Awesome Music: Yes, there is music in the games. Granted, they are small snippets and whatnot, but holy cow. Unfortunately, nobody has bothered to rip the music somehow (it's only really a matter of turning the sound effects all the way down and not get any background noise in or whatever), so the only way to listen to it is while you play the game.
The Tsar Tank's theme, which signifies its arrival, and definitely fills one with dread (considering people will actually have trouble with the first boss of the game, yeah).
The Commando's theme. Every time he comes onto the battlefield, listening to that opening riff lets you know that you are now able to kick a major amount of ass. It's glorious.
The boss themes from Cold War are also fantastic. The Antonov A-40's theme captures the frantic feeling of finally having reached the first fight, the Typhoon's theme has some great Ominous Russian (?) Chanting, and Project R.I.S.E's theme captures the power and danger that comes with fighting a powerful super weapon.
"Russian Attack" is perfect.
The boss victory themes are also gorgeous.
The menu theme of Cold War is catchy. It resembles the theme of Top Gun in overwrought cheesiness, and it feels good.
Catharsis Factor: In Cold War, the first few waves of Commando Survival. You get to control a barrage reward for an unlimited time, and you can tear through the first few waves with little effort. It feels good after using turrets in other maps to hold them back for a while.
The bombers in Cold War. The bombs they drop do massive amounts of damage, so after one run your turrets will most likely be destroyed or very close to it. They're quite durable as well- even with all of your anti-air and a vehicle unloading on one, you'll be hard-pressed to shoot it down before it flies over your stuff. And they come in groups of three or four. If there's two such groups in one wave... well, you'd better hope you have extra cash for repairs or new turrets.
For ground units in Cold War there are the laser tanks and missile units. They're both highly damaging and extremely durable. The missiles in particular have insane homing capabilities that make them nearly impossible to dodge if you're using a helicopter. If there's a wave with these units in them, expect some losses.
Nightmare Fuel: So you think you've got this level mostly beat... then the music changes, and a giant tank rolls up over the hill, crushing houses and bridges which are otherwise indestructible under it's treads... then it takes a load of concentrated fire to even damage, while utterly annihilating everything YOU Can send at it.
Suspiciously Similar Song: The song that plays during the intro of "Monumental Defense" in Cold War sounds a lot like Europe's "The Final Countdown".
"The Angel of No Man's Land" from the original game is very similar in tune and lyrics to "The Rose of No Man's Land" sung by Harry Burr. Strangely enough, there is an actual song called "The Angel of No Man's Land", published in 1918, but the song in Toy Soldiers is completely different.
That One Level: Both games are likely to have a form of this.
Rainy City in the second game is a particular offender, especially if you are trying to get a platinum (or even remotely survive), since there is several artillery cannons near your base which will destroy anything on sight once you've set it down, and you only get so much money to deal out at first. Granted, planting your own artillery cannons solves that problem, but don't forget about everything else, especially those helicopters armed with lasers...
Unsurprisingly, the final level of the second game, Capitol Crisis, is this, even more so if you are trying to shoot for platinum. For starters, you need to be perfect throughout the entire level, which means you can't let so much as one soldier get past you or else you'll have to start the entire level over, and sometimes, there will be one infantry you'll fail to notice and won't realize you've missed him until he's already sapped a hit from your toy box. Then, you have to be conservative with your cash, which means you cannot rely on just the cannons (but of course, that's what the vehicles are for, and you have every one in the game at your disposal), and sometimes, trying to destroy certain units with vehicles can be a pain in the ass. By the time Project R.I.S.E rolls around, you might not even have all the turrets you've put up. Not to mention that some of the units were annoying to begin with, but you have pretty much every single enemy to contend with. By far the most annoying enemies you'll face in the level are the ZPU Personnel Carriers (tons of health and unload infantry near your toy box), the drill tread tanks (have slightly higher than average health values, takes shortcuts off the dirt roads to your toy box, and are really fast), and the laser tanks (very high health, come in a pack, and can rip your turrets to shreds). And after the laser tanks comes the final boss, but at this point, you've probably exhausted yourself trying like hell to get that platinum medal, your turrets might as well be gone by this point, and you're getting dangerously close to missing the gold on money conservation, among other things. Have fun with the final boss!
The last level of Cold War's Naplam DLC, "No Respite". Your cash flow is quite restricted for a good while, so you have to be careful with where you place your turrets and make sure they stay on the field. That's easier said than done, as the enemy will very quickly begin sending heavy and laser tanks in large numbers. That you get your own laser tank to use partway in is an act of mercy. The boss fight, thankfully, is not as crazy.
That One Boss: Like with the above, either game will have some form of this.
The Railgun, the final boss of the first game, is a notable repeat offender of frustration for many players who don't know how to properly deal with it. Its weapon is powerful, and is only damageable when it pops out of the tunnel at the other end of the stage you play on. If you don't defeat it within those few times hit pops out (did I forget to mention that it has the most health out of all the bosses in the first game?), it will rush forward and destroy your Toy Box.
Project R.I.S.E, the final boss of the second game, is also incredibly challenging, especially on General Mode. For starters, it has the highest health out of any boss in the series thus far (and since bosses in Cold War have four phases, that's a lot of health for each phase), able to soak tremendous amounts of damage unless you use certain weaponry against it. It also boasts pretty quick speed on those treads, not to the level of the Antonov A-40, but it still moves quick enough to make it to the other areas of the stage, which since you're dealing with other things, you might not notice until you see it well on the other side of the stage. It can also send out infantry, tanks, and helicopters to make things become even more difficult and distract you from the main threat, so if you're trying to focus more on Project R.I.S.E, you may not get to the other threats in time to take them out. It also has a multitude of attacks, which can utterly destroy your defenses, and it can attack vehicles you are just beginning to pilot them, meaning they will be almost dead the moment you finally begin moving, if it doesn't outright destroy it. That, and it can run over your turrets to insta-kill them, making you have to waste even more money to rebuild and re-upgrade them, only for it to do the same thing again minutes later. To add insult to injury, you have to spend nearly twenty minutes fighting through twenty waves of infantry, aircraft, tank armor, and missile trucks. If you can summon the will to fight this boss on Elite or General difficulty, you better be prepared for a tough fight.
Robo-Bob from the first game's DLC. Better make sure you have all the right turrets and vehicles ready, because this guy must be made out of Tonka metal with how much health he has, to say nothing of how small the map is.
The K-Wagen from TS:WC's Imperial Railroad stage. It goes through four lives before the player manages to bring it down.
Film:
Adaptation Displacement: Many fans have never heard of the book, and many who have read it prefer the film's True Companions group of heroes over literary Billy's lone wolf efforts.
Yogurt doesn't become an honorary member of Billy's gang until about halfway through the film and has a supporting role after that, but the subtle range of his character and his useful remote control skills make him very well-liked.
The headmaster doesn't get much focus, but is fondly remembered for how much he cares about his students and his Actually Pretty Funny reaction to a prank.
Joey's mafioso father (played by Jerry Orbach) isn't even credited, but is a fan favorite for his chilling, Papa Wolf menace and Parents as People lament about loving his son despite his lifestyle giving Joey a good reason to hate him.
General Kramer takes a while to show up and doesn't get much characterization beyond being a Reasonable Authority Figure, but he's interesting in that capacity, and being played by R. Lee Ermey helps.
Fanon Discontinuity: A lot of fans really want to disregard Joey getting killed, given how he's one of the most interesting and well-developed characters of the movie and his death causes some base-breaking Cerebus Syndrome for the rest of the film.
Hilarious in Hindsight: They have Billy doing pots and pans cleaning as a punishment for selling alcohol. What does Samwise bring all the way to Mordor? Pots and pans.
Ho Yay: The boys have a strong True Companions vibe and don't mind being shirtless in front of each other. Joey and Billy in particular are subjected to shipping by some fans. Billy also is the most devastated in the group by far at Joey's death.
Jack Thorpe is The Dragon for narcoterrorist Luis Cali and assists him in taking a boarding school hostage to get Cali's father released and other concessions from the American government. When Cali is furious and stalled over how the judge's son they wanted to kidnap is not at the school, Thorpe calms him down and proposes holding the whole student body hostage instead. He is in charge of headcounts to ensure that none of the hostages escape and is careful and thoroughly conscientious in this job. Throughout the film, he is willing to take steps to avoid unnecessary violence but is also willing to kill without remorse when those steps fail. When The Cavalry raid the school, Thorpe spends his last moments trying to fight back against heavy odds rather than flee or surrender.
Albert Trotta is The Don of New Jersey, whose wide influence is matched only by his infamy. He is gracious with his subordinates but merciless toward his enemies. His son Joey loathes his father for being a criminal, which Albert is sadly resigned to while still loving his son. When Joey and his classmates are kidnapped, Albert and his associates smuggle a message to the imprisoned Enrique Cali to influence Joey's release. When Joey is gunned down after refusing to be released and trying to rescue his friends instead, a grief-stricken Albert swiftly arranges for a riot in Enrique's maximum security detention facility to drive Enrique out of his cell where an assassin is waiting to kill him.
Moe: Joey may have his Hot-Blooded moments, but his artistic side and bemused moments of trying to rein in Billy’s Class Clown antics can make him feel like the most adorable of the kids.
Signature Scene: Billy sneaking out of the school to deliver information to the military besiegers and then having to Race Against the Clock to get back inside before anyone gets executed over his escape.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Robert Anderson (credited as "brave student") gets a notable moment of trying to summon help as the terrorists are taking over the school and then is singled out as one of the wealthy scions Cali views as particularly important hostages, but he never interacts with Billy's gang or significantly affects the plot.
from the original game is very similar in tune and lyrics to "The Rose of No Man's Land"