AMTIXCPC FLASH BACK
One of the team picks a favourite CPC title from yesteryear — Chris Weatherley looks at Ocean’s Operation Wolf.
Welcome to AmtixCPC ‘Flash Back’ where each issue we take a look back at some of the classic CPC games of yesteryear — Chris Weatherly AKA ‘Novabug’ looks back at Operation Wolf. This classic arcade shoot ‘em up was ported to our beloved system by OCEAN Software in 1988.
Rescue the hostages! You are Roy Adams, special ops trooper tasked to destroy the enemy and bring back the civilians! Codename:
Operation Wolf. This on-rails first-person shooter was brought to us by Taito in 1987 and popularised the light gun genre in the arcades. The feel of the heavy machine gun controller in your hands gave the game tactile feedback, unlike other stand up cabinets. Subsequently, this hit release was ported to many of the home systems, and the 8-bits received fine conversations. Along with Chase HQ, Operation Wolf is the other game commonly cited compared to the ZX Spectrum version.
Ocean took to task to make the conversion, and what they produced was something rather special. Porting a game dependent on a light gun could be tricky. While a Magnum Phaser version was coded to simulate the arcade experience excellently, the joystick version is more playable and enjoyable for me. The success of the 8-bit versions spawned various clone games such as Operation Hanoi and
Jungle Warfare, but none were a patch on the original mission. Even its sequel,
Operation Thunderbolt, which, while a semi-decent port on the CPC and GX4000, couldn’t beat the distinction of the first game.
PRESENTATION 75%
Double jewel-size cassette case with reproduced arcade inlay. Levels well designed and faithfully recreated.
GRAPHICS 84%
Vibrant, colourful and well drawn. Sadly lacks animations that other 8-bit versions got.
SOUND 82%
Good and well composed soundtrack with some decent FX.
ADDICTIVENESS 88%
Highly addictive and fun to play, especiallly if your playing the Magnum Phaser version.
LASTABILITY 80%
An action packed shoot ‘em up that kept us all thoroughly entertained.
OVERALL 82%