Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 is the sequel to Army Men: Sarge's Heroes. It was released in 2000 for Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation and PlayStation 2.
The game goes between the Plastic World and the Real World, in which Sarge is the size of a typical plastic Army Man soldier. It features many interactive effects, such as breakable wine bottles, bustable soda cans and music that spikes in intensity when enemies attack.
Overview[]
Sarge's Heroes 2 is very similar to its predecessor in terms of graphics and gameplay, however, in terms of performance, the game was greatly improved in comparison to Sarge's Heroes but at the cost of longer and/or non-linear levels.
One of the many additions was the inclusion of Vikki as a playable character during some campaign missions. In addition, the Game Boy Color version adds Scorch and Riff as playable characters making it one of the few Army Men games allowing you to play as a member of Bravo Company. Indeed, all members of Bravo Company have a major role in each version of the story as Sarge or Vikki team up with one member of the Company at least once during the campaign.
One of the many changes from Sarge's Heroes was the soundtrack that abandoned its militaristic and heroic tone in favor of more rock-oriented music. This change was most likely made to reflect the shift in tone from the first game, where the Green nation is losing against the Tan Army, to the second, where the Greens are on the offensive against a disorganized Tan Army.
Versions[]
Each port of the game follows the same story but are different from each other. The PlayStation version is not a straight port of the Nintendo 64 version with the former being built from scratch for the console and having different levels and gameplay. The PlayStation 2 version is an enhanced port of the Nintendo 64 version with better graphics alongside some features and remastered FMVs from the PlayStation version.
The Game Boy Color version is a completely different game with a vastly different plot from the other versions though still being a sequel to Sarge's Heroes, using comic book styled cutscenes to tell its story. This version of the game let's you play as either Vikki, Scorch and Riff as they proceed to fight an insurgency of Tan embolden by Plastro's return.
Plot[]
Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 starts sometime after the events of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes. It is announced that the capture of Field Marshal Tannenburg will end the war since General Plastro disappeared, as it is believed that he has become a victim of plastrification and has been trapped in the real world.
The game starts with Sarge and the Bravo Company destroying a portal in a real-world dinner while Brigitte Bleu -- an alluring Blue Spy -- watches from afar, admiring Sarge. After returning to the Plastic World, Grimm informs Sarge and Vikki about the Anti-Plastrification serum and the threat it represents to the Green Nation, Sarge and Vikki are sent to destroy the cargo train containing the Serum and the portal the Tans use to transport it, they succeed and Sarge and Vikki separate, Sarge goes to the Freezer while Vikki goes to the Graveyard. On the Freezer, Sarge manages to destroy the Serum hidden inside Soda cans, and Vikki, with the assistance of Hoover, manages to reach Dr. Madd's castle but instead of waiting for Sarge, she enters the Castle and ends up captured by Zombies, eventually Sarge manages to rescue her and destroy the Serum inside the castle.
Meanwhile, Brigitte Blue finds Plastro plastified in a bedroom in the real-world and de-plastifies him using a perfume made by Dr. Madd. Plastro immediately develops a crush on Brigitte who convinces him to take back control of the Tan army by using her perfume to create an army of robot and war toys.
On their return, Grimm informs the duo that they have found the location of Tannenburg's headquarters with the help of a Blue Spy which is revealed to be Brigitte Bleu, who proclaims to be working with the Blue Resistance.
The Green Army launches an assault on the Tan's Headquarters and Tannenburg is captured. During the peace treaty, Plastro invades the base through a portal with his new army and captures Vikki. Seeing that the base is lost, Grimm and Sarge escape. They reunite with Bravo Company in a faraway outpost and are sent to capture the Tan's Bedroom Command. On their way, they discover that Brigitte was working for Plastro all along and they set up for attacking the bed to capture her. Sarge, with the help of Thick, manages to capture her, however, Shrap and Grimm come to inform Sarge and Brigitte that the Blue Nation was being invaded by Tan Forces. Sarge and Riff move to the Blue Nation to help the losing-Blue forces and manage to push the Tans out of the nation, Brigitte, heartbroken to see her city in ruins, reveals the location of Plastro's headquarters in the Toy Store.
Meanwhile at the Toy Store, Plastro, having Vikki tied up, claims that since Brigitte left him, she will be his wife and sends his soldiers to keep her guarded in a gum dispenser while he plans to use Rockets to destroy all the nations that oppose the Tan Republic.
Sarge and the Bravo Company commandoes manage to reach the Toy Store and they separate with Sarge attempting to rescue Vikki, and Brigitte and the Bravo Company attempting to capture Plastro, Sarge manages to rescue Vikki and she tells Sarge about the Rockets and both hurry to stop them, meanwhile, Brigitte betrays Bravo Company by sending them into traps so the Tans could capture them to regain Plastro's trust.
After destroying various trains containing the Rockets, both see Plastro taking Brigitte to the Billiard Table and both separate with Sarge going after Plastro and Vikki after the remaining Rockets, she manages to destroy the Rockets as Sarge reaches the Billiard Table only to see Plastro tying Brigitte to a dynamite stick and taunting him into rescuing her. After fighting his way through the table, he unties Brigitte only to be betrayed by her when she uses the Plastrification Serum on Sarge, paralyzing him.
At the Pinball table, Plastro celebrates his victory by torturing a paralyzed-Sarge, unable to handle Sarge being tortured, Brigitte orders some of her loyal Tan soldiers to activate a vending machine to cause noise so the Green Army could find the table and use the Anti-Plastrification serum on Sarge, freeing him. He eventually frees Bravo Company and corners both Plastro and Brigitte, she attempts to persuade Sarge into sparing her only to be hit in the face by Vikki, causing both to fight while Plastro activates a sleeping Toy Robot to kill the heroes but they are saved when a green helicopter (piloted by William Blade) appears and uses the serum to give life to another Toy Robot, both Robots fight until both fall off the table, Plastro also attempts to escape only to faint at Sarge's attempted act of violence on him.
Upon returning to the Plastic World, Plastro is forced to order his forces back to the Tan Republic and Vikki ask Sarge about Brigitte and if they will see again with Sarge replying that they will someday.
On the last moments of the Campaign, Brigitte, in her hideout, promises that she will make Sarge hers someday.
Weapons[]
- M-16
- Shotgun
- M-60 Machine Gun
- Sniper Rifle
- Flamethrower
- Grenade Launcher
- Bazooka
- Mortar
- Grenade
- Fire Cracker
- TNT
- Air Strike
- Whip 'n' Pop (PS1)
- Pierce Launcher (PS1)
- Swarmer Launcher (PS1)
- Crossbow (PS1)
Enemies[]
Tan:
- Tan Soldier
- Attack Helicopter
- Tank
- Mini-Soldier
- Zombie
- Giant Soldier (PS1)
- Tanzilla (PS1)
General Plastro's De-plastered Toys:
- Super Robot
- Shock Trooper
- Robo Spider
- Toy Scorpion
- Wartank (PS1)
- Wind-Up Toy (PS1)
Blue:
- Tank (N64)(PS2)
Grey:
- Grey Guard (PS2)
Bugs:
Allies[]
Grey:
Blue:
Gallery[]
Character Bios[]
Reception[]
Corporate gaming media such as IGN and GameSpot generally panned the game with middling to unfavorable reviews, especially focusing on the PlayStation version's FMV cutscenes and lower quality of level design. General audiences were more favorable to the game, especially on the Nintendo 64. Nintendo Power Magazine gave the game a 7.1 out of 10 on the N64, citing its soundtrack and level design as strong points.
Fans of the original Sarge's Heroes generally appreciated the game's control scheme changes, but some took issue with alterations in the game's tone from the original and its changes in level design philosophy.
While the original game featured many sprawling, sparse levels set in the Plastic World, the sequel focuses more on small, tightly-packed levels in the real world, often with a large degree of vertical traversal involved, which some players found difficult and janky to navigate with Sarge's control scheme.
Spin-Offs[]
Portal Runner follows Vikki Grimm and Leo the Lion trying to escape the wrath of Brigitte Bleu and the Jurassic Period via different portals.
Trivia[]
- Sometimes when playing as Vikki, she will grunt the same way Sarge does in a male voice when she falls.
- A common glitch is when playing as Sarge, Vikki will start to shoot you and never stops.
- In the game manual, it mentions the Tan melting Sarge's dad, which differs from the game manual for Sarge's Heroes. The manual for the original Sarge's Heroes says that Sarge saw the Tan Army kidnap his dad and is presumed dead. It also says that Sarge wouldn't rest until his dad's death was avenged.
- Unlike the first game, the M16 has infinite ammo in all difficulty modes, but its fire rate was nerfed.
- In the game manual for the first Sarge's Heroes, it mentions that Vicki isn't a member of the Bravo Company Commandos which means she becomes a member after the events of the game and why she accompanies some of the commandos on missions during this game.