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Military Madness

From NEC Retro

n/a

  • TurboGrafx-16
  • PC Engine
  • PC-9801 UV

MilitaryMadness title.png

Nectaris PCE JP Title.png

Nectaris PC9801 Title.png

Military Madness
System(s): PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, PC-9801 UV, Virtual Console (Wii)
Publisher:
PC Engine
Wii Virtual Console
Hudson Soft
TurboGrafx-16
NEC Technologies
PC-9801 UV
SystemSoft
Developer:
Genre: Simulation































Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
PC Engine
JP 		¥5,8005,800 HC63016
TurboGrafx-16
US 		TGX030015
PC-9801 UV
JP 		¥7,800 (8,034)7800e[2]
Wii Virtual Console
JP ▼ 		600pts600
CERO: A
Wii Virtual Console
US ▼ 		600pts600
ESRB: Everyone
Wii Virtual Console
EU ▼ 		600pts600
PEGI: 7+
Wii Virtual Console
AU ▼ 		600pts600
OFLC: Parental Guidance (PG)
Non-NEC versions
X68000
X68000

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Military Madness, known as Nectaris (ネクタリス) in Japan, is a turn-based strategy game for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16, released in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Ports to the PC-9801 UV and X68000 were published by SystemSoft in 1992.

Story

The year is 2089, and mankind has attempted to colonise the Moon as the Earth has become too small for their insatiable needs, however two military forces are now at war with each other over the Moon's limited resources. The player is assigned as commander of the Allied Forces, and is tasked with fighting the Axis Army (Gaichi Teihoku (ガイチ帝国) in the Japanese version) on the Moon's surface and rescue captured prisoners to prevent them from completing their doomsday weapon, "S.A.M." ("MOA" in the Japanese version), which will destroy Earth.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot from the TurboGrafx-16 version, showing the first map, REVOLT.

In Military Madness, players take turns to direct a variety of units, including aircraft, artillery, foot soldiers, and other forms of military equipment, using tactics and strategy to defeat the opposing force. To win, a player must either capture the enemy's prison camp, or completely destroy all of the enemy's forces on the map. The game can be played solo, with the player commandeering the Allied Forces (blue) against the computer-controlled Axis/Gaichi (green), or played in two-player mode, with the second player controlling the AXIS/Gaichi.

During their turn, the player may move their units across the map and/or attack the enemy, with all movement and attacking performed on a hexagonal grid. Moving units is performed with the "SHIFT" command, and the player may move as many of their units as they like, however each unit can only be moved once in a turn. Attacking is performed with the "ATTACK" command, with two different kinds of attacking depending on the type of unit: direct and indirect. Direct attacks can be performed after a shift, and will attack an opponent's unit from the hexagon adjacent to the player's unit. Indirect attacks can be performed from a distant hexagon. After moving and/or attacking, the player must select "END" to pass their turn over to the enemy. Each unit has a Zone of Control (Z.O.C.); moving multiple friendly units closer together can increase the offensive and defensive strength of the units, and this can be used to hinder enemy units' offense, defense and movement by surrounding them.

The distance between units can affect how effective indirect attacks are, and how effective a unit's defense is, though the topography can have other effects on offense and defense for ground-based units. The types of terrain to be aware of and their effects are as follows:

  • Flat land: Motorcycles and transporters have limited movement over this terrain.
  • Road: All units have the best mobility, but have no geographical advantage for defense.
  • Bridge: Crosses over valleys, has the same effects as roads.
  • Hill: All vehicles have less mobility. Geographical advantage for defense is stronger.
  • Harsh land: All surface vehicles lose mobility and cannot enter. Geographical advantage for defense is much stronger.
  • Valley: Can only be entered by infantry, heavy infantry and aircraft. Infantry and heavy infantry can only go as far as the valley's edge in a single turn and must wait until the next turn to pass through. Has no geographical advantage for defense.
  • Mountain: Same limitations as valleys, but has strong geographical advantage for defense.

Also located on the map are factories, either controlled by either force or are neutral (yellow). These can be captured by infantry, heavy infantry and motocycle units by moving them over to the factory. When a factory has been captured, all of its contents will belong to the player who captured it, and the player can send a unit into it to be serviced, then sent out on the next turn at full force. Infantry, heavy infantry and motorcycles may also capture prison camps and thus win the game.

Units

Aircraft

Aircraft are the most effective units in terms of movement and firepower as they are unaffected by topographical effects.

FX-1 Falcon
Shifting:
12
Defense:
30
Attack:
0 (Land) / 90 (Air)
Range:
0 (Land) / 1 (Air)
Powerful in anti-air attack power and movement, but has no surface attack power and low defense.
AX-87 Eagle
Shifting:
10
Defense:
30
Attack:
70 (Land) / 20 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A bomber that's powerful against ground-based units, but not very effective in aerial combat.
EF-88 Hunter
Shifting:
11
Defense:
50
Attack:
70 (Land) / 70 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
An advanced fighter/bomber that's effective in both ground and aerial combat.

Tanks

Tanks are a major force in ground-based combat as they can be used to both attack and defend.

T-79 Grizzly
Shifting:
4
Defense:
50
Attack:
70 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A large-scale, heavy tank equipped with a 120mm recoilless cannon.
PT-6 Polar
Shifting:
4
Defense:
60
Attack:
50 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A heavily armoured tank equipped with a 105mm cannon.
S-61 Bison
Shifting:
6
Defense:
40
Attack:
50 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A standard, mass-produced tank with a 105mm cannon. Has good mobility.
GS-81 Slagger
Shifting:
7
Defense:
50
Attack:
50 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A fast-moving, mid-size tank used by the Axis/Gaichi.
GT-86 Titan
Shifting:
5
Defense:
50
Attack:
60 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A powerful Axis/Gaichi support tank with a 120mm cannon.
HMB-2 Giant
Shifting:
2
Defense:
80
Attack:
90 (Land) / 40 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A fortified tank with a 180mm cannon and a 75mm anti-air gun, making it useful against aerial units. Poor mobility.
TT-1 Lenet
Shifting:
5
Defense:
30
Attack:
45 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 0 (Air)
An early-period tank with a 90mm cannon and a 75mm gun.

Self-propelled artillery

This type of unit can attack from remote positions and are usually stationed in the rear.

SG-4 Hadrian
Shifting:
4
Defense:
30
Attack:
45 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
5 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A self-propelled gun with a 155mm cannon.
MR-22 Octopus
Shifting:
4
Defense:
30
Attack:
60 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
4 (Land) / 0 (Air)
An indirect attack vehicle equipped with 24 60mm rocket launchers.

Anti-air vehicles

These units are designed to counter aircraft, however they are easy targets for ground-based units.

AAG-4 Seeker
Shifting:
6
Defense:
30
Attack:
30 (Land) / 65 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
Anti-air vehicle armed with four 20mm high-speed machine guns.
MM-107 Hawkeye
Shifting:
5
Defense:
30
Attack:
0 (Land) / 85 (Air)
Range:
0 (Land) / 5 (Air)
Armed with anti-air missiles designed for indirect attacks. Has no surface attack power.

Lightweight vehicles

Superior in offensive strength and movement, these are the only units that can attack first, then move to another part of the map.

MB-5 Rabbit
Shifting:
8
Defense:
20
Attack:
70 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A combat buggy equipped with a missile launcher.
MB-4 Lynx
Shifting:
6
Defense:
20
Attack:
40 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
2 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A combat buggy capable of indirect attacks, armed with for 20mm high-speed machine guns.

Infantry

These are the only units capable of capturing factories and prison camps. They are not as effective in combat as other units.

GX-77 Charlie
Shifting:
3
Defense:
4
Attack:
10 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A foot soldier with a lightweight suit and a rapid-fire, small arms weapon.
GX-87 Kilroy
Shifting:
2
Defense:
10
Attack:
40 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A mechanised foot soldier with a heavyweight suit and a missile launcher.
CBX-1 Panther
Shifting:
9
Defense:
8
Attack:
10 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A soldier with a motorcycle that's at its fastest on roads. Fights using a machine gun.

Transporters

Transporters can carry other units to another part of the map. Once loaded, the transporter can then be moved to another hexagon, and the unit on board can then be unloaded to an adjacent hexagon. Some units may not board and disembark the transporter in the same turn but must wait until the next turn. The transporters themselves have severely limited offensive and defensive capabilities.

NC-1 Mule
Shifting:
6
Defense:
10
Attack:
10 (Land) / 10 (Air)
Range:
1 (Land) / 1 (Air)
A truck designed for transporting infantry, land mines and field artillery.
C-41 Pelican
Shifting:
9
Defense:
10
Attack:
0 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
0 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A large-scale transport plane that can carry an entire ground unit, but cannot attack.

Land mines and field artillery

These units cannot move on their own and thus must be shifted using a transporter. Once they are placed, they cannot be moved again.

M-77 Trigger
Shifting:
0
Defense:
80
Attack:
0 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
0 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Land mines that can be scattered about in strategic places by transporters. They can be removed by shooting them.
SS-80 Atlas
Shifting:
0
Defense:
20
Attack:
90 (Land) / 0 (Air)
Range:
6 (Land) / 0 (Air)
A powerful 203mm artillery cannon whose indirect attacks are tremendously powerful against distant ground units.

History

Legacy

Military Madness would later receive a sequel in the form of Neo Nectaris for Super CD-ROM² hardware in 1994, which also includes this game. A portable entry, titled Nectaris GB, was released for the Game Boy exclusively for the Japanese market in 1998. A remake, titled Military Madness: Nectaris, was released for WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in 2010. The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 versions would see a rerelease on the Wii Virtual Console in 2006, and both versions were included on all regional variants of the PC Engine mini in 2020.

The same programmer for Military Madness would later code a similar game known as Earth Light, which was released for the Super Famicom in 1992[3]. A manga adaptation of Military Madness, titled Shiawase no Katachi (しあわせのかたち), was published in the Famitsu Comix collection in March 1989.

Digital manuals

  • PC Engine mini JP manual

  • PC Engine mini US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Military Madness/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

PC Engine version

PC Engine, JP
Nectaris PCEHu JP Boxback.jpgNectaris PCEHu JP Boxspine.jpgNectaris PCEHu JP Boxfront.jpg
Cover

TurboGrafx-16 version

TurboGrafx-16, US
MilitaryMadness TG16 US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngMilitaryMadness TG16 US Box Front.jpg
Cover
MilitaryMadness TG16 US Card Back.jpgMilitaryMadness TG16 US Card.jpg
Card
MilitaryMadness TG16 US Box Front JewelCase.jpg
Jewel Case

PC-9801 UV version

PC-9801 UV, JP
Nectaris PC9801UV JP Box.jpg
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
PC Engine
✔
CRC32 0243453b
MD5 38bf3fa078ab7bdc3d34fc9c18b0ce73
SHA-1 e87e25f73908161a8c7b4cb1f20708cb5f8aab3b
384kB Card (JP)
TurboGrafx-16
✔
CRC32 93f316f7
MD5 03d0442df107c97bb04c32de7cb7f5bc
SHA-1 01cf6be3fc11af874d25fc64bfb74f2f044f1bce
384kB Card (US)

References

  1. ↑ EGM US 008.pdf, page 18
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 NectarisDemo PC9801UV ComingSoon.png
  3. ↑ http://www.hudson.co.jp/gamenavi/gamedb/index.cgi?mode=info&f=EarthLight (Wayback Machine: 2004-06-10 23:01)


Military Madness

MilitaryMadness title.png

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