Its creators intended it to convey an anti-war message, which some reviewers recognised, but the Daily Star and a number of public figures derided the game.

For these targets, which are invulnerable to machine gun fire, the player must utilise secondary, explosive weaponry: grenades and rockets.

There are various settings including jungle, snow, and desert, some with unique terrain features and vehicles such as igloos and snowmobiles.

To this end, they can split the squad into smaller units to take up separate positions or risk fewer soldiers when moving into dangerous areas.

It was rooted in Mega Lo Mania, the "basic idea" being – according to creator Jon Hare – a strategy game in which the player "could send groups on missions, but that was all really.

[14] In accordance with habit Sensible's personnel eschewed storyboards when developing the starting point, instead writing descriptions of the concept and core gameplay functions.

"[12] A point of pride was the realistic behaviour of the homing missile code,[15] while the rural setting of some of the levels was inspired by Emmerdale Farm.

[17] The mechanics also had more depth: individual soldiers had particular attributes – such as being necessary to use certain weapons or vehicles[17] – and a greater capacity to act independently, both removed in favour of "instant" action rather than "war game" play.

[17] The designers named each of the game's several hundred otherwise identical protagonists, who were also awarded gravestones (varying according to the soldier's attained in-game rank) displayed on a screen between levels.

[15] CU Amiga however perceived "a fairly sick sense of humour" and predicted "The mix of satire and violence is bound to get some people pretty heated about the way such a serious subject is treated".

The proposed Cannon Fodder had been part of a four-game deal with Robert Maxwell's software publisher, which was liquidated after his death.

Unusually for an independent developer, Sensible had little difficulty in finding publishers and after work resumed on the game, concluded a deal with Virgin in May 1993.

The magazine compared it favourably to Sensible Soccer, saying the latter was "arguably the most playable and enjoyable game ever seen [...] At least, that was probably the best, as at this moment in time I believe this release [Cannon Fodder] to better it in terms of, well, everything."

He praised the "groovetastic" UB40-inspired theme song, realistic sound effects and "intuitive" controls and said "I can't find anything wrong with the game".

The magazine however said "It is hard to criticise anything in Cannon Fodder" and "these are petty matters when compared to the sheer enjoyment of playing the game.

However, they complimented the sound effects and concluded that "Despite its foibles, Cannon Fodder is a challenging contest that'll have you planning new strategies to overcome your failures.

[38] Citing the high level of bloodshed and selection of vehicles, a reviewer for Next Generation assessed, "Put simply, this is the best Jaguar game ever.

[22] Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game and stated that "This sui generis froth of strategy and action swings the needle on the old 'Just-One-More-Game' meter just a little higher.

The newspaper quoted the Royal British Legion, Liberal Democrat MP Menzies Campbell and Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, calling the game offensive to "millions", "monstrous" and "very unfortunate" respectively.

[45] Virgin Interactive Entertainment initially defended the use of the poppy as an anti-war statement, which the Daily Star in turn dismissed as a "publicity writer's hypocrisy".

[46] Magazine Amiga Power became involved in the controversy because of its planned reuse of the poppy on the cover of an issue also to be released on Armistice Day.

This had been changed in response to criticism in the Daily Star's original article, but the newspaper published another piece focussing on a perceived inflammatory retort by Amiga Power's editor Stuart Campbell: "Old soldiers?

Amiga Power also changed its cover after "legal scrapes with the British Legion over whether a poppy is just a flower or a recognisable symbol of a registered charity.