The original's greatest achievement was the creative level design, which helped move along a general theme. The epic battle between toy soldiers was every child's dream. This continues with Sarge's Heroes 2. The numerous weapons found in the original also resurface, with a few new additions. A cool option is the ability to call on air support. It's nothing special, but it's nice to see 3DO building on the strengths of the original. No doubt about it, Sarge's Heroes 2 features some very cool weapons. Unfortunately, a few new guns to play with don't quite overcome the numerous weaknesses.

Sadly, the horrid control scheme from the original is left untouched, leaving the player to cry in agony. And for odd reasons beyond our knowledge, in-game characters move like bricks. Many of the problems with the original have gone through absolutely no change, a surprise after the outcry and criticisms from discerning players of the first game.

At least some of the graphics are improved over the first Sarge's Heroes. But the main issue still remains -- it looks like crap. The pea-soup fog from the original, at least, has been limited to a Turok 2-like haze. And to 3DO's credit, some of the models are a bit crisper. Just a bit; it's barely noticeable. And that's where the compliments stop.

The textures are exactly the opposite of good -- they're bland, washed-out, lifeless and other negative adjectives. Perhaps 3DO didn't realize that Nintendo 64 owners have high expectations from their 64-bit machines. Sarge's Heroes 2 also features extremely low-polygon models. And if, at any point, you feel your vision is going out, it's not -- that's just the game. At times, it's a blurry mess. And with all that going against it, you'd think it would have a decent framerate -- they had to cut back on the graphics for a reason, right? Wrong. The biggest single gripe of the original -- the slideshow-like framerate -- is still there and in full effect. Which is, quite simply, unacceptable.

To top off all the negatives stated above, 3DO included a rushed multiplayer mode as well. While it seems refreshing after the rather dull single-experience, it also fails to live up to its potential. The same problems that hurt the single-player mode plague the multiplayer mode as well. And with the horrible framerate in single-player, you can imagine the what happens when you put four players on the screen at once. To add insult to injury, the camera angles for the individual screens don't seem quite equal and are a tad off-balance. All in all, it's just another brick in the wall.

Bottom Line: The poorly constructed multiplayer and frustrating single-player experiences are really quite sad -- this is one series that we would have liked to see succeed. The content, characters and entertaining level design are a great foundation for an otherwise disappointing game. We can only hope 3DO gets it right next time. Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 3 for Gamecube, anyone?