Curious, confused, or fanatic…*

*…about Nectaris, Military Madness & Earth Light?

WE HAVE IT: BASE NECTARIS features FAQ's, walkthroughs, reviews, weapon guides, instruction manual scans, guide book scans, package scans, box art scans, magazine scans, cheats, passwords, codes, trivia, screenshots, etc. for each and every game in the Nectaris/ Military Madness/ Earth Light series.

WHAT IS NECTARIS? MILITARY MADNESS? Nectaris is a turn-based tactical strategy game (hexagonal map). It has a distinctly sci-fi flavor, with battles unfolding on the harsh surface of the Moon. Indeed, the game's very title—Nectaris—is derived from the Latin name Mare Nectaris (Sea of Nectar), the lunar region that serves as the game's setting. In February of 1989, Hudson Soft released Nectaris for the PC-Engine (a Japanese video game console). Later that year, when NEC released the PC-Engine in North America, the console was re-branded as TurboGrafx-16 and Nectaris was re-titled as Military Madness. Since 1989, the original Nectaris (and a handful of updates & sequels) have appeared on numerous platforms.

1989's Military Madness (TurboGrafx-16), the North American title for Japan's Nectaris (PC-Engine). Map 26, ATTAYA, is particularly cruel: you immediately face half-a-dozen HUNTER's, the most fearsome weapon in your opponent's arsenal. BISON, on the other hand, are a relatively weak, common tank that prove to be extremely versatile. Δ

RELATED GAMES: Earth Light (Super Famicom) was Hudson's ill-fated attempt to spin-off their Nectaris series, whilst other companies, such as Blue Byte Software, found success with Battle Isle, a strategy game that was inspired by Nectaris. Δ

Recent Updates…

Thank you for your help! Believe it or not, this site has evolved (albeit slowly) over the years. Without your contributions, though, it would have become an ossified relic. Again, your contributions breathe new life into old remains; thank you. Δ

NEW CONTENT, AHOY!

• 08.31.2010 —The new, updated pages will slowly be rolling out over the next few weeks. REQUEST: If you can contribute in any way, please do. For example, I would love to offer the soundtracks for all the games (especially 1995's German MS-DOS game and 1998's PlaySation update) as high-quality .mp3 (or FLAC, or whatever) files! If you can rip these soundtracks, please contact us! Also, I am trying to put together information on the PS3, XBLA and WiiWare Nectaris games; any information you can contriubte would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance :) Δ
• 08.18.2010 — Inspired by the recent addition (Emirzian's iPhone Neo Nectaris FAQ), the entire site will be getting a fresh coat of paint. It was time for a change. It was time to organize things better. It was time to update the content (for example, the old site listed the 2003 port of Nectaris to cellular phones as "new", completely ignoring the recent Nectaris games that have appeared on WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, PS3 and iPhone). Δ
• 07.30.2010 — A big "Thank you!" to Matthew Emirzian for creating the iPhone Military Madness: Neo Nectaris FAQ (Revision 3, 6/29/2010). I created a slightly more aesthically-appealing version of Matthew's iPhone FAQ for Base Nectaris. I encourage you to visit Matthew's site Tactical Insights, read his review for iPhone Neo Nectaris or contact him: mjfaqs@live.com & mjemirzian@tbstactics.com Δ
• 02.12.2007 — Apparently, Hudson has released a patch for the Virtual Console version of Military Madness. This patch is purported to fix the emulation problems (aural & visual stuttering) players were encountering in stages with larger maps. Indeed, Military Madness has the dubious honor of being the first Virtual Console game to be issued a patch. At least the patch does not erase a player's save states. It saddens me that Military Madness was marred by this emulation debacle. See previous post. Δ
• 01.13.2007 — It saddens me to tell you that Military Madness does not run smoothly or accurately on Wii's Virtual Console. The game was released in North America in December of 2006. Thus far, Hudson has tried to downplay the glitches as minor, but all accounts suggest that the emulation problems significantly hinder gameplay (specifically, there are aural and visual glitches when scrolling the larger maps). In stark contrast, the cellular version of Military Madness is very nice indeed! So here we are, in 2007, and we find ourselves with an ancient port of Military Madness on a cell phone outshining the offerings of a next-generation console. Sobering news. Δ
• 10.24.2006 — I fixed most of the broken links to the scanned images and made some slight modifications to the home page, so all of the instruction manuals should be available once again. Also, in more important news, Base Nectaris will feature a brand-new project created by a fellow Nectaris fan, Mike Freligh. The new content will go live at the end of 2006/early 2007. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but lots of folks will be happy when they see the new addition! On that note, and before I forget, I should update the credits page and note the contributions of Mike Freligh and David Fichtner…Done! Δ
• 10.21.2006 — OK, it has been nearly two years since I have touched this site. Actually, about a year ago a kind soul—David Fichtner—was kind enough to provide an English translation of the text that appeared on the back of the German packaging. The translation went through several iterations and I think the version he ended up with is pretty polished. In other news… Base Nectaris has been offline for a month or two, but I kept receiving so many requests for it to go back online that I finally uploaded the old site to its new home at www.tg-16.com… Of course, there are approximately 10,000 broken links as a result of the move… I don't know when I'll get a chance to fix them. If I am feeling particularly nice, I might fix some of the broken links to the scans. Drop me an email when you encounter something awry. Don't be offended if I respond a month or two later. Yay! I just realized that Military Madness was not even available on cell phones in North America at the time of my last update, and now the game is likely to appear on Wii's Virtual Console. Who would have thought that there would be a sustained interest in this particular title? In the next update, I promise to have lots of fantastic content from a fellow Nectaris fan. He's been working on a very special project that many of you will appreciate tremendously. Don't hold your breath, but this site needs to be completely overhauled as well. I need to cut lots of redundant text and devise a fresh layout for the pages. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do this by 2008! Don't laugh. Δ
• 11.26.2004 — THANKS! to the contributions of Lawrence (nfgman), I was inspired to create a dedicated FAQ for the NEC PC-9800 & Sharp X68000 versions of Nectaris. Similarly, THANKS! to the contributions of Richard Harper (scans of floppy disk, weapon guide, front and back box), I was inspired to finally create a FAQ for the German PC-DOS Nectaris. Anyway, I can't stress the following point enough:  if it weren't for your contributions, this site would still be a stagnant and unfinished pile of trash.  Seriously.  In fact, once I finished the aforementioned FAQs, I decided to put the finishing touches on the German Weapon Guide and the Universal Weapon Guide (I have yet to update the guide for Neo Nectaris, however).  I also discovered that there is a Japanese site already called BASE NECTARIS (although it focuses exclusively on the original PC-Engine version of the game)!   This stinks because I thought I had an original name for my site.  So, in an effort to distinguish my site from its Japanese counterpart (and because I don't want to overhaul my entire site), I have decided that my site will now be officially known as BASE NECTARIS (USA).  Yeah, that's pretty corny, but it's the best I could come up with.  The Japanese site is really wonderful, by the way, and has been updated recently (unlike the other Japanese Nectaris sites that have long been abandoned).  Finally, I made a slew of banners for all my sites.  This was just a creative exercise, I reckon, because I doubt any of these banners will ever be used to link to my site. Δ
• 10.01.2004 — BIG NEWS! The TurboGrafx-16 Preservation Society (offline) is finally available.  The first feature to inaugurate the site is the Final Zone II Preservation Project (offline) which encourages you to "Enjoy the Glorious Sights and Sounds" of this early CD-ROM game.  IMPORTANT: All of my sites have been re-organized and transferred to new URL's… the old content has been removed (except for the "coming soon" pages that I haven't overhauled yet)…so old links will no longer work (although I will throw up a few "referrer" pages).  Things to look forward to: (1)  the TurboPlay Archives will be updated and include an expanded history and many, many more full-page scans of TurboPlay, DuoWorld & TurboForce…  (2) New Nectaris info / scans from contributors (as soon as I get their stuff, I'll update the relevant pages)…  (3) and the TG-16 Preservation Site has several projects in the works… Δ
• 09.09.2004 — Lots of new stuff to report.  The biggest development is that Lawrence (www.gamesx.com) has been gracious enough to provide invaluable scans and information on two of the most elusive Nectaris games—the 1992 port of the original Nectaris for  (1) PC-9800 (NEC's personal computer series) and  (2) X68000 (Sharp's personal computer). Dedicated sections for this PC software will be up soon.  Until then,  peruse some of these "new" pages (I say "new" because the old content has been completely overhauled and lots of new content has been added): GB KISS LINK FAQ (I've created a 2-page mini-FAQ focusing exclusively on GB KISS), Neo Nectaris magazine coverage (PC-Engine Fan scans, possible existence of a Neo Nectaris Guide Book).  Plus, old content has been spruced-up and given a face-lift (original cinema scenes). Δ
• 07.31.2004 — Jesus friggin' Christ it takes a lot of time and energy to update these sites (Nectaris stuff and Turboplay Magazine).  I have finally given proper treatment to the NECTARIS OFFICIAL GUIDE BOOK—Full size images are now available for the old thumbnails, plus a few new images (and commentary) have been added.  I have been trying to make this site look nicer, that's why many pages have a new format (I have yet to tackle the biggest section though—the Neo Nectaris FAQ).  Whilst making things look prettier, I have also been revising and updating the content.  Content is still quite choppy/repetitive in parts.  Oh well.  I have lots of new TG-16/PC-Engine content in the pipeline (I think BASE NECTARIS is going to branch out and cover these consoles…) , but I don't dare work on them until I create, fix and complete the 20,000 missing/incomplete pages already on this site. Seriously, I don't know why I do this.  It gets too frustrating too quickly. Δ
• 05.24.2004 — The most important news: BASE NECTARIS is proud to present the TurboPlay Magazine Archives for TG-16 and PC-Engine enthusiasts around the globe.  The TurboPlay Archive is a natural offshoot for me since I am a big fan of the TG-16/PCE consoles (as you may recall, BASE NECTARIS itself began as a Neo Nectaris FAQ).  I am slowly overhauling this site to make it more aesthetically pleasing and easier to navigate.  Well, "overhaul" is too strong a word, I guess I'm just tweaking this site (even this takes too much time, unfortunately).  I finally acquired a copy of the German PC DOS Nectaris (thanks Rainer!), but my friend won't send it to me until I give him prints of the photos he took of my wedding (he's been waiting for three years for me to do this).  I will gladly accept additional copies of this German software.  The PC-98 software remains elusive and is #1 on my want list.  Please help me!  I'll gladly take scans, reviews…anything you can provide. Δ
• 12.10.2003 — OK, I finally added Gameboy images (black & white) to the OUTDATED Universal Nectaris Weapon Guide.  As always, this site is still a work in progress, but I will be slowly adding content and stuff every other week. For example, here is some content I'm currently working on: (A) Nectaris: American vs. Japanese storylines (discrepancies), (B) Neo Nectaris: English translation of names/descriptions for 8 new units. You probably noticed that I don't have dedicated sections for the personal computer (PC) Nectaris titles yet.  Well, expanded info on the Japanese freeware version (1997, PC, Windows 95/98) will be up soon—but I still can't find software/manuals/packages for the PC-9800 (Japan) or MS-DOS/Windows (German) Nectaris games. SO… any help you can provide translating manuals/cinemas, providing screenshots, scans, and basically any info on the Nectaris series would be greatly appreciated. I am especially interested in locating worldwide magazine/fanzine coverage of these games. Δ
• 12.01.2002 — Work on the text-only Neo Nectaris FAQ begins. Δ

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About this site…

When I originally created this site, the only folks who were familiar with Nectaris were: (1) TurboGrafx-16 aficionados, (2) PC-Engine aficionados and/or (3) fans of "old skool" strategy games. I never dreamed that TurboGrafx-16, let alone the Nectaris series, would find new life. But that is precisely what has happened with the mainstream appeal of Nintendo's Virtual Console, as well as the relatively "recent" Nectaris titles released for mobile devices, WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and PlayStation Network (PSN). Amazing! Δ

Everything, of course, goes back to 1989, when my brothers and I pooled our limited resources and purchased a TurboGrafx-16 console. Later, we were lucky enough to win some free software from a contest in TurboPlay Magazine. One of the games I received was—you guessed it, Military Madness. I loved that goddamned game. Δ

A BASIC TIMELINE

• December 1989 — My brothers and I purchase our first batch of TurboGrafx-16 games: Blazing Lazers, China Warrior, and Vigilante. Military Madness looks intriguing, but we fear we may not get "our money's worth" from it. Sad, but true.
• December 1991 — I play Military Madness on TurboGrafx-16 and absolutely love it. Why didn't I get this game sooner? I want to play more games like this. Perhaps there will be a sequel?
• December 1992 — TurboForce Magazine #03 lists Military Madness 2 as a "future release". I eagerly await for its arrival on store shelves. As you might have guessed…the sequel to Nectaris, Neo Nectaris, never makes it to North America.
• December 2002 — Finally playing Neo Nectaris! Finally, finally, finally playing it. Ten years later, but worth it. I have questions, though, about some of the new units! After scouring the internet, my questions still unanswered, I decide to write a FAQ for Neo Nectaris.

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As you can see from the timeline above, in 2002 I started writing a text-only FAQ for Neo Nectaris. Unsatisfied with a text-only document, I embellished the FAQ with images and made it into a website. I remember trying to take pictures of my old CRT television to obtain screenshots, but I was unhappy with the results. I finally resorted to using a emulator to get decent screenshots.

Over the years, this site has grown to document the entire Nectaris series. Δ

A blast from the past…

The old site was bright and colorful. Gaudy, even. Hopefully, the new design isn't too drab and boring in comparison. Δ

So, there you have it: this website was born because I wanted to make the Neo Nectaris FAQ look pretty.

Truth be told, my work on this site is far from complete. There are many unanswered questions. For example: I still want to find out what the hell the GB KISS and GB KISS MODEM were all about. I mean, being the illiterate knave I am, I have never verified (a) the information in the Nectaris GB manual, (b) anything else. Plus, there are many mistakes: do all of the easter eggs/cheat codes really work? I remember trying some of these codes out a decade ago, but I never thoroughly tested them. I simply regurgitated the codes that I found in old magazines and old websites. You see? Loose ends like that are troublesome. We should tie them up. Δ

Contribute! Contact Us!

Contact us: base.nectaris.usagmail.com

If you can improve the quality of this website in ANY way, please do so! Thank you!

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