Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

This compilation contains four classic Army Men games: Army Men, Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes, Army Men: World War, and Army Men: Air Attack. Each entry delivers its own spin on the plastic-soldier conflict, ranging from top-down skirmishes to third-person missions and aerial dogfights. Together, they offer a diverse palette of mission types and control schemes that keep the action feeling fresh across all four titles.

(HEY YOU!! We hope you enjoy! We try not to run ads. So basically, this is a very expensive hobby running this site. Please consider joining us for updates, forums, and more. Network w/ us to make some cash or friends while retro gaming, and you can win some free retro games for posting. Okay, carry on 👍)

In the original Army Men, you take on wave-based combat with a bird’s-eye view. Simple controls and weapon pickups define the experience, and you’ll spend many levels juggling grenades, rifles, and flamethrowers while defending plastic strongholds. Though basic by modern standards, the arcade-style pacing still feels satisfying when you clear out enemy garrisons and rescue POWs.

Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes shifts to a third-person perspective, placing you directly in the boots of Sarge himself. Levels are larger and more exploration‐focused, with hidden health packs, secret areas, and platforming sections. Combat is punchier and more visceral, thanks to the over‐the‐shoulder view. The inclusion of multiplayer deathmatch also adds replay value, letting you and a friend duke it out as miniature soldiers in oversized environments.

Army Men: World War returns to top-down action but spices up the formula with vehicle missions—steering tanks, jeeps, and helicopters through mission objectives that evoke classic war-strategy scenarios. Each mission branches into varied environments, from domestic backyards to moonlit graveyards. It balances the simple run-and-gun ethos with objective-based tasks that break up the monotony.

Finally, Army Men: Air Attack takes to the skies in an arcade-style flight shooter. You pilot plastic aircraft in dogfights, strafing runs, and escort missions over kitchen tables and garden landscapes. The controls are accessible, and the mission design keeps you shifting between bomb runs and aerial skirmishes, making it an addictive change of pace after the ground-bound entries.

Graphics

Visually, this value pack wears its late-’90s and early-2000s heritage on its sleeve. Models are simple polygonal figures painted in solid greens and tans, and environments feature flat textures with modest detail. While dated compared to modern standards, there’s a certain charm to the plastic aesthetic—battlefields feel like scaled-down dioramas where everyday objects become imposing structures.

The original Army Men uses minimalist terrain and basic color palettes, but it communicates gameplay state clearly—enemy units stand out against the ground, and weapon effects pop with bright flashes. In contrast, Sarge’s Heroes ups the polygon count and introduces more varied textures, giving levels like toy-box cityscapes and suburban lawns a more cinematic feel.

World War and Air Attack share an engine lineage that offers more dynamic skies, weather effects, and particle systems. Explosions in Air Attack look particularly satisfying, with billowing smoke and debris that underline the arcade‐shooter thrill. Still, low-resolution assets and occasional clipping remind you these titles hail from an era when hardware limitations ruled supreme.

Story

Rather than deep narratives, the Army Men series embraces campy war‐game theatrics. You’re cast as Green or Blue plastic soldiers embroiled in backyard skirmishes, drawing humorous parallels between toy humans and real-world conflict. Dialogue is minimal, and cutscenes are often brief, but the tongue-in-cheek tone carries you through each mission.

In the original game, your motivation is straightforward: defeat the opposition and reclaim captured territories. Sarge’s Heroes introduces more personality, complete with quippy one-liners from Sarge and banter among squadmates. Missions are framed as covert operations—rescue a general, infiltrate a toy factory, or dismantle a nefarious war machine built from household items.

World War and Air Attack leverage this playful backdrop to set up larger-scale scenarios—assaults on fortified bunkers, aerial cover for advancing troops, and tense night-time raids. There’s no deep character arc, but each title delivers enough situational context to keep the action engaging, especially if you appreciate lighthearted takes on military tropes.

Overall Experience

Army Men Value Pack 2 is a nostalgia-driven bundle that packs hours of varied gameplay into one collection. If you grew up dodging Living Room Death Traps as a plastic soldier or fondly remember the era of arcade-style shooters, this pack feels like a time capsule. Even newcomers can appreciate the simple joys of blasting toy armies and piloting tiny warplanes over oversized backdrops.

That said, modern players may encounter quirks—stiff camera controls in some missions, occasional hit-registration hiccups, and outdated UI elements. Running the games on contemporary systems might require tweaking compatibility settings or using wrappers to achieve full screen and stable performance. But for those willing to invest a bit of setup time, the payoff is a robust selection of bite-sized war games.

Overall, Army Men Value Pack 2 offers solid bang-for-buck, delivering four distinct titles under one roof. Its campy storytelling, varied mission design, and iconic plastic aesthetic make it a worthwhile pick for retro fans, toy soldier enthusiasts, or budget-minded gamers seeking lighthearted action. Just brace yourself for a charmingly rough-around-the-edges experience that wears its age proudly.

Retro Replay Score

null/10