The End of the World is Nigh..... (Mega lo Mania)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Mega lo Mania
Date:	07/08/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun and original gameplay, nice attention to detail, full of humour, amusing voice acting

Disadvantages: Dated in appearance, if still pleasant to look at

An interesting little game, this! Mega Lo Mania is a real-time strategy game that borrows elements from the likes of Populous, power Monger and Sim City, in which you must advance your civilisation from the stone age through classical, medieval, industrial, modern ages and finally into the futuristic age, balancing your resources and mining a variety of elements whilst developing new weapons that include crossbows, catapults, cannons, machineguns, tanks, planes, nukes and even UFOs. The game maps consist of a number of separate sectors, in each of which you can build structures such as mines, labs and factories whilst guarding them with troops or alternately launching attacks on occupied neighbouring sectors. Your population can be garrisoned in your buildings for safety, and can be made to mine, research or just keep procreating in order to provide you with an ongoing supply of cannon fodder. You play against three other rulers, all of which have their own character portraits that can be clicked on to request or break tactical alliances, and they also have their own digitised speech responses with which they will ask for help, reject offers to team up or just laugh at you if you are losing.

Its a very fast-paced yet tactical game in which good resource management and speedy development is key, and civilisations at different levels of advancement frequently end up battling against one another, with troops trying to fend off biplanes and machinegunners with catapults, pikes and bows and arrows for example. Its especially entertaining when everyone is rushing to build nukes, before all turning to wiping eachother out with apocalyptic glee. The gameplay is very straightforward and immensely fun, with plenty of attention to detail, such as being able to place soldiers on the rooftops of your buildings to guard against invaders, and with different building and unit designs to reflect each of the various ages you progress through.

Simple and engaging with plenty of humour and variety and crude yet colourful and charming graphics, Mega Lo Mania is a very addictive little game that plays like a cross between Populous and Sid Meir's Civilisation games. Its very important to mention the music too, which is a rendition of Gustav Holst's ominous classical piece 'Mars', that adds lots of tension and excitement to an already gripping gaming experience. An ingeniously simple strategy game thats still great fun to play today.

Summary: An innovative little strategy gem from the mid 90s