Army Men
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: 3DO Developer: Digital Eclipse Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: Now, how hard could it be to design a game of plastic toys? Not very, and this game understands that. The graphics were done well. I thought the use of colors was great and it had just enough detail to make it work. I didn't like the music or sound effects, but that is easily fixable (just turn it down or off). Sarge was easy enough to see, and I could actually see some detail on him. The graphics helped to make this potentially bad game, a good one. Due to the nature of the game, if you can't see what you re doing, you can't possibly have fun. I think aside from the gameplay, the graphics make this one.
Gameplay: You play Sarge, the famous, green plastic army man. Your mission - destroy the evil tan plastic army men (nobody ever liked the tan guys anyway). With a large arsenal of weapons, even including a few vehicles, the tan army doesn't stand a chance of surviving. As Sarge, you get to go through about 20 missions or so, melting, shooting, and blowing up all kinds of polyethylene. Worried about violence? Don't be, it's just polymer vs. polymer - no blood and guts to deal with. The game progresses with a top down view of the action. You can easily see Sarge, the scenario, and your health meter (as well as the guy's you're toasting). Not only is the game fun, but it is also designed quite well.
Difficulty: I found the game to be of perfect difficulty. It was hard enough to have to use continues, but not too hard to be unbeatable. Also, it is hard enough to not be an easy walkthrough. The learning curve is also quite nonexistent. It is a very easy game to get the hang of and even easier to like.
Game Mechanics: All you have to do to move Sarge around is to press the corresponding direction on the pad. To fire your weapon, just hit the button. What if you need to change your weapon? You got it, hit the other button. You can pick up health, new weapons, and even extra items along the way. The game mechanics are very simple for this one (as usual for the Game Boy). The only real complaint I have about the game is the choppy scrolling involved with the gameplay. Other than that, it's not the best game on the system, but it ain't bad. Not bad at all.
-Storm, GameVortex Communications AKA Jeremy Kelso
All-Star Baseball 2001 Duke Nukem