- Release Date: 1988
- Genre: Shooter
- Style: Platform Shooter
- Similar Games: Metal Gear (Nintendo Entertainment System), Contra (Arcade)
Game Description
In this three-quarter view 2D platform shooter, you play a member of the elite Bloody Wolf team. Equipped with a rifle and unlimited ammunition, a combat knife, and a limited stock of grenades, your mission is to locate and rescue friendly forces that have been captured inside enemy territory. Once located, you can acquire more powerful weapons including standard guns that replace your rifle, and auxiliary weapons that replace your stock of grenades. If you want to conserve your special weapon ammunition, you can opt to attack enemies with your combat knife. Finding and eating food, given by some rescued MIAs, can replenish your life bar.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
Bloody Wolf's graphics and gameplay are similar to the original MSX version of Metal Gear and the subsequent NES adaptation.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Overall
Military themes are popular in Arcade games, especially the theme requiring a lone, elite soldier, to infiltrate enemy territory and kill everything in sight. Bloody Wolf is one such game, and feels derivative of every other title with the same theme, but this one plays poorly and looks even worse.Bloody Wolf plays suspiciously like the original MSX version of Metal Gear and the NES adaptation. You run from side to side shooting or stabbing bad guys, while looking for hostages to free. You can run inside doors or trucks, killing everything and grabbing whatever goodies you might find. Occasionally you might use your stock of special weapons, usually in the form of grenades. A few times you might even have to move up the screen instead of sideways, but that's all there is. The lack of enemy variety makes the game boring after five minutes, and poor weapon design adds to the game's general dullness.
While you can pick up different weapons, their design tends to have the exact same effect, making them worthless. The rocket and grenade explosion ranges are so tiny, it's unlikely you'll catch more than two enemies in the blast field. If special weapons do the same thing as your regular gun, then what's the point?
Even Bloody Wolf's graphics are poor, almost to the point of looking like a Nintendo NES game, with your character's sprite looking like a collection of ugly lumps. The enemies are drawn a little better, but not by much. They suffer from excessive repetition though, with only a few enemy design variants and not even many color variants of those. The color palette is limited, looking like the artists chose the muddiest and ugliest color combinations.
Bloody Wolf's animation is likewise disappointing. Character movements are jerky, and screen scrolling is choppy. The overall effect is almost painful to watch, and given that the game was released in 1988, years after the introduction of the NES, the graphics are just embarrassing. The few scattered voice clips are of surprisingly good quality, although muted, but you won't detect electronic fuzz or distortion. The music is good too, with a decent selection of songs and a few that are actually catchy and are thematically appropriate for their levels. The sound effects aren't particularly notable, but they're not bad.
Bloody Wolf is simply a poorly made, with little point in playing, unless you like throwing quarters away, with no enjoyment in return.
~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Enjoyment
Because of their design, the special weapons add nothing to the already dull and lifeless gameplay.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Graphics
Poor, NES quality graphics.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Sound
Clear voice clips and a good selection of music.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
Review: Replay Value
You'll be bored enough the first time through.~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide
