| Operation Wolf | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer | |
| Developer | Taito |
| Publisher | Taito |
| Platform | |
| Release | |
| Genre | Light gun shooter |
| Mode | Single-player |
Operation Wolf[a] is a 1987light gun shooter[10]video game developed and published byTaito forarcades.[11] It was ported to many home systems.
The game was critically and commercially successful, becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 and winning theGolden Joystick Award for Game of the Year.Operation Wolf popularized military-themed first-person light gunrail shooters and inspired numerous clones, imitators, and others in the genre over the next decade. It spawned three sequels:Operation Thunderbolt (1988),Operation Wolf 3 (1994) andOperation Tiger (オペレーションタイガー) (1998), and the remakeOperation Wolf Returns: First Mission (2023).
Assuming the role of Special Forces Operative Roy Adams, the player attempts to rescue five hostages who are being held captive in enemy territory. The game is viewed from a first-person perspective, and is on rails, with the screen scrolling horizontally through the landscape.[12] The game has six stages to advance the story. For example, after the jungle stage is completed, Adams interrogates an enemy soldier and learns the location of the concentration camp and hostages. Each stage has unique objectives and effects on gameplay after completion, all based on rescuing hostages.Game over screens vary depending on situations, such as the player's death or failure to rescue a single hostage. Continuing the game restarts the stage. The Nintendo Entertainment System version has multiple endings depending on the number of rescued hostages.
The arcade cabinet has anoptical controller resembling anUzi submachine gun which the player can swivel and elevate, and which vibrates tosimulate recoil of gunfire.[13] Pulling the trigger allows fully automatic fire, and pressing the button near the muzzle launches a grenade with a wide blast radius against multiple targets.
To complete each stage, the player must shoot a required number of soldiers and vehicles (trucks, boats, helicopters, armored transports), as indicated by an on-screen counter. The limited ammunition and grenades can be replenished by shooting objects. Shooting dynamite bombs causes heavy damage to every target on the screen, both enemy and friendly, and a special machine gun power-up allows unlimited ammunition and an increased rate of fire for 10 seconds.
Enemies attack with gunfire, knives, grenades, mortar and bazooka rounds, and missiles; all their visible incoming projectiles can be shot out of the air. The player has a damage bar that slowly fills due to enemy attacks or shooting friendly targets such as nurses and boys. Damage can be recovered by collecting health power-ups and completing stages.
The game was converted to theAmstrad CPC,MS-DOS,NES,Amiga,Atari ST,Master System,FM Towns,Commodore 64,PC Engine, andZX Spectrum. Most lacklight gun support (except NES and Master System) and must be played with a keyboard or a controller. In 1989, a special ZX Spectrum version withMagnum Light Phaser support was produced for inclusion inAmstrad's ZX Spectrum +2 and +3 Action Pack hardware bundles.[14] The box for the Master System version features promotional art fromOperation Thunderbolt.
In 2005,Operation Wolf was released on theXbox,PlayStation 2, andWindows withinTaito Legends without light gun support. The NES version was released on the North American Wii Virtual Console in February 2008 without light gun support.
| Publication | Score | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amiga | Arcade | Atari ST | C64 | Master System | NES | PC | TurboGrafx-16 | ZX | |
| ACE | 894[15] | 894 (CPC)[15] | 887[15] | ||||||
| AllGame |   [16] | ||||||||
| Crash | 91%[12] | ||||||||
| Computer and Video Games | Positive[17] | 91%[18] | 92%[18] | 91%[18] | |||||
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 25/40[19] | ||||||||
| Génération 4 | 93%[22] | 93%[22] | |||||||
| Mean Machines Sega | 53%[23] | ||||||||
| Player One | 70%[24] | ||||||||
| Sinclair User | 90%[25] | ||||||||
| The Games Machine (UK) | 79%[20] | 90%[21] | 89% (CPC)[20] | 87%[20] | |||||
| Your Sinclair | Positive[26] | 9/10[27] | |||||||
| Zero | 86%[28] | ||||||||
| Zzap!64 | 91%[29] | ||||||||
| Commodore User | 9/10[30] | ||||||||
| The One | 89%[31] | 89%[31] | |||||||
| S: The Sega Magazine | 91%[9] | ||||||||
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Sinclair User | Over The Top Game of 1988[32] |
| Golden Joystick Awards | Game of the Year (8-bit), Best Coin-Op Conversion (8-bit), Best Coin-Op Conversion (16-bit)[33] |
The game was commercially successful. In Japan,Game Machine listedOperation Wolf in its December 1, 1987 issue as the second most-successful upright or cockpitarcade cabinet of the month,[34] and it went on to become the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1988 (belowSega'sAfter Burner andAfter Burner II).[35] In Europe,Operation Wolf debuted as the top-grossing arcade game of October 1987 in the United Kingdom,[3] and again topped the charts in December 1987;[36] it held the top spot through March 1988,[37][38][39] and remained in the top five through July, when it was number four on theCoinslot dedicated arcade game chart (belowStreet Fighter,Continental Circus, andWEC Le Mans).[40]Operation Wolf went on to become the top-earning arcade game of 1988 in the United Kingdom.[41][18] In the United States,Operation Wolf was one of the top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1988.[42]
The home computer conversions topped the UK sales charts in late 1988[43][44] until it was replaced byRoboCop which held the number one position for most of 1989.[45]
Upon release in arcades, the game received wide acclaim from critics, particularly for its gameplay, graphics, and controls. Its violence was criticized, particularly in the UK press following theHungerford massacre that had occurred a few months before its release.[41]Commodore User said it beats Sega'sAfter Burner as "the game of the year and much of next year too" but that it may draw some controversy from tabloids for itsRambo-like violent content.[30] Clare Edgeley ofComputer and Video Games called it one of the best new releases, stating that, though excessively violent, it was an "extremely playable" and "powerful" fast-paced action game.[17]Your Sinclair called it a "fast and furious" action game,[26] and said it "broke a bit of new 'ground' for arcade games 'cos the 'nasties' fired directly at you through the screen".[27]
The home computer conversions also received positive reviews.Your Sinclair gave the ZX Spectrum conversion a highly positive review.[27] The NES version received more mixed reviews. InElectronic Gaming Monthly's review of the NES conversion, three critics scored it 6/10, one 8/10.[19]
Sinclair User gave the arcade game the "Over The Top Game of 1988" award, for the "shooting game most likely to push you over the edge" in 1988.[32] The home computer conversions won several awards at the 1989Golden Joystick Awards for 1988, including overallGame of the Year (8-bit), Best Coin-Op Conversion (8-bit), and Best Coin-Op Conversion (16-bit).[33] It was later voted number 26 in the "Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time" poll.[46]Crash awarded it a Crash Smash.Computer and Video Games awarded it a CVG Hit.
Operation Wolf had long-term influence on the market upon its release. It is credited with evolving the light gun shooter genre. It departed from the shooting gallery, carnival, and cartoon themes that had previously dominated the genre for decades, fromelectro-mechanical games in the 1960s untilNintendo'sDuck Hunt in 1984, and moved the genre toward more realistic, violent, and military shooter themes.[41][47] In contrast to Taito's earlier gun games includingAttack (1976),N.Y. Captor (1985), andCycle Shooting (1986) which have simple cartoon graphics,Operation Wolf has more realistic graphics. This provides a depth of perspective by using different sizedsprites.[41]
Operation Wolf took the military themes of 1980srun and gun video games (such asCommando,Green Beret, andIkari Warriors)[47] andaction films (such asRambo andCommando) and applied them to light gun shooters.[41] It presents a novel light gun shooter basis for the prisoner of war (POW) rescue mission with massive violence, killing masses of enemy soldiers.[41] It innovates on the mounted gun mechanism - used before in Taito'sAttack and even olderMidway mechanical games from the 1960s - by using an optical sensor and a physical sensation of gunfire.[41] It spawned many arcade shooters with mounted machine gun controls and increasing levels of violence during the late 1980s to early 1990s.[48][49]Den of Geek cited it as a precursor to the then emergingfirst-person shooter genre.[50]
The game popularized first-person light gun rail shooters and inspired numerous clones and imitators during the late 1980s to early 1990s.[9][47][48] Examples includeSNK'sMechanized Attack andSega'sLine of Fire in 1989,[9] SNK'sBeast Busters in 1990,Namco'sSteel Gunner and Midway'sTerminator 2 in 1991,[41] andKonami'sLethal Enforcers in 1992.[47] Further influenced byOperation Wolf, the genre remained popular into the late 1990s and declined following the rise of thefirst-person shooter (FPS) genre.[47]
Operation Wolf spawned three sequels:Operation Thunderbolt (1988),Operation Wolf 3 (1994) andOperation Tiger (1998), and the remakeOperation Wolf Returns: First Mission (2023).
The operation of the gun has been a source of confusion over the years. Is it a lightgun or is it a gun that works like a joystick? The presence of an optic sensor inside the gun proves that it is a lightgun.
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