Operation Wolf — stories left

Because it was aimed at shopping centres, the price setting at shipment was low, at 50 yen for 1 plays.

In the "Gamest Awards" No. 2 (1988), a feature of the game magazine Gamest, it took No. 16 in the Hit Games of the Year by reader vote.

In the "Cross Review" of the game magazine Famitsu it received a total of 22. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by Family Computer Magazine its rating was as follows, 18.10 out of 30.

In the "Cross Review" of the game magazine Famitsu it received a total of 24. In Monthly PC Engine the reviewers gave 75, 90, 75, 85, and 75, for an average of 80. In Marukatsu PC Engine they gave 6, 7, 8, and 6, for a total of 27 out of 40. In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by PC Engine FAN its rating was as follows, 20.42 out of 30.

This score also placed it 306th among all PC Engine titles (485 titles in total, as of 1993).

Commodore User said it beats Sega's After Burner as "the game of the year and much of next year too" but that it may draw some controversy from tabloids for its Rambo-like violent content.

Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games called it one of the best new releases, stating that, though excessively violent, it was an "extremely playable" and "powerful" fast-paced action game.

Your Sinclair called it a "fast and furious" action game, and said it "broke a bit of new 'ground' for arcade games 'cos the 'nasties' fired directly at you through the screen".

Sinclair User gave the arcade game the "Over The Top Game of 1988" award, for the "shooting game most likely to push you over the edge" in 1988.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Operation Wolf in its December 1, 1987 issue as the second most-successful upright or cockpit arcade cabinet of the month, and it went on to become the second highest-grossing arcade game of 1988 (below Sega's After Burner and After Burner II).

Commodore User said it beats Sega's After Burner as "the game of the year and much of next year too" but that it may draw some controversy from tabloids for its Rambo-like violent content.

The NES version was released on the North American Wii Virtual Console in February 2008 without light gun support.

The home computer conversions topped the UK sales charts in late 1988 until it was replaced by RoboCop which held the number one position for most of 1989.

Its violence was criticized, particularly in the UK press following the Hungerford massacre that had occurred a few months before its release.