Operation Wolf

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. 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 game was commercially successful. In Japan, Game Machine listed Operation Wolf in its December 1, 1987 issue as the second most-successful upright or cockpit arcade cabinet of the month, and it went on to become the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1988 (below Sega's After Burner and After Burner II). In Europe, Operation Wolf debuted as the top-grossing arcade game of October 1987 in the United Kingdom, and again topped the charts in December 1987; it held the top spot through March 1988, and remained in the top five through July, when it was number four on the Coinslot dedicated arcade game chart (below Street Fighter, Continental Circus, and WEC Le Mans). Operation Wolf went on to become the top-earning arcade game of 1988 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Operation Wolf was one of the top five highest-grossing dedicated arcade games of 1988.

The home computer conversions topped the UK sales charts in late 1988 until it was replaced by RoboCop which held the number one position for most of 1989.

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, from electro-mechanical games in the 1960s until Nintendo's Duck Hunt in 1984, and moved the genre toward more realistic, violent, and military shooter themes. Y.

Captor (1985), and Cycle Shooting (1986) which have simple cartoon graphics, Operation Wolf has more realistic graphics. This provides a depth of perspective by using different sized sprites.