The Super Nintendo version of Cannon Fodder was coded by Andy Onions, John Rocke and Steve Caslin, with graphics conversion by Doug Townsley and sound and music adaptation by Allister Brimble. The SNES port was published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1994 and you’ll be pleased to know that it does indeed support the use of the SNES mouse, which makes all the difference.

“All the difference to what?!” you might ask. Well: all the difference to playing the game on a gamepad! Because, while playing point-and-click games with a gamepad does work, it is unsatisfying and imprecise, and feels like a compromise too far in my opinion. Of course there will be people who disagree with this (and they’re wrong), but the fact is: if you want to play a game like Cannon Fodder properly, at the right intensity, you need to play it with a mouse. And thankfully the Super Nintendo does have a mouse and it works great with this game.

The colours in the SNES version are a little muted, compared to the original, but that’s okay because it makes the game look more realistic. The tunes are good throughout too, although the classic song “War (Never Been So Much Fun)” is a funky SNES rendition and doesn’t have all the samples of the original (it’s still good, though).

This version of Cannon Fodder is also slightly censored in a few places. I think Nintendo probably had a fit when they saw the names of some of the levels. So… “Bugger me I’m cold” was changed to “Blast it’s cold!” and so on.

Playing Cannon Fodder on the SNES now is still a great experience, but only if you use a SNES mouse. Cannon Fodder on a gamepad will only get you so far before you begin to flounder and become frustrated.

I did read that the original Super Nintendo version of Cannon Fodder is currently available on the Antstream service (alongside the Amiga and Megadrive/Genesis versions), which is interesting. It’s definitely still worth playing today.

More: Cannon Fodder on Wikipedia
GOG: Cannon Fodder on GOG.com