Nintengod
11-19-2007, 12:46 AM
Cannon Fodder - Amiga 500 (released 1993)
"War has never been so much fun". The repeating lyric for the opening title sequence for Sensible Softwares 1993 war/shoot em up for the Amiga 500. A sentiment I would agree with after playing this classic!
I am reviewing the Amiga version of this game specifically, as it was the best of the lot, had that classic theme, and wasn't censored. I actually originally bought the SNES version of this, and whilst it does a pretty good job of re-creating the Amiga version, the sound is slightly lacking and there have been some things removed....this version reviewed however is the real deal, the definitive edit.
The game is set during an unknown period of time, and begins in a fairly "jungle" style environment, which leads you to assume Vietnam. However, this is purely a reference, as in later levels you are fighting in snow, desert and urban arena's. The aim is to lead a squadron and wipe out the enemy by whatever means. This typically involves gunning them down with machine guns, but also there are a lot of instances where you are required to destroy buildings with weapons such as grenades or rocket launchers.
What really makes this game great is that you feel really attached to your platoon. You grow to love and adore the little guys. They are crudely drawn (Sensible Software style) and all look the same....but they all have different names, and as they advance you really grow fond of them! As your troops successfully plough through the missions, they gain in ranks, and it even keeps a tally per soldier as to how many "kills" each have had.
Obviously, this leads to favouritism, and you end up protecting your favourites from the main action. However, at some point, these guys will have to fight. When (and they will) they eventually die from a sniper, or schrapnel fire....there is a real sense of loss. After the mission ends either by completion or failure, a list of the dead troops are scrolled up, and graves appear market on the "hill" at the main screen. The one's who survived are promoted.
Control is all with the mouse. Left button to aim where you want to move your men, right button to fire. You can split the groups up into individual soldiers or smaller units - usually wise just so you can test out what is happening up ahead, to seek out traps, ambushes etc. There are vehicles which you can command later on in the game, including tanks, a skidoo and a helicopter. These are usually stolen from the enemy.
Cannon Fodder is hugely addictive and extremely challenging. It will lead you to pull your hair out at many points, especially in the later levels where you just think no matter how hard or often you try, you will never get through.....but in the end, you will. I recommend this game for anyone interested in arcade style war games. It's a great deal of fun, a classic, and pretty good on all platforms to buy/emulate - but the Amiga version reviewed here has the edge as mentioned above.
Score : 8/10
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Cannon_fodder_MD_2.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/CANFOD-1_020.png
"War has never been so much fun". The repeating lyric for the opening title sequence for Sensible Softwares 1993 war/shoot em up for the Amiga 500. A sentiment I would agree with after playing this classic!
I am reviewing the Amiga version of this game specifically, as it was the best of the lot, had that classic theme, and wasn't censored. I actually originally bought the SNES version of this, and whilst it does a pretty good job of re-creating the Amiga version, the sound is slightly lacking and there have been some things removed....this version reviewed however is the real deal, the definitive edit.
The game is set during an unknown period of time, and begins in a fairly "jungle" style environment, which leads you to assume Vietnam. However, this is purely a reference, as in later levels you are fighting in snow, desert and urban arena's. The aim is to lead a squadron and wipe out the enemy by whatever means. This typically involves gunning them down with machine guns, but also there are a lot of instances where you are required to destroy buildings with weapons such as grenades or rocket launchers.
What really makes this game great is that you feel really attached to your platoon. You grow to love and adore the little guys. They are crudely drawn (Sensible Software style) and all look the same....but they all have different names, and as they advance you really grow fond of them! As your troops successfully plough through the missions, they gain in ranks, and it even keeps a tally per soldier as to how many "kills" each have had.
Obviously, this leads to favouritism, and you end up protecting your favourites from the main action. However, at some point, these guys will have to fight. When (and they will) they eventually die from a sniper, or schrapnel fire....there is a real sense of loss. After the mission ends either by completion or failure, a list of the dead troops are scrolled up, and graves appear market on the "hill" at the main screen. The one's who survived are promoted.
Control is all with the mouse. Left button to aim where you want to move your men, right button to fire. You can split the groups up into individual soldiers or smaller units - usually wise just so you can test out what is happening up ahead, to seek out traps, ambushes etc. There are vehicles which you can command later on in the game, including tanks, a skidoo and a helicopter. These are usually stolen from the enemy.
Cannon Fodder is hugely addictive and extremely challenging. It will lead you to pull your hair out at many points, especially in the later levels where you just think no matter how hard or often you try, you will never get through.....but in the end, you will. I recommend this game for anyone interested in arcade style war games. It's a great deal of fun, a classic, and pretty good on all platforms to buy/emulate - but the Amiga version reviewed here has the edge as mentioned above.
Score : 8/10
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/Cannon_fodder_MD_2.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/CANFOD-1_020.png