Cannon Fodder (Amiga)

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Description

Guide a team of up to six soldiers through 72 levels of combat in this top-down action/strategy hybrid, best thought of as Lemmings crossed with Commando crossed with Dune 2. The characters are controlled indirectly using the mouse or joypad, as you activate each soldier or group of them by highlighting them, clicking one button to move them to a particular spot and the another for them to fire guns at an enemy. You can also pick up grenades or rockets, fired by pressing both buttons at once, which can be used to destroy groups of enemies, buildings, or some vehicles.

Each mission has a specific objective, and some feature vehicles such as tanks that are used to make things easier. Your troops can cross water but can't shoot within it, so finding and controlling bridges is often crucial. You can use the arrangement of trees to find hiding places to shoot from and should watch out for CPU soldiers doing the same.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Cannon Fodder: war has never been so much fun" -- DOS/Game Boy Color/Genesis tag-lined title
• "キャノン・フォッダー" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• BPjS / BPjM indexed games
• Cannon Fodder series
• Gameplay feature: Squad management

User Reviews

A true amiga classic, fast-paced, friendly and humorous.

Kuv (75)

Critic Reviews

High Score	Jan, 1994	5 out of 5	100
Top Secret	Jan, 1994	10 out of 10	100
Svenska Hemdatornytt	Dec, 1993	95 out of 100	95
Amiga Format	Jun, 1995	94 out of 100	94
CU Amiga	Feb, 1991	93 out of 100	93
Amiga Force	Jan, 1994	90 out of 100	90
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Feb, 1994	10 out of 12	83
Retro Archives	Aug 01, 2019	16.5 out of 20	82
Score	Mar, 1994	78 out of 100	78
Play Time	Jan, 1994	75 out of 100	75

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Cannon Fodder appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cover controversy

The Royal British Legion (who have always been known for their 'poppy' logo), complained that this game was 'sick and degenerate' before its release, making several tabloid headlines trying to ban the game (before anyone had played it). The poppy was reluctantly removed from the cover before release but it still appears in the game itself.

Extras/Demo versions

Amiga users received two "extras" concerning the original game:

• "Cannon Fodder Plus" was a very unique addition included to the Amiga Power 31 magazine. There are four new missions and the quiz related to the Sensible Software company
• "Cannon Soccer" also a very unique addition included to the Amiga Format 54 magazine which is a "Cannon Fodder" on the pitch field from "Sensible Soccer". This small game is also known as "Cannon Fodder - Amiga Format Christmas Special"

German release

The PC version is banned in Germany for extreme violence (30.07.94). The Gameboy version isn't.

Music

The conversion of this title from the Amiga to the PC is nearly identical except for the music, which is FM synthesis (Adlib) instead of the original Amiga 4-channel digital ("mods"). This was a normal practice for most conversions, except by this time several free modplayers with source code had been released, so there was no reason to not have the original mod music...

Version differences

CD32 version contains special MPEG track where is stored movie (length = 3 min). In this movie members of Sensible Software (developer of game) are wearing army uniforms and they're doing funny things - dancing, riding army vehicles, throwing darts on the poster of actor Christian Slater etc. From this movie was taken a few photos and used in Amiga intro. This real intro is only played if you have the FMV expansion module. Cannon Fodder is the only CD32 game to support the FMV module, which was the last piece of hardware produced by Commodore before its bankruptcy.

Awards

• Amiga Joker
  • Issue 02/1995 – Readers' Special Award for 1994
• Electronic Gaming Monthly
• March 1997 (Issue 92) - 3DO Game of the Year runner-up
• Power Play
  • Issue 02/1994 – Most Morally Questionable But Fun Game in 1993
• Retro Gamer
  • September 2004 (Issue #8) – #61 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by B.L. Stryker, Johnny "ThunderPeel2001" Walker, phlux and robotriot.

Related Web Sites

• Cannon Fodder in Wikipedia (Detailed information about Cannon Fodder)
• Product Page at Windows distributor GOG.com website (Buyer's option, description, screenshots, community reviews and recommendations at the official product page of Windows version distributor GOG.com.)
• Purple Sensei: Cannon Fodder Page (Nice page with graphics, sounds and a bunch of great articles about Cannon Fodder, including the "Poppy" uproar mentioned in the Trivia section.)