I got Army Men for the gameboy color (along with the game boy color) for Christmas 2000. I know this review is being written the day after, but that is as long as it takes to come to a conclusion on this game! Sadly, one would be better suited spending the money on a bag of "real" green army men than on this game. They would be much more fun.
The back of the package promises all kinds of neat adventures. You get to cover "multiple terrains, sneak behind enemy lines, secure confidential war plans, and eliminate the Tan Adversary". The box also claims that you will "pick up a variety of destructive weapons and drive high powered military vehicles". The last line of propaganda says that "It's real combat"... well, war is hell!
Graphics
Hey, you can't expect too much from the little console. It is only going to be mediocre at best, the GBC is NOT a graphics machine. I kept that in mind and tried to be objective. They really aren't that bad, an earlier post I read mentioned that their are only 3 colors, that person is correct. It is going to be very difficult to get ANY sort of 3D effect with only 3 colors. The men themselves don't resemble men very much. They look more like trees with no leaves when standing still. The screen does scroll smoothly, but that is not going to win graphics wars. Compared to other GBC games, the graphics are not terrible, but definately sub par.
Sound
Give me a break! There is annoying music and drum rolls that I HAD to disable. The music and voices actually sound like they are coming through a radio transmission. I thought maybe it was the tiny GBC speaker, so I tried the stereo headphones... hey, static in stereo! The sound is terrible!
Gameplay
Well this is why it didn't take me long to form an opinion. Sarge (your character) is as unresponsive as my hard headed dog. You can TRY to make him move or aim where you want, but it takes some finnss to get him to walk between rocks or hit a target. Sarge moves VERY slowly and he will not turn fluidly. What this leaves you with is a whole lot of frustration! The enemies are pumping you full of lead while you are trying to maneuver into position to shoot them.
There are all sorts of goodies lying around. Health, automatic rifles, bazookas, and grenades to name a few. The game is pretty generous with the health, but not the major weapons. When one leg of a mission is complete, you loose all the extras you have picked up... whats up with that? I am in the same spot I was before HQ radioed me, but now I have no bazooka... oh and the message was that I have to blow up a jeep. Gotta find a new bazooka and then get to the bridge!
HQ breaks in to tell you "good job" and give you your next mission. They told me to stop a jeep crossing a bridge on the SOUTHWEST side of town. I looked all over the bottom left of that town, no bridge. I pressed select and found the "strategy map". The strategy map is very helpful, it shows that the only bridges are EAST and SOUTHEAST of town and it shows you how many enemy men are in the area. If not for the map, I would have thrown this game through the window!
Summary
Three words: WASTE OF MONEY
This game has inferior graphics and sound. The game play is horrendous and altogether frustrating. If you love army men, do yourself a favor and buy a bag rather than this box!
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