They made 21 games in just Five years. The problem was, 3DO failed at entering the console market due to having a system that was just too expensive ($700 in 1993) and had to compete with other established consoles with plenty of 3rd party support (The 3DO had some, but mostly stuck to it's own library of games they developed themselves) Along came the goldmine that was Army Men. Army Men was a title that had so much potential, with it's irreverent sense of humor and high-quality gameplay. As time went on, they became ambitious, and wanted to establish multiple franchises out of the property instead of focusing on one singular franchise as a whole. They made the top-down shooting games, the games focusing on Sarge and his "Heroes", an attempt to branch out with Vicky in "Portal Runner", the helicopter franchise, what appeared to be a reboot of Army Men 3D with Land Sea and Air along with World War and eventually even an RTS. By about 2001, I remember reading a review bemoaning how many offshoots 3DO made out of the franchise and mentioned, "If we get Army Man Kart, I'm calling it quits". There is a jarring drop in quality in the games between '98 and '00. Army Men 3D had much better controls and graphics than World War which was released after the success of the franchise and after 3DO had enough experience to really polish the next game up and improve it. I mean, the tank models in World War were these big blocky messes of polygons that didn't animate or move, and the multiplayer was missing sounds from certain weapons that were present in the main game. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have even been released unfinished just to meet the deadline. By Green Rogue, 3DO outright admitted it wasn't focusing enough on the quality of the games and needed to slow down with releases. Not that it did them any good, since they went bankrupt in 2003. Army Men could have survived, and could still be a beloved franchise on current-gen consoles to this day if 3DO had just slowed down and tried to space out releases yearly while focusing on quality over quantity. Damn shame.
@@bluesrocker91 Depends. World War for PC was far different than World War for PS. It kept the feel of the original 3 Army Men games. While the PS release was a sub par Medal of Honor.
3DO had also stretched themselves thin with the Might and Magic releases as well, leaving the 4th heroes game and the 9th RPG title both unfinished when the company tanked.
I was a fan of the Army Men games when young and till this day i still go with Army Men RTS as my all time favourite of the series, i think it was brilliantly done and being interested in those kind of games got my attention a lot.
That's because of limitations of the time..no one had seen 1080p 3D graphics in games so this is what was actually good at the time. Lmao it's not rocket science.
@@retro9848 The irony being that games with drawn sprites held up better with age while the 3D games look like monstrosities despite everyone demanding 3D back when it first came out. I mean some games like Super Mario 64 get away with it, everything else looks like shit.
DragonEye well I mean they had just created 3d videogames, of course it's gonna look like shit. But it was new and innovative and fun and opened the door for the games we have today. Just like the evolution from Adventure on Atari to something like Mario on the 64.
Yes please! The original isometric Army Men games (1, 2, Toys in Space & Air Tactics) were by far the best. They butchered the series by hopping onto the 3D third-person shooter bandwagon and ended up going bankrupt and selling out to Global Star who let the series die :(
Dimitriy Dzyuba The third person Army Men games were far worse than the CoD games of the same time, so I'm pretty sure Activi$ion wouldn't have to bother bribing journalists to give them a bad name. Just go look at some user/consumer reviews. The majority of people hated or disliked those third person games. I mean sure, as a kid with no standard or alternative games to compare them to they were fun, but I felt enlightened when I had enough money to buy games myself instead of just playing that trash. Army Men 1, 2, World War, Air Tactics and Toys in Space were the only good games made by 3DO in my opinion. Sarge's Heroes was interesting but had some serious flaws. Sarge's War was alright but outshone by other titles of the time.
5:01 was my favorite! I didn't have a memory card for my playstation. So I ended up replaying the game over and over to get further. I remember mastering the bomber mission and timed when the enemy planes arrived and where they came from. Such memories.
Army Men Sarge's Heroes - my first shooter I played. Actually, I'm playing it at the moment, just to finally finish it (back in 1999 I barely made it to the end of the first act)
Loved Air Attack and Army Men as a kid, but I was by no means a connoisseur of the franchise. It's insane how many of these games were thrown out there. Air Combat - The Elite Missions still plays and has a ton of the sound effects from the original Air Attack even though it released in 2003. I imagine these being pumped out with reused assets probably contributed to the downturn of the franchise. I'd love to see a modern Army Men game release. I feel like the aesthetic of being miniature toys fighting around areas of a house would look amazing. Look at games Grounded and how awesome that looks as a miniature person game, these could look so good with modern capabilities.
SuperColonel91 Army Men 3 was a fan made game and it came out a couple years ago. If I remember where I downloaded it from I'd tell ya, but I can't. Try looking up a video of it and it might have a download link or something. It was pretty damn good for a fan made game though. Look into it and I hope you like it.
One of my favorite game series of all time. Unfortunately, after releasing 21 titles in less than 5 years, they went bankrupt in 2003. This series had great potential if they were a bit slower with the releases and had more polished titles per year.
I hope these games make a comeback someday. With so much creativity and imagination with the right developers and publishers, it can work. I would like to see a mixture of a darker, serious story with light-hearted humor so both adults and children can play together. Wouldn’t mind a WWII element-like story where they are at their own world than they go to a portal to the human world. You still use other factions like with the green, tan, blue, grey and other colors but with their own story. They can make a game with ideas from the PC Army Men trilogy, the sarges heroes series, RTS, air series,and 3D gameplay, ability to drive vehicles similar to 3D and PC trilogy. In other words, combine all the best elements from each game in the new series.
I enjoyed your video. A well organised presentation of Army Men's historical development. My earliest memory is playing it on PlayStation one im beginning of 2000s
GHOST I mean you have different city's towns forts fronts not to mention you have the Grey's and blues the blues seem more like spy's though and the Grey's are brefily menstiond in 2 games and mainly appere as an exuse to fight more enamys
It was a deavastaing attack on the green city killing most of our heros but sarge made it and curb stomped the new molds of tan forces so really it turned to a draw and remember they kept the molds of the heros so they will be made again
My god the sarges heroes games and RTS were my FUCKING childhood i miss them so much, imagine if someone managed to buy the license back and made a remaster of Sarges Heros id be fucking happy as fuck
This series really went downhill as it progressed.. But man the early games were awesome, still real fun to play to. The 98 army men, Toys in space, world war, Land sea and air.. Good times.
I was greatly obsessed with two things at a certain point as a kid, Army Men and South Park. I have both South Park games on Switch now I need Sarge's Heroes to be ported over.
Gosh, these games, their so nostalgic. I don't care if I sound old fashioned, these games are so awesome! It's a crying shame they are no longer making them. I want to see Army Men the feature length film. You just can't beat the old classics such as The original Prince of Persia series, challenge of the ancient empires, Monkey Island, Max 2, the sims and man many more. The original Mario games are also good in my opinion. I know that games these days have "better graphics" but that's just the way I feel. Army men will go down in history as some of the most enjoyable games of the 90/00's. I can remember playing on my old PC for hours, until my dad threw it away, what a bad day that was )': !!!! I have never played Tron 2.0 but it looks like a fantastic game.
Idk yall but Army men RTS was one of the coolest game i ever had chance to play as a kid , I searched up this video only to find the name of game and download it and play it again for the feels😭
Hmm let's see... On the playstation X, I had Sarge's Heroes, World War, World War - Land, Sea, Air, Air Attack 2, Sarge Heroes 2, Green Rouge and World War - Team Assault. Ahhh fond memories and since Jim Cummings did almost all the voices and as such is the definitive voice of all the characters for me.
This is a game I would love to be picked back up. The first Army Men starting off with a gritty-ish war story of plastic soldiers who think they're war is consuming the world, with subtle hints that they're just toys, figments of a childs imagination, and the sequels keeping the same tone throughout, and expanding the story and such.
For a long time, I didn't know Portal Runner was even a sequel. I thought general plastro was just a funny character who was there to help establish a backstory.
Army Men World War:LSA made me extremely tense. Getting so far on low health and then getting blasted, having to do it all over again. I miss it though
It's reminds me when mi neighbourhood payed outside with the plastic soldiers, everyone had a few battalions, well sence we were in east europe most of us had Russian and German troops and we always reenacted the eastern front... even if it was 12 years after the cold war american soldiers were still hard to find and purchase, but nevermind I loved my T34 and my Pz6!
Army Men died for me when 3DO did. Sarge's War and even Major Malfunction had some good things about them but it wasn't the same series anymore, story wise or gameplay wise. Soldiers of Misfortune was the nail in the coffin. I doubt we'll ever see another game in this wonderful, underrated franchise but I pray we do.
They made 21 games in just Five years.
The problem was, 3DO failed at entering the console market due to having a system that was just too expensive ($700 in 1993) and had to compete with other established consoles with plenty of 3rd party support (The 3DO had some, but mostly stuck to it's own library of games they developed themselves)
Along came the goldmine that was Army Men.
Army Men was a title that had so much potential, with it's irreverent sense of humor and high-quality gameplay. As time went on, they became ambitious, and wanted to establish multiple franchises out of the property instead of focusing on one singular franchise as a whole. They made the top-down shooting games, the games focusing on Sarge and his "Heroes", an attempt to branch out with Vicky in "Portal Runner", the helicopter franchise, what appeared to be a reboot of Army Men 3D with Land Sea and Air along with World War and eventually even an RTS. By about 2001, I remember reading a review bemoaning how many offshoots 3DO made out of the franchise and mentioned, "If we get Army Man Kart, I'm calling it quits".
There is a jarring drop in quality in the games between '98 and '00. Army Men 3D had much better controls and graphics than World War which was released after the success of the franchise and after 3DO had enough experience to really polish the next game up and improve it. I mean, the tank models in World War were these big blocky messes of polygons that didn't animate or move, and the multiplayer was missing sounds from certain weapons that were present in the main game. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have even been released unfinished just to meet the deadline.
By Green Rogue, 3DO outright admitted it wasn't focusing enough on the quality of the games and needed to slow down with releases. Not that it did them any good, since they went bankrupt in 2003. Army Men could have survived, and could still be a beloved franchise on current-gen consoles to this day if 3DO had just slowed down and tried to space out releases yearly while focusing on quality over quantity.
Damn shame.
I bought most of these games as a kid... I think the World War series seemed to be going for more of a realistic feel.
@@bluesrocker91 Depends. World War for PC was far different than World War for PS. It kept the feel of the original 3 Army Men games. While the PS release was a sub par Medal of Honor.
21 games in 5 years is crazy but 18 games in 3 years is absolute madness
3DO had also stretched themselves thin with the Might and Magic releases as well, leaving the 4th heroes game and the 9th RPG title both unfinished when the company tanked.
I was wondering why sarge's hereos was better than the world war games despite the fact some of the world war games came after sarges heroes
one of the most underrated series ever. I still play the ps1 ones with my dad. We bond with the nostalgia. It,s great.
Oh that's nice, i am sure that you are enjoying with him :-)
I was a fan of the Army Men games when young and till this day i still go with Army Men RTS as my all time favourite of the series, i think it was brilliantly done and being interested in those kind of games got my attention a lot.
SlyMeerkat well in a way when you play with real army men toys its an rts for kids to make a game was Perfect
While I'm not an RTS guy, and enjoy FPS games and RPGS. You are 100% correct in what you have just said.
You can play it on steam!
imagine if call of duty or some fps made 5 or 6 games in a year
Goddamn it nappa
So sad that such a great series declined...soldiers of misfortune and major malfunction were a slap in the face...
FarukanPaunch true when i played it when i was 9 i was like WTF ? Why they're surrendering
Frizzie I played this when I was about 8 years old. Great memories.
@@mineshaft12 😐
Still better than the recent mmo
Soldiers of musfortune was okay... not great tho
When you are kid everything looks better
I dunno mate.
That's because of limitations of the time..no one had seen 1080p 3D graphics in games so this is what was actually good at the time. Lmao it's not rocket science.
@@retro9848 The irony being that games with drawn sprites held up better with age while the 3D games look like monstrosities despite everyone demanding 3D back when it first came out. I mean some games like Super Mario 64 get away with it, everything else looks like shit.
DragonEye well I mean they had just created 3d videogames, of course it's gonna look like shit. But it was new and innovative and fun and opened the door for the games we have today. Just like the evolution from Adventure on Atari to something like Mario on the 64.
For me, its still looking good
RTS was my childhood on the gamecube, and Sarge's War had great splitscreen
ThePotatusMan same
I will have to agree they were amazing games
it's like this game has a small cult following, god do i miss it.
Army Men 1 and RTS are my favorites. The RTS soundtrack is a masterpiece!!
OH YEAH!!!!
yeah. RTS really good
Yeah
It's 2017. I demand remastering.
Yes please! The original isometric Army Men games (1, 2, Toys in Space & Air Tactics) were by far the best. They butchered the series by hopping onto the 3D third-person shooter bandwagon and ended up going bankrupt and selling out to Global Star who let the series die :(
TheLeastPoliticallyCorrect yees v':
Dimitriy Dzyuba The third person Army Men games were far worse than the CoD games of the same time, so I'm pretty sure Activi$ion wouldn't have to bother bribing journalists to give them a bad name.
Just go look at some user/consumer reviews. The majority of people hated or disliked those third person games. I mean sure, as a kid with no standard or alternative games to compare them to they were fun, but I felt enlightened when I had enough money to buy games myself instead of just playing that trash.
Army Men 1, 2, World War, Air Tactics and Toys in Space were the only good games made by 3DO in my opinion. Sarge's Heroes was interesting but had some serious flaws. Sarge's War was alright but outshone by other titles of the time.
Dimitriy Dzyuba
3DO's games were "bestsellers" ?
Ha, you made my day.
@@dimitriydzyuba218 😢👍🏻
5:01 was my favorite! I didn't have a memory card for my playstation. So I ended up replaying the game over and over to get further. I remember mastering the bomber mission and timed when the enemy planes arrived and where they came from. Such memories.
I remember in rts trying to build a new base the exact same way the tans built it after destroying it
I did the same thing, lol
Same here xD
Yup.
I also remember being pissed off that I couldn't build fences next to walls.
WHAT'S THE POINT??
Army Men RTS was perhaps the best strategy game of it's time.
not even close dude. ever heard of Warcraft 3 and Starcraft Broodwar?
Rts is better
you obviously haven't play either of those games nor have you looked at the games ratings.
You obviously haven't played supreme commander, ages of empires, or stronghold.
ಠ_ಠ
Army Men Sarge's Heroes - my first shooter I played. Actually, I'm playing it at the moment, just to finally finish it (back in 1999 I barely made it to the end of the first act)
Awesome!
Loved Air Attack and Army Men as a kid, but I was by no means a connoisseur of the franchise. It's insane how many of these games were thrown out there. Air Combat - The Elite Missions still plays and has a ton of the sound effects from the original Air Attack even though it released in 2003. I imagine these being pumped out with reused assets probably contributed to the downturn of the franchise.
I'd love to see a modern Army Men game release. I feel like the aesthetic of being miniature toys fighting around areas of a house would look amazing. Look at games Grounded and how awesome that looks as a miniature person game, these could look so good with modern capabilities.
Totally agree!
the memories...
The Memories...same here...these were my favorite games in the early 2000s...Army Men 2 was my favorite...but when does Army Men 3 come out?
SuperColonel91 Army Men 3 was a fan made game and it came out a couple years ago. If I remember where I downloaded it from I'd tell ya, but I can't. Try looking up a video of it and it might have a download link or something. It was pretty damn good for a fan made game though. Look into it and I hope you like it.
green rogue pissed me off so much as a kid, it was soooo hard
One of my favorite game series of all time. Unfortunately, after releasing 21 titles in less than 5 years, they went bankrupt in 2003.
This series had great potential if they were a bit slower with the releases and had more polished titles per year.
Army Men RTS was the best fucking game of mine on ps2 along with gauntlet dark legacy and champions of norath
L0sT x That was developed by Pandemic studios.
I hope these games make a comeback someday. With so much creativity and imagination with the right developers and publishers, it can work. I would like to see a mixture of a darker, serious story with light-hearted humor so both adults and children can play together. Wouldn’t mind a WWII element-like story where they are at their own world than they go to a portal to the human world. You still use other factions like with the green, tan, blue, grey and other colors but with their own story. They can make a game with ideas from the PC Army Men trilogy, the sarges heroes series, RTS, air series,and 3D gameplay, ability to drive vehicles similar to 3D and PC trilogy. In other words, combine all the best elements from each game in the new series.
Sounds great! Id donate to it
oh the memories...
i remember owned all the army men world war series, and completed all the games. it is one of my favorite series of army men.
1:25 I spent a lot of time playing this one with my sister. So many memories!
same except with brother, he quit gaming long time ago but when I showed him the game the other day he was like "use flamethrower it was the best".
army men RTS soundtrack, voice act, and sound are nostalgic
¡Buenísimo Resumen! Muy Buena desicionen haber elegido a Army Men ¡Excelente Saga! ¡Muchas Gracias por compartirlo!
I enjoyed your video. A well organised presentation of Army Men's historical development. My earliest memory is playing it on PlayStation one im beginning of 2000s
Wow what a trip through memory lane
Absolute classics! Made me happy this video
This list is actually incorrect, Army Men World War, while having the same name, is a completely different game on the PC.
Caldabolg I noticed that also
Great video, the only comprehensive video i could find for this series.
I like how army men sarge's war is the ending of the games before it since everyone die at the end
GHOST exept sarge but I find it hard to believe all of the green soldiers died
GHOST I mean you have different city's towns forts fronts not to mention you have the Grey's and blues the blues seem more like spy's though and the Grey's are brefily menstiond in 2 games and mainly appere as an exuse to fight more enamys
It was a deavastaing attack on the green city killing most of our heros but sarge made it and curb stomped the new molds of tan forces so really it turned to a draw and remember they kept the molds of the heros so they will be made again
GHOST no those were clones and he didn’t know that
Idk why this just instantly popped in my head, but I remember playing Army Men 2 so much when I was really young. This makes me really nostalgic
Ah! Army Men - Final Front is my childhood! I remember when i got my PS1 when i'm still in kindergarten, i never pass the first level though.
My childhood game... someone needs to take this gem and make a modern day sequel.
There's a spiritual successor out now called "the mean greens" it's really fun and I suggest taking a look at it.
Thank you Aceman for the suggestion. I checked it out but unfortunately it has no single player campaign. But nevertheless it looks great.
Lord Nicholas Buzan the Fearless, don't worry about a thing 'cause I'm gonna make a more games I pro-o-omise ;D
Hey I'm serious
That would be nice
I found these totally unplayable as a kid but loved Air Attack and its back yard undergrowth aesthetic
I felt very nostalgic seeing Army Men: Toys in Space, I used to always play that game on my laptop 24/7
The PS1 World War games' main problem is the framerate in my opinion
When nostalgia hits u tho
Right
Army men 2 is the true concept of Army men itself dude
I love these games, i had Army Men Sarge's War on PS2 and i got a demo disc with Army Men Air Combat those were the days!
Gonna miss these games. They were childhood.
I played all of the 1999 games, they rocked
Thanks, found my childhood: Army Men: Air Attack and Army Men: Air Tactics
you do a wonderful work!!
Without Toy Story, this game series never made.
My god the sarges heroes games and RTS were my FUCKING childhood i miss them so much, imagine if someone managed to buy the license back and made a remaster of Sarges Heros id be fucking happy as fuck
This series really went downhill as it progressed.. But man the early games were awesome, still real fun to play to. The 98 army men, Toys in space, world war, Land sea and air.. Good times.
I was greatly obsessed with two things at a certain point as a kid, Army Men and South Park. I have both South Park games on Switch now I need Sarge's Heroes to be ported over.
1:23 that was the first army game I have ever played. Brings back so many memories
These games were amazing when I was a kid.
Ah, Army Men II. If Army Men as a Call of Duty in a Nutshell before Call of Duty became a thing.
What a fun game to play as a kid. Brings back memories!
best games =) i had so many army man when i was younger air attack are really good games
Sarge's heroes 2 was the best
the first one looks just like Fallout. I need that game now.
the army men series that I've played are, World War, Final Front, Green Rogue, Land Sea Air, and Team Assault ... good times
Man I miss these games
The "you lose" cut scenes scared the fuck out of me.
Great vid man, what about command and conquer it's really good. =)
I searched for it in your videos and didn't find it, anyway Thank you :)
Still like a bit of Air Attack
epic history!
history of warhammer 40k games
COÑO QUIERO QUE ESTA SAGA VUELVA, ojala que army men regrese un dia si pasa saltare como una loca por toda la casa xD, excelente video :")
Gosh, these games, their so nostalgic. I don't care if I sound old fashioned, these games are so awesome! It's a crying shame they are no longer making them. I want to see Army Men the feature length film. You just can't beat the old classics such as The original Prince of Persia series, challenge of the ancient empires, Monkey Island, Max 2, the sims and man many more. The original Mario games are also good in my opinion. I know that games these days have "better graphics" but that's just the way I feel. Army men will go down in history as some of the most enjoyable games of the 90/00's. I can remember playing on my old PC for hours, until my dad threw it away, what a bad day that was )': !!!! I have never played Tron 2.0 but it looks like a fantastic game.
AWESOME!!! I love these games!!
Here's my three favorites. Army Men World War Land, Sea, And Air, Army Men Sarge's Hero's 2, Army Men Air Attack 2.
Idk yall but Army men RTS was one of the coolest game i ever had chance to play as a kid , I searched up this video only to find the name of game and download it and play it again for the feels😭
Hmm let's see... On the playstation X, I had Sarge's Heroes, World War, World War - Land, Sea, Air, Air Attack 2, Sarge Heroes 2, Green Rouge and World War - Team Assault. Ahhh fond memories and since Jim Cummings did almost all the voices and as such is the definitive voice of all the characters for me.
Army Men would have made such a good cartoon series.
A punch straight into nostalgia
Best youtuber, history of games is amazing (platform,year,name complet)
I wish they would recreate one of these especially now with the new gen consoles being so siiiiick with the graphics
I would say Army Men Land Sea Air is one of the weirder games. I remember having that as a kid.
This is a game I would love to be picked back up. The first Army Men starting off with a gritty-ish war story of plastic soldiers who think they're war is consuming the world, with subtle hints that they're just toys, figments of a childs imagination, and the sequels keeping the same tone throughout, and expanding the story and such.
For a long time, I didn't know Portal Runner was even a sequel. I thought general plastro was just a funny character who was there to help establish a backstory.
8:14 How did we go from a game with swaying hair physics along with other nice 'assets', to this again? 8:26
Toys in space was the best. Just needed a few more things. That one and army men 3D
Army Men RTS was ahead of it's time
Army Men RTS is my 2nd game I've ever played,Doom 1993 is the first one.
I'm looking for those game's from long time because I didn't remember the name of it, thanks!
one of the best game sereis. Ruined by bank rubpcy. RIP 3D0-You'll always have that soft spot in my heart intruducing me to video games.
Army Men Air Attack series brought me here...
Army Men World War:LSA made me extremely tense. Getting so far on low health and then getting blasted, having to do it all over again. I miss it though
my favorite Army Men is Green Rogue😉
I have so many fond memories of the ps1 games
It would be awesome if they'd make a game where Sarge's army men duke it out with the characters from the Lego Movie
It's reminds me when mi neighbourhood payed outside with the plastic soldiers, everyone had a few battalions, well sence we were in east europe most of us had Russian and German troops and we always reenacted the eastern front... even if it was 12 years after the cold war american soldiers were still hard to find and purchase, but nevermind I loved my T34 and my Pz6!
I might download the whole world war series on my phone
History of Tom Clancys games?
True classic war game I played this
Army man Sarge hero was my childrenhood game but it was more fun on the Nintendo 64.
i like it how they used a soundtrack from battle tanx global assault
I don’t how or why they pumped out so many games so quickly. Many were good, but 1999 was full of them.
The very first one I remember as a kid playing with my brother
Very well done
I really like those games especially when I was like 2 or 3 years old when I played army men sarge’s heroes on n64 I really like army men games
Army Men died for me when 3DO did. Sarge's War and even Major Malfunction had some good things about them but it wasn't the same series anymore, story wise or gameplay wise. Soldiers of Misfortune was the nail in the coffin. I doubt we'll ever see another game in this wonderful, underrated franchise but I pray we do.
Now Rising Storm 2 is our only hope
i used to sling around objects in air attack
I played the first game SO MUCH when I was a kid
I still play army men rts To this day
I used to play air attack and sarges hero’s so much way back in the day