 Welcome back to Classic Replay. I had such good fun doing the last video and lots of positive feedback I'd like to add and I thought to myself, what next? So I sifted through my very limited box of ZX Spectrum games, 10 in total and this one hit me immediately between the eyes and many people will have experienced Operation Wolf like this. Operation Wolf. And it wouldn't be right and proper if we didn't also mention the Commodore 64 version and the Amstrad CPC. Now I can definitely vouch for the Amstrad CPC version that was an amazing arcade conversion and from memory the Commodore 64 was highly playable as well. We get underway on the ZX Spectrum version and as you can tell straight away you can see the differences between all three versions but as the video suggests this is all about the ZX Spectrum and what it lacks in colour it more than makes up for in the detail and speed and from the looks of the cover it looks like they flew in the guys from Bross, the boy band in the 80s. I jest, don't quote me on that. Now I'm largely inexperienced with Operation Wolf on the ZX Spectrum I played it on the arcade and I played it on the Amstrad CPC through large parts of my childhood. So although I am familiar with the game I'm not familiar with this on the ZX Spectrum so this really is a discovery. The screenshots on the game cover and in the magazines of yesteryear didn't really put me off despite the lack of colour because you could see clearly that there was lots of detail but what's impressed me even more about the ZX Spectrum arcade conversion is the speed and that for me above everything else without question is the vital ingredient of an arcade conversion. Now this plays exactly identically like the Amstrad CPC version so I'm quite au fait with that first level but what surprised me as well is I thought I'd have difficulty due to the lack of colour being able to spot the sprites as they zip across the screen but no problems whatsoever. So far so good. On the arcade version and the Amstrad CPC version this level can be a right pig so I feel like I've got a fantastic base of comparison be it the arcade conversion and the Amstrad CPC version of which both have completed many many times and once again I'm not struggling to see any of the sprites or any of the fast movement which I can't quite work out because the whole screen including the background and the sprites that zip along and the crosshair are all the same colour so I'm not quite sure how they pulled that off because when I play Flying Shark I can't see anything and that game becomes a muscle memory exercise almost a trial and error as in you remember where you got hit the last time but not necessarily what you got hit by it's definitely still a great game now so slight criticism so yeah down to 16-15 men now and then the screen should be cleared hopefully I can make it having a lot of fun playing this those parachute guys that come in from the top left and zoom down they're just as big a pain in the arse on the Amstrad as they are in the ZX Spectrum now that's difficult to judge you because I don't normally complete this level unless I'm at my best on the Amstrad version and I seem to be doing alright on the ZX Spectrum version but not sure could be a one-off I quite like these intermissions because it gives you a chance to recompose I'm only two levels in and I'm sweating buckets so really feeling the pressure but I'll be really surprised if I get even halfway through this third level I'm almost out of ammo I've only got two rockets and my energy levels have seen better days but here we go exciting stuff I mean just look at it it brings the magic world of the arcade alive on the ZX Spectrum and it really is proper blink and you'll miss it and if I own this back in the day on a ZX Spectrum I'd be thinking this is an all-time classic you know it's been ported to the ZX Spectrum with all the love and grace that we'd all become accustomed to when Ocean Software did an arcade conversion I mean 90% of the time the programmers, artists and musicians were definitely Titans of their day and what I'm seeing here on the ZX Spectrum it's a triumph of clever programming and it's up there with Chase HQ R-Type Altered Beast definitely Super Hang on and many more including Rainbow Islands I'm literally holding on here by the skin of my teeth I think I've shot all of the hostages out of panic but seriously this is why I love this game God give me strength come on, come on yesss talk about luck white brow but you know what they say it's better to be lucky than be rich bloody hell my hair and my hands are sweating buckets so just worth a mention spectrumcomputing.co.uk give this score an average mag review of 86.41% from 9 reviews that's bloody good and in issue 86 of computer and video games they gave it game of the month the sprites are really impressive on this level loving the guys in the body armour and once again everything is crystal clear well detailed and looks as smooth as a baby's ass now then now then ROGGIE yep I'm officially losing it I blame it on the stress of this game but I think it's safe to say that this game is critically acclaimed and as an Amstrad CPC owner back in the day I'm giving this a thumbs up it's flipping awesome but of course ZX Spectrum fans already know this but what I'm thinking is not everybody will have owned a ZX Spectrum back in the day especially in another country maybe even the US or Canada, Australia, New Zealand who knows the far east as well China, Japan and if you haven't played this and you're into retro gaming in my personal humble opinion you need to check this out and I can't underestimate it's so easy to pick up and play and bonus it sounds great you just can't end up not liking this game ok so the Uzi submachine gun is missing from the arcade original but you can use a light gun as well and if you're lucky enough to own a CRT in 2021 the light gun is really authentic it plays really well it's quite accurate and the light gun as well is easily affordable now for me I prefer the keyboard I've never had a problem with the QA OMP space fire and I'm just as good using the keys as I am using the light gun so any criticism leveled at the use of keys I'm sorry that just doesn't wash with me because it's being well implemented now I should probably mention Andrew Deakin and Ivan Horne those are the guys responsible for this arcade conversion and they managed it without any colour clash whatsoever and I really like the music from Jonathan Dunne talk about a dream team but then in the same breath you have to ponder and ask the question how did this dream team of programmers and musicians end up with a disaster like renegade 3 I mean that must have been a real career limiting game for them in football they say you're only as good as your last game I wonder if that's the same for programmers as with the previous levels this one seems to have upped the game as well everything's really clear there's hostages all over the place now I'm trying my best not to shoot them there's even more going on on the screen and to my surprise oh damn it I've shot a hostage oh god but yes to my surprise there's no slowdown whatsoever this is really touching go now I was lucky there I just picked up the health potion so I've still got 4 helicopters to take out and around 26 soldiers so it's going to be touching go I'm not doing terribly well on the old hostage situation which I think is the whole point of the game I've definitely got this now I've luckily somehow picked up a health potion I'm still in awe of the size of these sprites and the detail I'm absolutely mad for it and it's definitely one of my favourite arcade conversions of all time ok so now just take your time take your time come on only 10 left 11 left take it easy come on almost there hopefully hopefully I don't screw up on the last level that's happened to me plenty on the Amstrad and the arcade my eyes are starting to burn now it's just I've been staring at the screen too long and I can tell you from experience that that isn't going to be enough energy I'm out of grenades as well so oh boy here we go nothing ventured nothing gained and I think I've got another continue so we should be alright and I've never been able to complete this game you know all in one go I've always had to continue at some point but this is another great little level the plane is trying to take off there I've got to try and rescue the hostages hopefully I can get out with at least one but easier said than done I think that's because normally I just end up shooting them so far so good though famous last words I've probably rigged it now oh bugger no that's just gone and piled on the pressure now so I'm not going to blame the game or lack of colour for hitting the hostages my target accuracy is probably really good has anybody ever seen one of those police films where they have to go into a situation a scenario and then they walk into the room and they have to shoot all the bad guys oh balls up here oh well one more go compose yourself don't panic Mr. Mannering what was I saying again and then the good guy will pop up like a cardboard cutter and they end up shooting it so I think this is the last attempt come on my son now I did buy Operation Warcade which is for the PS4 and it lets you use the light gun and VR headset and it's nostalgia of the 80s with today's technology but it lets you experience the arcade original arcade machine with the light gun in VR and also this new version Operation Warcade so if you've got a PS4 and the 3D headset although I'm not sure it's needed definitely check it out because it fills the gap oh I nearly forgot Bob Wakelin did the art for the cover for this game Rest in Peace I've actually got a few of his canvases signed I've never met him God knows how I got them but it's one of those things where you pick them up along the way I can't remember how this game was being perceived back in the day with all this shooting killing nurses accidentally killing hostages terrorism I can say I don't remember anything being squarely aimed at this game but I'm amazed the BBC or other over sensitive media didn't try and get it banned it's looking like I'm not going to be able to finish this but that's a shame if I don't yeah just too much going on oh I might just have salvaged it there I can't even think straight there's so much going on on the screen I'm just going to try and concentrate now because I really want to complete this oh my god another energy potion I've literally just gone from near defeat the hands of death and now a glimmer of hope victory but then again my heart has just sank noticing that there's still 25 soldiers and four helicopters and if you quickly do the maths not enough ammo to take them out oh bugger look at this I'm slipping back into the hands of defeat no lie this is going to be close right down to the wire come on come on yes yes come on come on yeah first time I've completed this on the ZX Spectrum wow whew armed I didn't get any hostages though you got away alone you've failed in your mission you rescued zero hostages we won't ask you again oh well that's a bit of an anticlimax one second I'm punching the air the next I'm being brought right back down to earth so after all that what do I think how can I sum up this game bloody brilliant one of the best arcade conversions ever to the 8 bits and definitely one of the best on the ZX Spectrum well I hope you enjoyed this video personally this one is a little bit too stressful for me I'd like to continue with the theme of these videos for the ZX Spectrum but I suppose that depends on you guys and how well you receive it there's hundreds of games I've not played on the ZX Spectrum so if there's anything you want me to cover and enough people agree if it's as good as this game and the previous it would be my honor and that only leaves me to say if you like this video please subscribe, like leave a comment, share with friends and a big thank you to all my existing subscribers first for following this channel and for all the lovely comments you leave on a regular basis Colecovision, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and MSX Bunnies I haven't forgotten about you videos on their way soon until next time, bye!