Tag: PC

Small Soldiers: Squad Commander (1998)

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With computers rapidly entering the home space, and graphical user interfaces shrinking the gap between the computer-literate and savvy, the home computer was gradually becoming the omni-tool of a family’s life that we know it today. Entertainment packages that the whole family could genuinely enjoy were readily available, not just fast-paced shooters, but more thoughtful games that didn’t test your dexterity but your mental acumen. In 1998, the struggles of the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite served as the next dressing for the blossoming popular Real Time Strategy genre, in Small Soldiers: Squad Commander.

A screenshot of Small Soldiers Squad Commander, showing the character select scren
You can play as either the Gorgonites or the Commandos!

You play as either the Gorgonites or the Commando Elite as they try to dominate the scenic suburb of New Bedford, going from house to house, room to room. Reinforcements can be found in toy boxes, but they are limited. As you traverse linen closets and stairwells, the opposing side has many men and traps, but with careful cunning and the will to win, the odds are in your favour.

A screenshot of Small Soldiers Squad Commander, showing the stats for the Gorgonite fighter,, Insaniac
Each unit has strengths and weaknesses, adding another layer to the tactics!

Toy soldiers running around your home in an RTS fashion is nothing new, as the Army Men franchise has been profiting on that concept for a few years now. Recreating some later scenes of the film, you can have many duplicate copies of certain units, all sounding like the beloved voice actors of the film. Each unit will have its strengths and weaknesses, and luckily, Joe Dante managed to design six unique characters to help keep the balance up. Being inside a typical home, the missions have this skeuomorphic quality that’s fun to behold, and the Small Soldiers make quick use of it; using fire crackers to blow holes in walls, knocking out home modems communication links, and keeping a lot of the film’s humour intact.

A screenshot of Small Soldiers Squad Commander, showing an in-game cutscene
The game also has C.G.I. scenes, even if they might seem primitive by today’s standards.

Base building isn’t a thing; it’s just you and your squad, manoeuvring from one side of the house to the other, but with the limited lives that can rarely be replenished, it will take some tactical know-how to win this fight. Puzzles will present themselves, too. For instance, a door might be controlled by a weight-sensitive pressure pad, which could be addressed by having one of your men stand on it (preventing them from participating in the fight) or by finding a suitable weight and placing it on the pad. Each soldier has room for one item, from the ever-useful T.N.T to keys and mission-critical items and the like, so a slight element of inventory management also lends itself to the proceedings. For an R.T.S. that is aimed at practically all ages, you don’t need to be a Clausewitz to be able to have fun here.

A screenshot of Small Soldiers Squad Commander, showing a level
The interface is really straight forward!

With its colourful graphics, forgiving interface and a property that is just begging to be franchised, Squad Commander is certainly a winning proposition. It goes without saying that the property lends itself to the home-based RTS that’s simple for all ages to pick up and respectively fun to play. Not entirely a cakewalk, but just interesting enough to give it a shot, regardless of your skill level. Whether you lead the Gorgonites or Commandos to victory, with Squad Commander, the war at home can truly begin.

A screenshot of Small Soldiers Squad Commander, from in game showing a battlefield
Items can be useful, but you can only carry one at a time!

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Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (2012)

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Episodes on a T.V. show can be in a unique position in that they might be the entry point for a franchise. You’d hope your viewers start at the beginning, but you never know thanks to word of mouth, syndication, or whatever that episodes down the line might be the entry point for new fans. You also want to keep the momentum going for existing fans, all while never knowing if it is enough to avoid a premature cancellation. In 2012, following on the heels of the first episode, Sonic had to both move fast and break things to keep the momentum going. In Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 2.

Episode 2 continues on twisting the familiar.

Fans tuning in to the franchise will find the revamped experience familiar. You flow through the standard 3 acts of each stage plus a boss fight. Collect a certain amount of rings, and you go through a bonus stage, where you grab the rings to reach a chaos emerald. So in a familiar but different approach to Episode 1 Meaning that you can jump straight back into the action.

Once again three acts and a boss stage!

Episode 2 feels similar to the first one but with one key difference. Episode 2 brings in tails, taking the course of the Mega Drive games by introducing the bi-tailed fox in their second outing, Tails’s inclusion is useful in quite a few ways. Mainly by pushing the X button (or your equivalent on whatever device you have), Tails can help you out. Sometimes by flying you sky-high, sometimes by morphing into a super speedball. The game adds a couple of new obstacles to make use of these added abilities. If you have both episodes 1 & 2 on your console of choice, you get to unlock Metal Sonic from the Sonic CD game et al. to play around with. It’s a cool throwback to all the additional fun that could be had with a lock-on cart for your Mega Drive. 

Owners of both episodes get to play bonus content with Metal Sonic!

Much like episode 1, the game incorporates a soundtrack that feels like a slightly evolved version of the standards that you’d expect from the Mega Drive. The stages evoke some backdrops of classic Sonics levels, too. Although that might be written off as window dressing, it is still a nice addition. The callbacks are frequent in Sonic 4, with even the intro harkening back to Sonic 3’s cool introduction. The physics and homing attacks also remain, making binge-playing both episodes a viable path.

Tails can help you out a lot in these new challenges!

Episode 2 is the ultimate end for Sonic 4, still in that time before the second renascence with Mania, or set the movie world afire. It’s hard playing through these two episodes without wondering what a third would be like. Seeing a revamped Collect The Spheres mini-game, or whatever inclusions Knuckles would bring. Sonic 4 remains a curious case of a bygone time when episodic gaming was en vogue and the franchise still didn’t know what it wanted to do to itself. But for those who wanted to see the franchise’s need for speed in the early 2010s, Sonic 4 remains a viable option in their queue.

Even Sonic The Hedgehog 2’s Special Stage returns.

If you want more positive reviews delivered to the e-mail box of your choice, you can click on that little text bubble at the bottom of the screen. Do you agree or disagree? or have a suggestion for another pop-culture artefact that needs a positive light shone on it? Leave a comment in the comment box below! But remember to keep it positive!