Bloody Wolf Review (TurboGrafx-16)

Anyone familiar with Ikari Warriors, Mercs or Capcom's Commando will instantly recognise this style of run n' gun action. Yes it's another Rambo clone! That's not such a bad thing - guns, explosions and death is what we all want from our retro games right?

The action is viewed from a pseudo overhead / side-on perspective which works really well. As your soldier of fortune you have to shoot and stab your way through 8 stages. You can also lob a grenade with the start button which should help get you off out of a tough spot. You will fight your way through a town, jungle, river and a detention camp to name but a few. Along the way you can rescue hostages who will often give you a power-up. Shoot someone off his motorbike and it can be yours to squash anyone who dare cross your path.

From time to time you'll come across some bosses who can be a quite tough later in the game. All the staple ingredients for this type of game are present. The graphics and sound do not disappoint either for such an old game, they do the job nicely.

The downsides are no two-player option unlike the arcade original and nasty slowdown when the action gets too frantic on-screen. None of this really deters too much from an otherwise excellent game, NEC did an excellent job with the port adding an extra level and much more dialogue to the game (the funny translation alone makes this game worth buying!)