Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes (Cancelled)

The battle between the Green and Tan Army rages on for control of the Plastic World.

Currently Tan have the upper hand but Sarge was sent on a special mission by Col. Grimm to obtain secret information as to General Plastro’s next maneuvers.

While attempting to get access to a special map from the Tan Army HQ in the Training Camp, Sarge is caught and hauled away to the Tan army prison to await his fate.

The map is special in that it provides details of the new lands Plastro is attempting to gain possession of / rule over. The Green Army must get hold of this map to stay one step ahead of the Tan Mercenaries.

The Story

Sarge has been captured attempting to steal an important map from the Tan Head Quarters. He is sent to Tan Prison. After escaping from the Tan Jail, Sarge embarks on a journey, firstly to obtain the secret map and secondly to attempt to stop the Tan Army taking over the entire Plastic World.

In his first campaign (working title Act One) Sarge escapes from the Tan camp with the secret map. With the information he has gained from the map, Sarge is then sent on a reconnaissance mission into Area 41. Things get a little heavy in Area 41 and when he relays his findings back to Col. Grimm, he is ordered to continue on with a new mission, to rescue Shrap and Riff. These two members of the Bravo Company Commando’s have been captured and taken through a mystery portal – one of Area 41’s main secrets.

Sarge goes through the portal and finds himself in a strange land where everything is considerably larger than himself. He is now in the human world, the Real World. Sarge locates his colleagues and returns them to the portal but as Shrap and Riff step into the portal it breaks down (or something). Sarge is trapped. Before stepping through the portal, Shrap and Riff informed Sarge that they had managed to contact Plastic World by means of a radio in one of the other bedrooms. So after being left behind in the other dimension (Human World) Sarge sets off to find this room and to find out what he is meant to do next.

Sarge embarks on his second campaign (Act Two) after receiving orders from Col. Grimm. Grimm has discovered another portal that leads directly into the Green Army Camp. The Tan Army have been using this as a means of attack and they need to be stopped. Sarge also finds out that another of his colleagues, Scorch has been taken captive by the Tan Army and he must find him.

By way of accident or luck, Sarge finds his way into the bathroom, which turns out to be the safest way into the garden (where the portal is believed to be situated). After skirmishes with some Tan soldiers, Sarge has to find a way to get outside from within the bathroom. He does this by sliding down the bath plug hole.

Once outside, Sarge discovers the most likely place fire-mad Scorch would be held is The Barbeque. What he doesn’t realize is that the BBQ also houses another portal back to Plastic World. From this level, by stepping through the portal, Sarge manages to get back home where he has to defend an invasion of the Green Army Base from the Tans.

Campaign Three (Act Three) witnesses the Green Army Launch an offensive on Fort Plastro. Sarge infiltrates the fort and opens it up to the green troops waiting at the main entrance. While the Green Army takes over Fort Plastro, the Sarge and Col. Grimm head for the portal located within the fort. Grimm has to see this other dimension for himself. The portal within the fort, leads to the garage, where Sarge and Grimm take hostage the Tan Army’s best team of troops, the TAN-go Team Battalion. While Grimm oversees the transportation of the POW’s, Sarge must find a way back to Area 41 to finish off any hopes the Tan Army may have had of ruling the entire Plastic World with their new technologies. The game ends in Area 41.

Real behind the game facts:

Preview footage: YouTube – Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes GBA Prototype

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.

Published: November 7, 2025

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Last updated: November 7, 2025

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Section visited: 54 times

Sarge Hawk started the campaign with the standard military issue M-16 Assault Rifle and Vikki, the SHINY
HANDBAG PISTOL.

Game manuals, guides, cheats and codes:

Where to play it?:

https://gbapokemon.com/upload-rom/

Instructions:

Follow these steps to play your own Game Boy Advance ROM files:

Upload your ROM file (.gba, .gb, .gbc or .zip format)
Wait for the validation check to complete
Enter a title for your game (optional)
Click the “Start Game” button
Use the on-screen controls or keyboard to play

Keyboard:

Arrow Keys
Z: A Button
X: B Button
A: L Button
S: R Button
Enter: Start
Backspace: Select
P: Pause Game
M: Mute Audio
F: Fullscreen
F2: Quick Save
F4: Quick Load