Sensible Software‘s classic ‘titchy man’ overhead scrolling shooter, Cannon Fodder, is well-represented on the Jaguar, having been ported by a company called The Dome Software Developments, who did a worthy job with the conversion.

It looks and plays pretty much the same as the Amiga original, except that it uses gamepad controls instead of mouse controls. It is possible to use a mouse on the Jaguar – with an adapter – but I don’t think that Cannon Fodder supports it. I could be wrong about that, but my research doesn’t show it on mouse compatibility lists for the Jaguar. If anyone knows differently, please let me know in the comments below.

Cannon Fodder has 24 missions, with a total of 72 phases, and is a huge amount of fun to play, even with the slightly clunky gamepad controls. Later missions even have vehicles to drive, although these are little more than automated deathtraps just waiting to entomb your entire squad in a fiery explosion…

The Jaguar version of Cannon Fodder is missing a few small details from the Amiga version, like the funny intro sequence, but it does have a good version of Jon Hare‘s classic “War (Has Never Been So Much Fun)” (and his other music). Otherwise it’s the authentic Cannon Fodder experience.

As much fun as Cannon Fodder is, it does have a serious side, which is demonstrated by a small note in the manual, which says: “And on a more serious note: don’t try this at home, kids, because real war is not a game; real war, as Cannon Fodder demonstrates in its own quirky little way, is a senseless waste of human resources and lives. We hope that you never have to find out the hard way.” Which is the kind of thing Vladimir Putin should be forced to write on a blackboard a thousand times…

Cannon Fodder was published for the Atari Jaguar by Virgin Interactive in 1995.

More: Cannon Fodder on Wikipedia