I didn't know this until after I played through the game, but apparently there was an arcade version of this game known as Battle Rangers, which has "Bloody Wolf" as part of the subtitle. Turns out this was the only port.
You start the game by picking one of two characters. Both characters control the same and have no strengths or weaknesses over the other. This is followed by inputting up to five characters for a code name. Unlike the arcade version, the default code names for the two characters are Snake and Eagle, respectively, if you put in all A's. Up and Down let you cycle through letters, numbers and symbols, while Button II confirms and Button I is the backspace function.
You'll then get your mission: rescue the president, who has been kidnapped by the enemy.
Stage 1
You'll be in a top-down perspective of sorts. The Control Pad lets you move around, while Button II lets you shoot and Button I lets you jump. Run lets you throw grenades, and Select lets you pause the game.
The heads-up display shows your score, your code name, your current weapon and the amount of secondary weapons such as grenades, the special items that you have, and your current health. If you lose all your health, the game is over and you'll be forced to continue. Thankfully, continues are infinite in this game.
Jump over the barbed wires to get over them. Thankfully, they don't hurt you.
The red barrels are explosive and will take out any nearby enemies when they explode.
You can enter some buildings by walking into the doorways, but watch out for enemies. Also, you can find hostages this way. Be careful not to shoot them, as you can get power-ups and hints from them. If you approach any boxes from any side other than the south one, you can use your knife to open it with Button II and find what's inside. Interestingly, your character goes from holding a gun to holding a knife if you're close enough to stab something.
You can find weapons other than the default machine gun that you start with. The shotgun has a wide multi-bullet shot that can take out multiple enemies.
When you get hit, you get stunned, but you get no audio confirmation, so it's hard to tell if you get hit sometimes.
By walking into the back of trucks, you can climb up them. You can climb up a truck after the start and rescue the hostage on the roof to get a key, which allows you to open some boxes with locks on them.
The green soldiers simply shoot at you, but the blue soldiers shoot five or six bullets at once in multiple directions. The red enemies shoot but also move towards you.
You can get motorcycles from enemies, but the fuel will run out as you spend time on the motorcycle or get hit while on the motorcycle. When the fuel runs out, the motorcycle will flash. Get off immediately by pressing Run and run away from the motorcycle, or the explosion will instantly kill you. The best part about the motorcycles is that you can run into enemies to kill them.
The Muscle Emphasis Tablets will increase your maximum health by one unit. You can have up to six units of health, and if you reach the maximum, you can get a full heal either way..
You'll eventually be forced to enter a building and face the Shotgun Man. (Sadly, the "You! Invaders! Get you the hot bullets of shotgun to die!" line didn't make it to the home port.) After pressing Button I to get through the dialogue, keep your distance to avoid his bullets and return fire when you can. Also, do not jump; the bullets love to violate the laws of perspective and they will still hit you even if you jump. After you hit him three times, you'll have to fight some armored soldiers along with the boss. Take out the armored guys with your grenades, and shoot at the boss when you get a clear shot. After a few more shots, the Shotgun Man will die and his armored cronies will run away.
You'll then be able to continue through the rest of the level. If you need to, walk into ladders to climb them and rescue some hostages. One hostage will tell you that the President's is being held close by.
The Bazooka is an explosive weapon that can take out multiple enemies and pack a punch. Be careful when using it; you can accidentally blow up boxes with power-ups with them if you're not careful.If you take a weapon while carrying one, you'll replace the current weapon you have and you won't be able to get it back; if you find another one of the weapon that you currently have, you'll get more ammo for it.
The brown soldiers flash, and if you touch, they will go kamikaze and explode for quite a bit of damage.
You can enter the inside of some trucks and find things this way. The one in the third section contains some Medicine, which refills all your health.
To beat the submarine, anticipate where the shots go and shoot at the sub while it is surfaced. When it goes back down, go all the way to one side and avoid the missiles, which will open holes in the ground that you will kill you if you accidentally jump into them. I stay to the left for the first salvo, then leap to the right so the hole doesn't become a big problem. The sub will then surface and the attack pattern will begin anew, and you'll be able to whittle down the enemy's health bar, which replaces your special item inventory throughout the boss fight. If the sub goes down to fire missiles again, stay close to the hole made by the last salvo of missiles and jump away from the hole to get away from the new set when it is fired. It won't be long until you take the submarine down.
Stage 2
We are now in the jungle where the President is being held.
Entering enemies will clear the current area of all on-screen enemies, so when you come back out, the coast will be completely clear when you return.
The armored soldiers are normal enemies at this point. Wait for them to shoot, then get in close and knife them by pressing Button II when in close to kill them instantly. You may have to use other weapons such as grenades and bazookas to take out groups of them.
The first hut contains a hostage as well as an armored soldier. The hostage tells you to use your knife (which you'll always have) on the armored soldiers in case you haven't figured it out already.
Powerful Grenades are, well, more powerful grenades. Thankfully, they do not completely replace your regular grenades, which you'll get back when these things are all used up. These more powerful grenades have explosions that cover more ground and last longer when they hit the ground after they are thrown.
There is a robot shortly after the start. It has an eight-way shot, but the shots are slow. It explodes pretty well when it is destroyed
Trees can be climbed just like ladders. The first guy you see in a tree will give you the fins, which are useful in deep water. Just press Button I when you're in a body of water, and you can dive underwater temporarily. If you have the fins, however, you can move faster while doing so, allowing you to more effectively escape from enemies.
In the next building you can enter, you'll find out the President has been moved into the enemy headquarters, and you'll also get Medicine.
When you approach the nearby river, a huge guy with a flamethrower will jump out. Stay away from the center of the screen when approaching this area so you don't get hit immediately, and watch for his bullets as well as the fireballs that he will toss around. If you have to, throw grenades at him. After three hits, he jumps into the water, moves around, and pops back out once he is lined up with you. Stay on the move so you don't get burnt by the flamethrower, and keep fighting him like you always have.
You'll be able to go north, then east across the river. Stop progressing and take out enemies as soon as you see them. Thankfully, the river doesn't have a current that pushes you around. When you go east, you'll be able to sneak up on some enemies to the north and stab a few of them up close to make things easier when you get back on dry land. From here, you'll travel north into forest. Once again, stop progressing when you notice enemies, and take out the enemy forces as you go. Some enemies will throw grenades, so be careful.
You'll then reach a cliff edge, where you will face a helicopter. Anticipate where the machine gun bullets go as they fire in a spread pattern so you can tell where to stand without getting hit, then stay on the move to avoid being hit by the helicopter's missiles. Afterwards, the plane will lower and shoot its machine gun again, starting the attack pattern anew. All the while, return fire when possible by firing diagonally. Sometimes the helicopter will go off-screen. Use this as an opportunity to shoot at the helicopter, as the helicopter will come back on the same side of the screen where it went off-screen on.
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