Operation Wolf

Operation Wolf
Operation Wolf arcade flyer.
Developer(s)	Taito
Publisher(s)	Taito
Platform(s)	Arcade, Sega Master System
Release date(s)	Arcade 1987 NES 1989
Genre(s)	Shooting gallery
Mode(s)	Single player
Cabinet	Upright
CPU	MC68000 (@ 12 MHz) Z80 (@ 4 MHz)
Sound	YM2151 (@ 4 MHz) (2x) MSM5205 (@ 384 kHz)
Display	Raster, 320 x 240 pixels (Horizontal), 8192 colors

Operation Wolf is a one-player shooter arcade game made by Taito in 1987. It spawned three sequels: Operation Thunderbolt (1988), Operation Wolf 3 (1994) and Operation Tiger (1998).

Description

The object of the game is to rescue the five hostages in the concentration camp. The game is divided into six stages: Communication Setup, Jungle, Village, Powder Magazine, Concentration Camp, and Airport. Completion of each stage advances the story. For example, upon completing the Jungle stage, an enemy leader is interrogated and the location of the enemy's concentration camp is found. This was one of the first shooter games to feature a storyline, and it had some similarities to real special operations missions.

Stages

The game is controlled with a fixed swivel mounted light gun controller attached to the cabinet, with force feedback to simulate recoil. In order to complete each stage, the player must shoot as many soldiers, tanks, jeeps, choppers, and boats as the game requires. Soldiers can throw hand grenades and knives, and vehicles can shoot missiles and launch rockets. The player's ammunition and grenades are limited, but can be stocked up by shooting barrels and crates or by shooting animals such as chickens and pigs. Occasionally a high-powered machine gun power-up appears, allowing the player's gun to have unlimited ammo and an increased rate of fire for 10 seconds.

The player has a damage bar that increases each time he is hit. The damage bar also increases if a civilian or hostage is shot. Energy boost items randomly appear which, if shot, decrease damage by five points. Once the bar reaches maximum, the game is over. In addition, if the player runs out of ammunition, he/she is captured by the enemy forces, ending the game.

One of the most ported arcade games of all time, it has seen releases on everything from the CPC to DOS, as well as the NES, the Sega Master System, the FM Towns and the TurboGrafx-16. Most of these ports lack any kind of light gun support (with the notable exceptions of the NES and the Sega Master System) and must be played with a keyboard or a controller.

In 2005, Operation Wolf was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows as part of Taito Legends; however, light gun support is unavailable. On February 4, 2008, the NES version of Operation Wolf was released on the North American Wii Virtual Console. Whereas the NES version allowed NES Zapper support, the VC re-release does not feature any kind of light gun support (including the Wii Remote's pointer functions), making the game only playable with the standard controller mode.

Other uses

Operation Wolf has been adopted as the project name to remove the large amounts of extraneous material held within the Energy and Communications Branch at the Ministry of Economic Development.

References

External links

• Operation Wolf at the Killer List of Videogames
• Operation Wolf at MobyGames
• Operation Wolf at World of Spectrum
• Operation Wolf (video game) on the Amiga at The Hall of Light (HOL)