Play Total Carnage Online

Summary

Total Carnage brings the frantic twin‑stick action of the arcade onto the SNES by turning the four face buttons into a makeshift D‑pad. You can run in one direction with the left side of the controller while firing independently with the right‑side button layout, preserving the original’s split‑movement feel.

As Captain Carnage or Major Mayhem you blaze through twenty scrolling battlezones, dodging hordes of mutants and massive enemy vehicles. Along the way you can pick up a wild arsenal—grenade launchers, rocket launchers, plasma guns, flamethrowers, spray‑fire rifles, defensive blades, and the signature bombs that explode a few seconds after you drop them.

The game was originally an arcade hit in 1992 and later appeared on platforms like Amiga, Jaguar, Game Boy, and DOS, as well as in several Midway compilation discs. While critics praised the arcade version’s intense gameplay, the home ports received mixed reviews, though the SNES adaptation remains a standout for preserving the dual‑control chaos.

Storyline

Total Carnage drops players into the war‑torn nation of Kookistan in 1999, where the tyrant General Akhboob has built a fortress of radioactive mutants and holds hostages in his Baby Milk Factory. You control Captain Carnage and Major Mayhem of the Doomsday Squad, two Rambo‑style heroes tasked with toppling the dictator and rescuing the POWs. The game plays as a fast‑paced, multidirectional shooter much like Smash TV, taking you through three distinct stages, each ending with a boss fight before you can advance. Along the way the setting riffs on the 1991 Persian Gulf War, even referencing the infamous Abu Ghraib Infant Formula Plant. Success means destroying Akhboob’s mutant army and ending his world‑domination plot.