OPERATION WOLF
VARIOUS, 1988
Until Operation Wolf, Ocean had predominantly used its Imagine sub-label to publish arcade conversions. Taito’s immensely successful lightgun blaster was deemed important enough to appear under its own branding, as the Ocean in-house dev teams began pondering how to squeeze this fast-moving and colourful arcade game into the home computers. Nevertheless, it was the perfect licence: Operation Wolf is an Eighties action movie in videogame form. The player is Lone Wolf, charging into enemy territory to free captured comrades. Throughout the six enemy locations, Lone Wolf eradicates soldiers with his sub-machine gun while taking out tanks, helicopters and more with grenades. Brilliantly employing a solid lightgun that put the player firmly into the action, it’s no wonder the arcade game was a hit and, despite the gulf in technology, Ocean did a decent job of the home ports. Colossal sales ensued.