the Titan and Slagger tanks, while you (the Allies) get the Polar and Grizzly tanks, as well as two seperate fighter / bomber units.

The short version is that the forces play similarly to what you would see in World War II. Each side has the same class of units, but each unit is very different from each other, with it's own strengths and weaknesses, even incorporating older 'out of date' technology at times (the Lennet tank). It adds a whole other level of strategy not found in other games. The 'super' units like the Giant and Atlas are also incredibly fun to  use if you can bring them to bear.

All in all, it's my favorite strategy game ever. If you haven't tried it, Nat, you are missing one of the best strategy games ever made. Damn good stuff!

[runinruder]

I like Military Madness, but I like Macross Eternal Love Song a lot more.  (Anyone who enjoys Langrisser should try ELS, btw). 

I'd say MM is one of the "least forgotten" TG16 games, actually.  It always seems to get mentioned when dopey sites or magazines "look back" at the system and the know-nothing authors try to show how cool and knowledgeable they are.  The Crushes also come up a lot in these sorts of "features."

[Lord Thag]

Yeah, that's true. It does get mentioned a lot in the 'mags. That's actually why I find it strange. It DOES get mentioned a lot, but no one (other than the crappy cell port) seems to be interested in porting or re-imagining the franchise, which I find odd. It would be the perfect Sony/PSP counterpoint to Advance Wars, which is one of the best selling DS/GBA games.

It's far better than many of those tiresome strategy rpgs, and much more suited to a portable system. Don't get me wrong, Disgaea on the PSP is tops, but I'd play MM a lot more. The former requires way too much time.

[spenoza]

Frankly, I'm kinda glad they have resisted the urge to update MM to the "modern era". Many retro conversions to modern 3D really get chewed up and spit back out, the final product not looking anything like what it started as. It's available on Wii VC and I think that's probably good enough for now.

[handygrafx]

I love Military Madness / Nectaris. 

It was the first turn-based strategy game I ever played.  I spent countless hours during 1990 & 1991 playing  turn-based Military Madness and real-time Herzog Zwei on Genesis.

In 1994 I imported Neo Nectaris for my Duo, and while it wasn't the perfection that the original was,
I still liked it.

Then in 1998 or 1998 I got the PlayStation version. I was pretty disappointed with it. I no longer have it and I regret getting rid of it, just because there something good about every Nectaris game, I'll have to find a copy again.

Overall I think Military Madness (the original game and series as a whole)  is a far better experience than the Advance Wars games, and actually, any of the Intelligent Systems developed titles in the Nintendo Wars series.  Hudson did handle at least  one of the  GameBoy Wars  titles, though and it was more like Nectaris/MM.

Future:

I am craving new Military Madness / Nectaris games for both the DS and Wii.  If such an amazing thing were to happen, I'd hope they'd have a wide range connectivity features, both locally/wirelessly and online over the internet via WiFi.   Example:    DS to DS  - Wii to Wii - DS to Wii, etc.    A DS Nectaris would take full advantage of the dual-screen, touch screen, microphone, wireless and WiFi.    A Wii Nectaris would not have to take full advantage of the motion sensing capabilities, but merely use the pointer, WiFi and reasonable 3D graphics that Wii offers.    The DS version should be done with sprites, with sprite-based 2D battle animations while the Wii version could offer larger more detailed sprites and smooth 3D battle animations.    Because the DS's 3D capabilities are roughly on par with PS1 and N64, I wouldn't want a repeat of the awful looking 3D battles of PS1 Nectaris.

Present:
For now, I'm getting into R-Type Tactics for PSP which is by far the closest thing to Nectaris / Military Madness that's been released in a very long time.  No it's not exactly like MM, but it is turn-based, it uses hexes, unlike AW, and it's slow-paced, similar in feel to Neo Nectaris or PS1 Nectaris.  It's very addictive, and yes it's out now.

[Lord Thag]

 

R-Type tactics is out!? *runs to game store*

[hoobs88]

I got Military Madness in a game lot. I popped it in my system real quick and after seeing the hexes, decided not to play it and moved on to the other games.  After leaving positive feedback for the seller, he responded by asking if I had tried Military Madness which was his favorite game. I had also noticed how popular it was on ebay and gave it another chance...I was hooked. I even got Neo Nectaris but didn't get too far before I discovered the Advance Wars: Days of Ruin game on the DS was similar and got hooked on it. I still prefer the hex based strategy style with support shots and flanking. Days of Ruin has a fantastic storyline and even though it was much easier than Military Madness, the introduction of new units in each map kept it fresh. Now that I have finished it, I will definitely go back to Military Madness and Neo Nectaris because I have not forgotten my roots.

[handygrafx]

I got Military Madness in a game lot. I popped it in my system real quick and after seeing the hexes, decided not to play it and moved on to the other games.  After leaving positive feedback for the seller, he responded by asking if I had tried Military Madness which was his favorite game. I had also noticed how popular it was on ebay and gave it another chance...I was hooked. I even got Neo Nectaris but didn't get too far before I discovered the Advance Wars: Days of Ruin game on the DS was similar and got hooked on it. I still prefer the hex based strategy style with support shots and flanking. Days of Ruin has a fantastic storyline and even though it was much easier than Military Madness, the introduction of new units in each map kept it fresh. Now that I have finished it, I will definitely go back to Military Madness and Neo Nectaris because I have not forgotten my roots.

Glad you have both Military Madness and Neo Nectaris,  I enjoy both alot.     There is also a Japanese freeware  port of Nectaris for Windows 95/98  (it'll work on XP), which offers superior music/audio and very intuitive mouse support.

http://nfggames.com/games/nectaris/Nectaris_Win95.rar

Once you figure out how to install it (it can be tricky, or it can also be easy, depends on your PC) it's a piece of cake to play since you're already used to the interface (and Neo Nectaris) even though it's in Japanese.

[Mobius]

Military Madness forgotten?  Not quite... It lives on in spirit with Advance Wars.

Which actually begs the question, did the Wars series rip off Military Madness, or did Military Madness rip off the Wars series?  I know there was an SNES Wars, but was there an NES Wars before that?

[nectarsis]

Thw Wars series started on the Gameboy/Famicom, so it predates MM.

[Mobius]

Oh, right, Famicom Wars and Super Famicom Wars, not NES/SNES Wars... I knew that!

Gotta say, though, I think I actually prefer the grid battlefield to the hex one.  It's too hard to figure out the attack and movement range for the units in Military Madness.