Format: HuCard
Genre: Turn-based Strategy
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Hudson Soft

It is impossible to review Military Madness without comparing it to Intelligent Systems' "Famicom Wars", which had come out the year prior, and was clearly the inspiration for this title. Unlike the aforementioned Famicom release, Military Madness utilizes a hexagonal stage setup, and also takes place on the moon. The lunar surface is surprisingly interesting to look at, while the unit sprite work makes each one easily identifiable at a glance. During combat, the "Famicom Wars"-esque battle view makes use of sprites that seem to neatly rotate and scale into position-- an impressive hardware effect!

Jun Chikuma, who also composed most of the excellent "The Legendary Axe" soundtrack, and who later became synonymous with the Bomberman series, puts in a fantastic shift with this title. Contrasted with "Famicom Wars'" light-hearted, "Hogan's Heroes" approach, Military Madness' music sets a very somber, moody, ambient, highly appealing tone, with ripping bass lines and discordant melodies. Sound effects mostly use the sound chip's white noise channels, and take a back seat to the outstanding music.

Military Madness eschews "Famicom Wars'" resource control mechanic, replacing it with bases which, once captured, allow the owner to take control of all units held within. This drastically increases the tempo of the matches. Units can also be moved back into controlled bases, upon which they are fulled healed. Maps are cleverly laid out and balanced, with obvious care taken to maintain just the right level of player difficulty. There are just enough unit types to lend variety, but not more than is needed. A second human player can take the place of the AI in any of the maps, adding much depth to the challenge.

Military Madness has two huge advantages over "Famicom Wars": first, it benefits immensely from the PC Engine's powerful hardware, giving the formula a massive boost from the flickering mess of the aforementioned Famicom title; second, it was localized to English, giving Westerners a taste of the "war games lite" subgenre over a full decade before 2001's Western release of "Advance Wars". Some later formula refinements-- such as shading to indicate a unit's attack range-- are obviously not present, and there isn't much variety in terms of setting. But nonetheless, Military Madness is a fantastically accessible strategy game, with an aesthetic that none of Intelligent Systems' "Wars" titles-- old or new-- can come even close to matching.