 Turbo-drunk. The TurboGrafx-16 is kind of an intermediary between the NES and SNES. It features slightly better performance and gameplay than a bunch of NES games, but the visuals and sounds aren't quite up to par with later systems. Bloody Wolf is a good example of that. This is a game that is quick and responsive, and features eight long levels with slightly longer missions and objectives than you'd find in an NES game, but the graphics and overall execution are just kind of sloppy, and would be seen as second rate compared to later home console games. But that doesn't mean Bloody Wolf is a bad game or even a game that you should skip over. It's still a fun, stupid run and gun that has a good amount of charm, although I should say that some of the charm comes from how hilariously wonky this game can get. Bloody Wolf was originally made for arcades back in 1988 by Data East, and it was ported only to the TurboGrafx in June 1990. And of course, as you can see, it's your classic military motif popularized by Contra, where you've got two dudes in camo running around shooting stuff. The viewpoint is top-down, but you can still jump over things, which makes this play a little more like a side-scrolling run and gun instead of other top-down games like Commando. The story is summed up in one sentence. Go rescue the kidnapped president. It doesn't say which president, so we could be rescuing Mark Wilf for all I know. You get a health meter and unlimited continues to get through eight levels, one button jumps, another shoots, but unfortunately you can't shoot in mid-air. You can also pick up a shotgun, which is actually a spread gun, and a bazooka, which is by far the most powerful weapon. You can also pick up secondary weapons like grenades, even bigger grenades, super-duper huge grenades, and a flamethrower, and you use those by pressing the run button, or what would normally be the start button on an NES controller. The game also features a vehicle you can jump on, this wonky-ass motorcycle, and, uh, yeah, this game is not without its flaws. If I were an enemy and I saw this, I'd just leave the guy alone. He's got enough problems. Speaking of enemies, did these guys all go to the same acting class or something? They all melodramatically clutched their chests and flailed their arm into the air like they're moracy or something. Anyway, each level also has doors you can duck into, which contain items like armor, flippers so you can swim, and keys to unlock other treasures like, uh, muscle, emphasis, tadlets. Yeah, the game's not so obvious way of telling you that you're roidin' up. You also rescue hostages along the way that help progress the game's quote-unquote story. What's neat is that none of the items are required, but geez, they sure are useful. Like, there's the infrared scope, which allows you to see these floor beams in the last level. There's only one place where you can pick up the scope, so if you miss it, you have to get through this level by just crossing your fingers and hopin' you know, die. I mentioned earlier that Bloody Wolf features slightly better performance in gameplay than some NES games, but, uh, not that much better. Yeah, it's cool that the game has eleven enemies on screen at once, but the game chugs along so slowly. Well, at least if you outrun everyone, you know the speed will flip back to normal, or you can just duck into a room like in the first level here where you're met by Shotgun Man, where he says you'll make a nice target for this gun, and, uh, Shotgun Man apparently has a spread gun instead, but I guess Spread Man would be kind of a weird name. He eventually calls for help in the form of four meat shields that you have to bomb with a grenade so you can keep shooting Spread Man. The game does do a nice job cornering you into some difficult situations that require some quick reactions, where all of a sudden you've got like ten enemies on screen tossing grenades at you, but, ah, the slowdown, it gets really bad in this game. The difficulty doesn't help matters either. Once you get to the end of level four, you'll think you're at the end of the game, since, hey, you just rescued the president, or a president, I guess. But after this boss fight, your second playable character gets dropped off in the middle of a river somewhere, and the game continues, and it only gets harder from there. The final boss fight is one of those comically difficult fights where it's just like, come on, give me a break, man. There's other sections that are patently unfair. One boss makes you fight with just your knife. Hey, that's fine as long as it's a fair fight, and they only have a knife, too. But then there's this jackass who can throw huge fireballs at you while you're stuck with your pathetic knife for some reason. It reminds me of the game Lagoon, where for certain boss fights, you're not allowed to use magic, because, ah, I guess that would make the game too easy or something. I do want to point out the music because it's frickin' great. Call me crazy, but it kinda has a Capcom or a Konami vibe to it. So yeah, if you're gonna sit down and play at Bloody Wolf, get ready for some jank. I mean, a heapin' helpin' of jank. Games like this to me are just big, dumb, fun. They're so ridiculous, like the invincible motorcycle that flails out of control, or the stilted dialogue, or the way some enemies fly offscreen at 100 miles an hour when they're killed. To this game's everlasting credit, and maybe this is just my opinion, but this is the rare case where the TurboGrafx version of this game is actually slightly better than the arcade. The levels are expanded, the music sounds better, and there's just more bang for your buck here. Bloody Wolf is a really flawed game, but I file it under the category of big, stupid fun that put a grin on my face. That is, until I got to the final boss, screw that guy. But otherwise, if you can tolerate a lot of jank, then Bloody Wolf is a silly, ridiculous playthrough in both good ways and bad ways. Alright, I want to thank you for watching, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.