Military Madness: A love story

Damon Plus · 08/16/2011, 02:26 PM

This story starts way back in 2002. Recently having discovered emulators, I started trying all those systems that as a child never had a chance to try. Of course, among them was the Turbografx. Only having notice of the system thanks to magazines at the time, I was pretty curious about it. I tried lots and lots of games, and stumbled upon Military Madness. Hey, this one seems cool! I started playing it, but lost 3-4 times at stage 4 (as you might have guessed, I was no genius in strategy games). Never played the game again.

Until this year. Having recently acquired a Turbografx, many people sweared Military Madness was one of the, not only best Turbografx games, but also one of the best strategy games ever. How could many people be wrong? Getting Military Madness was now my priority. I didn't have to wait too much, as a boxed one popped up in Ebay just two weeks later. I bought it without hesitate.

They weren't wrong. I started playing the game. Beat the first stages easily, and then, I arrived to stage 4. Would I be able to overcome that devilishly hard stage? Well, yes, I did. In my first try. Lots of units were described in the manual. I was overwhelmed at first, but, as I advanced stage through stage, I started knowing them, what they did, how would they attack/defend, and in which situations were they useful, or just a waste of a unit. I started to learn my enemy tactics, and to use the terrain to my advantage. I didn't have to care about ammo and gas for my units, which I found a positive aspect. I became addicted to the game, playing 2-3 stages every day. In a week, I was done.

But there were rumours that an advanced campaing, even harder than the last one, was ahead of me (I read it in Gamefaqs before playing, so it wasn't a big surprise). Wow, now the enemiy really outnumbered me! Strategy was more important than the last time, and a mere one unit could mean the difference between a big victory or a shameful defeat. Lots of battles were fought with the victory going back and forth between the Axis side and me, but they were all beaten, putting an end to their reign of terror.

And then, I found about that little password that let you play as the Axis side. Doesn't the replay value in this game ever end? Easier than the normal campagin, I still enjoyed it. Even easier was the advanced campaign, were you overpowered the Allied forces so much I started wondering how I was able to beat them in the campaing.

And then, after a month of playing almost every day, I beat the four different campaigns. All was said and done, or so I tought. Blazing Lazers, Legendary Axe and other games are waiting to be played. And the truth is that they are. But my mind keeps coming back to Military Madness and its masterful combination of strategy. So I start a new campaign and the cycle begins again...

I love this game.

PD: Sorry if my language is a bit harsh, but my main language is not English, but Spanish.

CrackTiger · 08/16/2011, 03:21 PM

If you enjoyed MM this much, then you MUST get a PC Engine Duo system and MM's sequel: Neo Nectaris. I won't spoil anything, but it is a worthy sequel which includes the original game on the disc.

roflmao · 08/16/2011, 06:41 PM

+1. Military Madness is one of my favorite games for the system.

csgx1 · 08/17/2011, 12:36 AM

Quote from: Damon Plus on 08/16/2011, 02:26 PM...I became addicted to the game, playing 2-3 stages every day. In a week, I was done...

Years ago I went through the same phase. Spent countless hours playing through it strait. A great game and I still can't get enough of the game today.

JoshTurboTrollX · 08/17/2011, 09:45 AM

yes, you need to get Neo Nectaris my friend.

Arkhan Asylum · 08/22/2011, 05:34 PM

I have it for the computer also.

Too bad they never made a LANable game like it.

If they did, I sure as hell missed it.

Dyna138 · 08/27/2011, 08:37 PM

I haven't beaten it yet, but I agree Military Madness is an awesome game. You can see a lot of design elements of it in other console strategy games that came after it.

Arjak · 08/27/2011, 09:59 PM

I have unfortunately not yet played Military Madness, but your (epically titled) post makes me want to! By the way, since you appear to be new here, welcome to the forums! Oh, and don't worry about your English; it's FAR better than most people on the Internet.

neoxeno · 08/30/2011, 10:44 PM

I just found about Millitary Madness a few years ago and I'm a big fan of Nintendo's Advance Wars. If you are a big fan of MM, try Advance Wars on GBA and DS, you won't be disapointed.

BlueBMW · 08/30/2011, 11:31 PM

Love me some Advance wars... I used to play my GBA for hours with that silly game

Keranu · 08/31/2011, 07:13 PM

Hey I got into the Turbo via emulation back in 2002 too! One of the charming aspects about many Turbo games is that you can appreciate them much more after giving them another chance years later; it's happened to me several times!

djolof · 09/03/2011, 04:48 PM

This game is re-donkulus. After you master the learning curve, it's hours of entertainment. Currently fighting my way through Neo-Nectaris, also fantastic!

sheath · 09/11/2011, 12:47 PM

Doh, I didn't know that Neo Nectaris included the original game. I went out of my way to buy Military Madness CiB when the remake came out on Xbox Live. Then I made the mistake I always make with good strategy games, I kept resetting the level whenever I lost units and eventually got tired of replaying the same map. This is one of my favorite games of all time though, I just need to focus more time on it.

CrackTiger · 09/11/2011, 01:49 PM

Neo Nectaris is worth buying for the soundtrack alone.

Damon Plus · 09/11/2011, 02:37 PM

Quote from: sheath on 09/11/2011, 12:47 PMDoh, I didn't know that Neo Nectaris included the original game. I went out of my way to buy Military Madness CiB when the remake came out on Xbox Live. Then I made the mistake I always make with good strategy games, I kept resetting the level whenever I lost units and eventually got tired of replaying the same map. This is one of my favorite games of all time though, I just need to focus more time on it.

Well, in Military Madness, you'll lose units. There's some situations where you'll be on the edge of being overwhelmed and you have to sacrifice some ones.

MotherGunner · 09/12/2011, 04:43 PM

When you are done with those, give Dai Senryaku II a try. Love games like MM.

Off topic: I just got U.S. version VII not too long ago on Xbox (works on 360 as well).

gamespot.com/reviews/dai-senryaku-vii-modern-military-tactics-review/1900-6118981/

neoxeno · 09/12/2011, 10:26 PM

Quote from: MotherGunner on 09/12/2011, 04:43 PMWhen you are done with those, give Daisenryaku II a try. Love games like MM.

Off topic, I just got U.S. version VII not too long ago on Xbox (works on 360 as well).

I really need to find this game. Thanks for the tip.

roflmao · 09/12/2011, 10:41 PM

There's an old DOS game called Battle Isle 2200 that I played a bunch of back in the day (It was discussed back on the old Turbo Mailing List). I found it at some computer shop in a bargain bin ages ago and played it a ton, but haven't tried getting it running on a modern computer.

A quick google search found this:
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/battle-isle-2200/

It looks like it'll run using Dosbox so I may have to give it another go.

EDIT: D'oh! Upon further investigation, the link above is only for a demo. It still might be worth checking out, but I don't know how easy it would be to hunt down a full version.

spenoza · 09/16/2011, 02:05 AM

I'm surprised there aren't any indie games like MM. That kind of strategy title is a little simpler than many. I guess AI is always a challenge, though.

MotherGunner · 09/19/2011, 01:03 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/16/2011, 02:05 AMI'm surprised there aren't any indie games like MM. That kind of strategy title is a little simpler than many. I guess AI is always a challenge, though.

If you like FB or Browser based games, give Weewar a try.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weewarcom/6962268523

10/31/2023: Localization News - Dead of the Brain 1!

Military Madness: A love story