Developed by: DC Studios (Game Boy Advance) and an unknown studio (Game Boy Color)
Development started: August 2000
Planned platforms: Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color
Over the years, the Army Men franchise produced many titles, but one that remained largely unnoticed was a portable adaptation of Sarge’s Heroes for the Game Boy Advance, handled by DC Studios. This handheld project was meant to translate the experience of the N64, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and PC versions to Nintendo’s new portable system. Alongside it, another version for the Game Boy Color was reportedly in production by a different, currently unidentified developer.
Production was led by Karla Healy and Mark Greenshields, with Ian James serving as the main programmer. Menu and FMV sequences were handled by a contributor known simply as Gerry. Interestingly, Ian James would later work on Army Men: Advance, released the following year.
Visual design was managed by Kristi-Louise Herd, while Alan Macfarlane created early mockups and concept pieces. At that stage, no one had been assigned to sound design or music.
Development officially began in August 2000, with plans for release in January 2001. The project took its main inspiration from the PlayStation version, though DC Studios modified gameplay and interface elements to suit the portable hardware. The expected cartridge capacity was 32 megabits, with FMV scenes adapted from the PSX edition.
Due to the GBA’s lack of true 3D capabilities, the game was designed around a pseudo-3D isometric perspective, giving players a tilted 2.5D view of the battlefield. Players would be able to move behind objects, hide behind buildings or trees, and even enter certain structures and vehicles. But in some ways this would have been reminiscent of PC games: Army Men (1998), Army Men 2, Toys in Space, etc.
Planned levels included Kitchen, Bathroom, Garden, Fort Plastro, Sandbox, and Living Room, with additional stages such as the Garage and Bedroom under consideration.
The design also proposed environmental interaction, such as blowing up parts of the scenery to reveal hidden items or weapons. Destroyable barriers would expose new paths within each level. A map overlay could be activated at any time, and players were to choose between Sarge or Vicky as playable characters at the start of the game.
Unfortunately, the project ended after reaching its first milestone, which included a functional menu system, an early version of the main sprite, and a small portion of the barracks map. The exact reason for its cancellation remains unclear.
Thankfully, several early builds and design documents have survived, thanks to Mark Greenshields, who allowed these materials to be archived and shared. They provide a glimpse into an ambitious attempt to bring Sarge’s Heroes to handheld form, bridging console-scale gameplay with the limitations of the Game Boy Advance.