Nectaris (Military Madness) is back!

[parallaxscroll]

Hudson Entertainment to Recruit Soldiers for New Generation of Military Madness
Classic TurboGrafx-16 Strategy Game Returns to Digital Download Platforms with Updated Features and Gameplay

San Mateo, Calif. – March 23, 2009 – Ten-hut! Military Madness, the classic turn-based strategy game published by Hudson Entertainment, the North and South American publishing arm of HUDSON SOFT, is coming to Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network, and WiiWare™. This new version of the strategic combat simulation game includes an all-new graphical barrage, a regiment of new units, online co-op and vs. multiplayer and a platoon of other new features. Due to be ready for deployment this summer, Military Madness has been rated T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

“Since its original release on TurboGrafx-16 in 1989, Military Madness has stood the test of time as one of the longest-lived turn-based strategy games in history,” said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. “The new Military Madness will give fans of the original a modern version of this classic strategy game, while gamers new to the series will get to enjoy being armchair generals for the first time.”

With new features such as the commander unit, four person online multiplayer gaming and a 3D view of the battlefield, Miltary Madness has been modernized to meet the needs of today’s gamer without straying from the strategic elements that earned the original version awards for the “Best Military Strategy Game” and “Best War Game” within a year of its release. For those who want to know who is the “best of the best”, detailed stat-tracking leaderboards can be reviewed online.

Xbox 360 / XBLA










http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=61262

There's a fair chance that unless you're a real strategy nut, you won't know that Hudson's upcoming downloadable release Military Madness is a remake of a TurboGrafix game. In fact, it's not even the first remake, as that honor belongs to the 1998 PS1 edition. With the current consoles all featuring digital distribution, the folks at Hudson have decided to give the title another go. What we're getting is a true remake, though, so while newcomers might be excited to try their hand at the title, franchise vets will have little reason to dive back in, aside from simple nostalgia.

The new remake follows the same story as the original game, and it also features the same units. Air units, artillery, heavy cannons, infantry, and light and heavy tanks: All your old and familiar favorites are here once more, but this time, they have a bit more spit and polish. Obviously, some new units or maps would have done a lot to draw in old fans, but for whatever reason, that wasn't in the cards.

Titles like this are meant to be experienced in multiplayer, and on that front, Military Madness features a healthy amount of two-, three- and four-player arenas. Unfilled slots can be occupied by bots, so you'll still be able to play your favorite maps even if you don't have the requisite number of human competitors.

The game also features all the standards that you've come to expect from turn-based strategy games, such as upgradable command units, level-ups for surviving units after a battle and bonuses for surrounding enemies on at least two sides. Players can also commandeer civilian structures and reap their benefits, such as extra units at no extra cost. Victory comes with the total annihilation of enemy forces or the conquest of your opponent's base.

Even though Military Madness is coming out across all three consoles, Wii owners will be shafted a bit, as some of the multiplayer maps on the other two versions couldn't fit onto Nintendo's box. While using the on-screen cursor might be a more natural way to move units in a strategy game, that convenience will unfortunately come at the expense of some gameplay, which is an unfortunate trade-off indeed.

It's truly unfortunate that Hudson isn't planning any new content for Military Madness, as this already-strong franchise could only benefit from an injection of new content. The title has always been a great member of the turn-based strategy game club, so newcomers who haven't played it before will likely get a kick out of it when it launches later this year. For series vets, it seems that the only incentive to pick up this game will rest on whether or not you've sold off all the systems on which you've played it before and are jonesing for one last hit of sweet Military Madness goodness.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/16-...are-16556.html

August 29, 1989 is a date that no one gives a flying crap about. This was the date that Hudson released the TurboGrafix-16, a would-be competitor to the NES. Despite featuring support for up to 5 players and superior graphics to other consoles of the time, the console never sold more than a couple million units in the US. Despite this, a number of fantastic games were released for the system over the course of its short lifespan. Games like Bomberman '93, Battle Lode Runner, Neutopia, Populous, Dungeon Explorer, and Military Madness are, more often than not, still extremely playable to this day.

One of the greatest games from the above list, Military Madness, will be recreated for Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare, and PSN, renamed as Military Madness: Nectaris. MM is a turn based strategy game in the vein of Advance Wars. In fact, Advance Wars is pretty much a blatant, shameless ripoff of Military Madness. There are a few key differences between the two games, such as MM featuring a hexagonal grid instead of a normal square grid like AW, but other than that it's hard to find anything but similarities.

While I'm not hesitant to accuse the Advance Wars team of taking a lot of their ideas from Military Madness, I'll give it to them that both games are fantastic. Obviously, many more people have played AW than have played MM, and if you like the GBA/DS war series, I can assure you that you'll love Military Madness when it comes to a downloadable service near you.

Hudson has a lot of confidence in the release. “Since its original release on TurboGrafx-16 in 1989, Military Madness has stood the test of time as one of the longest-lived turn-based strategy games in history,” said Sabine Duvall, Vice President of Product Development at Hudson Entertainment. “The new Military Madness will give fans of the original a modern version of this classic strategy game, while gamers new to the series will get to enjoy being armchair generals for the first time.”

That's clearly a corporate line, but I have to stress that this WILL be a complete game that COULD be sold on a disk if Hudson wanted. The update will include new graphics, plenty of new playable units, online co-op and vs modes, and several other unannounced things. Clearly, I'm happy about this, and you should be too. Stay tuned for more coverage of the game.

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-36...ry-Madness/p1/

Military Madness Hands-On Preview (Xbox 360)
By: Andy Eddy - "Vidgames"


If you go back in Japanese video-game history about 20 years, you’ll find a gem of a turn-based strategy game called Nectaris, which was on a game system that was popular at the time called PC Engine (made by Hudson Soft, which was better known for the Bomberman series). The title differed from its similar predecessors, because it supplemented the “hex” board gameplay with arcade-like animation of unit movements, as well as the battles that took place between enemy units. It was a nice mix of thought-provoking strategy and entertaining smash-em-up visuals. And if you are familiar with Nintendo’s Advance Wars games, there’s a good chance that they were inspired by Nectaris.

A short time after, NEC partnered with Hudson to bring the PC Engine to North America, where it was called the TurboGrafx-16. The assumption was that the system would achieve the same success as it had in Japan, where it was the best-selling system versus Sega’s Mega Drive (known here as Genesis). Of course, all this time later, we know the end of the story was that Genesis and its mascot Sonic took TG-16 out in that console generation.

One thing to note, though, is that Nectaris was one of the games converted from its Japanese version, though it was called Military Madness on this side of the Pacific.

Flash forward to today: We’re on the verge of seeing Military Madness again, this time as an Xbox Live Arcade release. Hudson gave us a look at the XBLA version at the recent Game Developers Conference, and even handed the controls to us for a short tryout.

The movement phase shows you how far a unit can go.


For those familiar with the PC Engine/TG-16 original, you’ll be happy to know that the XBLA take is a remake with the same maps and units. It’ll also feature the same story, which centers around a revolt between factions for who will control the Moon—a valuable outlet for resources, considering Earth is no longer able to handle “Man’s insatiable needs.”

While the new Military Madness will match many aspects of the original, it will certain feature enhancements, thanks to the Xbox 360’s powerful hardware. Mainly this will come in the form of 3-D rendered graphics that adds to the presentation quality. It also seems that there’s been some added animations in certain sections, so there’s more to watch when things happen. In the main movement screens, the 3-D rendering means you have full control over the camera to rotate and zoom in to better keep track if your troops and your opponent’s army—well, and it looks much cooler.

The single-player campaign takes you through scenarios on the game’s 16 maps. It’s not only important to get your units in close proximity to the enemy, so you can attack them, but there are also enhancements when you’re on better terrain (obviously, being at a higher altitude than your foe should provide an advantage) or if you’re getting support from nearby units (having units adjacent provides ups the offensive and defensive rankings).

The best part of the game is its multiplayer support, which makes it somewhat of an endless challenge. Up to four players can compete in local or online contests, with AI armies filling in any blanks. Matches can be head-to-head or team vs. team, with the host able to set limits on how many minutes a game will last (with each turn draining from the clock total, much like a chess timer) and the maximum number of turns players will get. On local games, you can either play with multiple controllers or use one controller in a “hot potato” mode. You can also speed up the animations, so you’re not having to spend as much time watching turns play out, if you want to concentrate on the battle action.

Military Madness looks like another fun classic title being added to XBLA’s growing catalog. Hudson is currently targeting the third quarter for the game to hit Xbox Live Marketplace, and we’ll bring you any updates as we receive them.

[Chux]

Fixed your obnoxious title.

[parallaxscroll]

Fixed your obnoxious title.

ok.

[bVork]

You failed to mention in your huge wall of text that this is probably being developed by Backbone. I'm not going to get excited until I play the game for myself. Remember Bomberman Live? Backbone did that too!

[Deewtaei]

Day 1.

[parallaxscroll]

Now all we need is a update of the timeless HERZOG ZWEI and strategy fans will be set.

[Cowutopia]

That shit looks worse than the original. But I love this goddamn game. I already bought it for the Wii.

[K3V]

Looks very gray.

[Deewtaei]

That shit looks worse than the original. But I love this goddamn game. I already bought it for the Wii.

Eh? Looks worse than the original on the TG-16? Already bought it for Wii? Are you thinking of an entirely different game?

[sleeve]

I have this on my cellphone. But I'll probably buy it again for the multiplayer.

MM kicks the shit out of Advance Wars, fer sher.