Alright! Last game in the run!
Ya know what's cheating? Playing a rail shooter with a mouse. Ya know what's even MORE cheating? When the game is so stacked against you that it doesn't matter.
This is Operation Wolf. A 1987 Rail Shooter made by Taito. The first Rail Shooter on the list actually! And while it may share the name as shooter with it's other SHMUP bretheran, this is actually an evolution all to itself. See, games like 1943 were inspired by other SHMUPS like Galaga, which was a sequal to Galaxian, which was inspired by Space Invaders, which was inspired by Breakout, a sequel to Pong. nearly all SHMUPS can have their linage traced back to Pong. Operation Wolf, cannot. It was inspired by the Rambo movies and used a new technology where motion sensors tracked a mounted gun (yeah, not a light gun, a motion censored gun) It also had haptic feedback to give you a real sense of kickback from the rifle.
You play as a buff white dude, and your job is to kill anyone who isn't white (it was the 80's, so it's okay). More specifically, your job is to save all the white people from a south american POW camp. And the game follows a fairly linear story even, something that would be followed in later Rail Shooters.
Honestly, it was a lot of fun! Killing people is satisfying, the sounds are loud and energetic, the graphics may be a bit behind the times, but I have a feeling that's due to the technical constraints of the gun technology. If I did have a complaint, it would be that holy cow is this game hard. Like, seriously, I was playing with a frickin' mouse. And the game STILL won.It was basically a point and click adventure, but bad guys keep popping out from the sides of the screen giving you zero time to react.
If you really like Rail Shooters and want a really early example of what they were like, this is probably fine, otherwise, I'd stick to other shooters until they get the kinks ironed out.
Next up: Rainbow Islands
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