Small Soldiers: Squad Commander

Small Soldiers: Squad Commander is a 1998 real-time strategy (RTS) game developed by DreamWorks Interactive and published by Hasbro Interactive. Releasing alongside the cult-classic Joe Dante film of the same name, it is important to note that Squad Commander is a completely different game from the 3D third-person action game released for the PlayStation that same year. Instead, Squad Commander was an exclusive PC title that attempted to shrink the massive, booming 90s RTS genre down to the size of a suburban living room.

The narrative does not strictly follow the plot of the film, but rather serves as a parallel “what-if” scenario set in the fictional town of New Bedford. Following the activation of the highly advanced, military-grade X-1000 microchips, the two rival lines of action figures—the hyper-aggressive, militaristic Commando Elite and the peaceful, monstrous Gorgonites—come to life. The player chooses a side in a brutal, miniature war that ravages suburban houses, grocery stores, and the massive Globotech Industries factory.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Squad Commander utilizes a 2D, top-down isometric perspective. It eschews the massive base-building and resource-harvesting mechanics of heavyweights like Command & Conquer in favor of a more intimate, squad-level tactical experience.

Key gameplay mechanics include:

• Micro-Warfare Environments: The battlefields are completely domestic. Instead of fighting across alien planets or deserts, players wage war across kitchen counters, living room floors, and backyard gardens. Pencils, cereal boxes, and toys serve as massive, impassable terrain or strategic chokepoints.
• Squad Deployment: Rather than building factories, players are given a set amount of resources at the beginning of a mission to “purchase” and deploy multiple copies of their action figures.
• Tactical Puzzles: The game relies heavily on environmental puzzle-solving and hazard navigation. Players must use their wits to safely navigate their tiny squads around towering everyday objects, disable domestic traps, and use unique power-ups, mines, and booby-traps to secure the objective.
• Upgrades and Gadgets: Throughout the campaign, players can collect weapon upgrades, find bonus artillery, and utilize cloning gadgets to bolster their plastic armies in real-time.

The Factions

The game features two distinct, fully playable campaigns, allowing you to experience the war from either side of the toy box:

• The Commando Elite: Led by the ruthless Major Chip Hazard, the Commandos are heavily armed and obsessed with total destruction. Their objective is to exterminate the Gorgonites, destroy New Bedford, and ultimately march on Washington D.C. to build a new, evil militaristic empire. Their roster features classic figures like Brick Bazooka, Kip Killigan, and Nick Nitro, relying on ballistics and explosive firepower.
• The Gorgonites: Led by the noble Archer, the Gorgonites are peaceful explorers who just want to survive and protect their home. Their campaign is entirely defensive; they must repel the Commando assault and save the ecosystem of New Bedford. Their roster features figures like Slamfist and Ocula, relying heavily on melee combat, unique alien abilities, and quirky projectile attacks (like Ocula’s slime).

Development and Legacy

Released right in the middle of the golden era of 90s PC gaming, Small Soldiers: Squad Commander was a highly unique take on the movie tie-in genre. While licensed video games were notoriously terrible during this era, Squad Commander earned a reputation as a surprisingly competent, albeit slightly janky, strategy game. It was praised for its clever use of scale and the fact that it offered two completely unique, branching campaigns.

Today, Small Soldiers: Squad Commander is pure abandonware. Due to the incredibly complex web of licensing rights surrounding the film and the toys, the game has never seen a digital re-release on modern storefronts like Steam or GOG. It survives purely through nostalgia, kept alive by a dedicated community of retro PC gamers who utilize emulation and community patches to get the 1998 CD-ROM running on modern operating systems.

Key Features:

• Suburban Warfare — Experience an RTS where the battlefields are completely ordinary, everyday environments, turning living rooms and grocery aisles into deadly warzones.
• Two Playable Campaigns — Choose to defend the neighborhood as the peaceful Gorgonites or burn it to the ground as the heavily armed Commando Elite.
• Squad-Based Tactics — Manage tight, specialized squads of toys, utilizing environmental puzzles, booby-traps, and weapon upgrades to overcome the enemy.
• Nostalgic Roster — Command multiples of all your favorite characters from the movie, including Chip Hazard, Archer, Slamfist, and Kip Killigan.
• 90s PC Oddity — A fascinating, highly obscure piece of strategy gaming history that took a major Hollywood license and turned it into a surprisingly deep PC RTS.

Release Platforms:

• Microsoft Windows (PC) — 1998
• (Currently abandonware; never digitally re-released on modern storefronts).