Has war even been so much fun? [link to song] Sensible Software were a true powerhouse on the UK games scene with a number of great games in the early 90s. Bringing their own brand of British charm to the industry with great, tight design and character filled sprites. "C" could also have been the excellent "Chaos Engine" by the equally interesting and prolific Bitmap Brothers but Cannon Fodder brought a new type of fun to the death of war.
A simple team shooter using the mouse to navigate, shoot and that was it. There was a similar game by Bullfrog called Syndicate at the time which was also very well received but was a much more serious take on the strategy genre which almost accentuated the simple fun in Cannon Fodder. Each level was cleared by killing all of the enemy and you could all move as one group or split up into smaller groups to traverse different sections of the maps or to change the risks. The levels were in forests, jungles, the Arctic or even the desert giving a lot of variety although it seemed just a change of colour palette sometimes. There were also a number of vehicles to use although there was a risk of explosion in them too.
Using a top down, zoomed out perspective reminiscent of other Sensible classics, your squad would get upgraded at each mission completion or perish. And when they perished, they were dead, forever. As each squad member was named (often after the programmers or designers, such as Jools and Jops), you did get an affinity with them, even apart from the fact that you lost their upgrades - the 90s were a harsher era of games[1]. Each level, when cleared would show you a large hill with all of the deaths of your soldiers represented by white crosses. It was at once, both flippant and moving - a difficult combination to get right but it was well judged.
Using a top down, zoomed out perspective reminiscent of other Sensible classics, your squad would get upgraded at each mission completion or perish. And when they perished, they were dead, forever. As each squad member was named (often after the programmers or designers, such as Jools and Jops), you did get an affinity with them, even apart from the fact that you lost their upgrades - the 90s were a harsher era of games[1]. Each level, when cleared would show you a large hill with all of the deaths of your soldiers represented by white crosses. It was at once, both flippant and moving - a difficult combination to get right but it was well judged.
Cannon Fodder came out on the consoles of the time but it felt like a conversion - the Amiga version was the home and the game played far better with a mouse rather than the joypads used for games consoles at the time.
3 other C titles that might be interesting:
Chaos Engine, - Console style top down shooter by the Bitmap Bros, but on the Amiga.
Contra, - Run and gun, with mode 7 effects chucked at the screen.
Catherine - The puzzles that dreams are made of, and psychoanalysis.
1.One of the better games I have played recently from Sega, Valkyria Chronicles, had a similar, but beefed up connection with the squad - though that went far beyond just a name and it was comparatively easier to rescue people before they actually died.↩
3 other C titles that might be interesting:
Chaos Engine, - Console style top down shooter by the Bitmap Bros, but on the Amiga.
Contra, - Run and gun, with mode 7 effects chucked at the screen.
Catherine - The puzzles that dreams are made of, and psychoanalysis.
1.One of the better games I have played recently from Sega, Valkyria Chronicles, had a similar, but beefed up connection with the squad - though that went far beyond just a name and it was comparatively easier to rescue people before they actually died.↩
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