History VideoGame / CannonFodder

''Cannon Fodder'' is a action-strategy ShootEmUp game from Sensible Software released in 1993, originally for the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, in which the player commands between 1 and 8 soldiers on a series of missions like "kill all enemies." It is remembered for attempting to avert DoNotDoThisCoolThing -- your soldiers die horribly and in droves, each adding a tombstone to the pre-mission screen, and the game manual [[AuthorFilibuster openly states]] that "war is a senseless waste of lives and resources."

* VaporWare: Codemasters planned to remake this game for the UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable, but reconsidered. The third game in the series was repeatedly begun and cancelled. However... it did in 2011.

** There are two soldiers in your army named [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros ''Mario'' and ''Luigi'']], and as you start getting towards the end you will come across Music/TheBeatles, {{Music/U2}}, Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung, the Four Evangelists, the sons of Noah...

* BitingTheHandHumor: A pretty dirty example. Looking into the game's code and finding the Virgin Logo image for the splash screen, then setting the colour pallet entry 31 from black to white, and now the image has the words "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Free Sex]]" written four times all over it.

* BitingTheHandHumor: A pretty dirty example, Looking into the game's code and finding the Virgin Logo image for the splash screen and set the color pallet entry 31 from black to white and the image has the words "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Free Sex]]" written 4 times all over the image.

* KillEmAll: Well, your playing determines who survives, but a typical player loses 200 soldiers (out of 300). The scoreboard on Boot Hill will show that you take out a ''lot'' more than that, though.

* WarHasNeverBeenSoMuchFun: TropeNamer, but doesn't quite fit it, being more a case of GrotesqueCute. Incidentally, ''Cannon Fodder 2'' changes it to "War has only been this much fun once before."

* DifficultySpike: In the original game, Level Eight Phase Two is notorious for being much harder than anything before. (You have to clear a map of snipers before taking control of a gun turret to destroy several armoured bunkers, all the while being attacked by ever-increasing numbers of enemy soldiers who are much more aggressive than in previous levels, and capable of blowing up the turret itself and making the phase unwinnable.) Even judged retrospectively, it's one of the hardest phases in the whole game.

* NintendoHard: The second game is significantly harder than the first, although Stoo did a lot to try and smooth the difficulty curve (the first suffers from [[DifficultySpike an infamous spike]] at the second phase of level eight).

* BitingTheHandHumor: A pretty dirty example Looking into the game's code and finding the Virgin Logo image for the splash screen and set the color pallet entry 31 from black to white and the image has the words "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Free Sex]]" written 4 times all over the image.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Of course if you're a really sick and twisted bastard then the above will probably go overlooked in favour of deliberately setting off explosions while members of your squad are close enough to be taken out as well. And then of course there's the option of not dispensing a MercyKilling to a mortally wounded comrade and just watching him bleed out instead. Ahahahahaa! Jools bleeds good!

* NoPlotNoProblem: There is literally no detailed background to the first two games whatsoever which didn't stop anyone from enjoying them. The PC port had an ambiguous intro video that led to nowhere and the Game Boy Color port addressed this problem with mission briefings but that ended up being a largely wasted effort.

* NoPlotNoProblem: There is literally no detailed background to the first two games whatsoever which didn't stop anyone from enjoying them. The 3DO port had an ambiguous intro video that led to nowhere and the Game Boy Color port addressed this problem with mission briefings but that ended up being a largely wasted effort.

* NoPlotNoProblem: There is literally no detailed background to the first two games whatsoever which didn't stop anyone from enjoying them. The 3DO had an ambiguous intro that led to nowhere and the Game Boy Color port addressed this problem with mission briefings but that ended up being a largely wasted effort.

Not to be confused with CanonFodder.

''Cannon Fodder'' is a action-strategy ShootEmUp game from Creator/SensibleSoftware released in 1993, originally for the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, in which the player commands between 1 and 8 soldiers on a series of missions like "kill all enemies." It is remembered for attempting to avert DoNotDoThisCoolThing -- your soldiers die horribly and in droves, each adding a tombstone to the pre-mission screen, and the game manual [[AuthorFilibuster openly states]] that "war is a senseless waste of lives and resources."

* InfiniteAmmo: All except your soldier's grenades and rockets; running out when you had to blow up a bunker/hut could make a level {{unwinnable}}.

* UsefulNotes/ThePoppy: Its use on the game's box art was a source of controversy (see SeriousBusiness).

* SeriousBusiness: "Make sure you do not buy this shameful game," said the British newspaper ''The Daily Star''. The reason? It has a [[UsefulNotes/ThePoppy corn poppy]] on the opening screen, and it didn't get official permission from the Royal British Legion, which uses a corn poppy as a symbol of remembrance for UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. The game thus carries a disclaimer, "[[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope This game is not endorsed by the Royal British Legion]]".
** DramaticallyMissingThePoint[=/=]{{Irony}}: These two tropes come into play when this game's attempt at averting DoNotDoThisCoolThing is factored in.
-->''"I thought it'd be interesting to relate the story of Sensible Software's classic Cannon Fodder, and how it was rewarded for taking perhaps the most sensitive and mature attitude ever to war and death in a videogame by being vilified across the tabloid press, threatened, injuncted and censored (all in the name of "freedom") by the very people who the game's name was a sincere tribute to and commemoration of."''--Stoo