Airwolf

Airwolf

Game No.	391
Voting	5.56 points, 16 votes
Developer	Neil A. Bate, Chris Harvey (graphics)
Company	Elite Systems
Publisher	Elite Systems, Eaglesoft, Encore, Aackosoft <- probably rerelease
Musician	Mark Cooksey
HVSC-File	/MUSICIANS/C/Cooksey_Mark/Airwolf.sid
Release	1985
Platform	C64, C16/Plus4, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari 800/XL/XE
Genre	Skill, Shoot'em up, Labyrinth
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Follower: Airwolf II

Description[edit | edit source]

The start of the game... and the unexpected early end thanks to the finicky controls.

Airwolf is a skill game where you need to steer a helicopter through a labyrinth. Some hostile defensive units subtract life energy when being touched, others lead to instant death. The life energy or damage display are shown by medieval shields. The Airwolf helicopter has no stable flying height, but drops downwards if you do not use the joystick. The ammunition of the cannon is not limited. You only have one life. The position and the order of the five scientists change from game to game.

Story[edit | edit source]

Hawke is a former military pilot who was deployed in the Vietnam War and now he is the only man who is able to fly the billion dollar special helicopter, the Airwolf!
Once again Hawke is sent on this top secret mission, because five of the most important scientists of the USA were kidnapped and are kept imprisoned in an underground cave system. This cave is in the desert of Arizona, and Hawke will need all his abilities to rescue one captive after the other, because unfortunately, the Airwolf can only carry one person at a time. The defense systems of the cave should be silenced with aimed shots, everything else is now in your hands...

Aim of the game[edit | edit source]

You need to collect the five scientists and bring them back to the base, then the game is finished.

Design[edit | edit source]

You steer the helicopter Airwolf through a coloured 2D cave labyrinth. Airwolf, enemies and people to be rescued are animated. There are simple sound effects. As background music you can hear the theme of the Airwolf series. The sound programmer Mark Cooksey provides his first professional work here.

Screenshots

Hints[edit | edit source]

Controls

move joystick: steer the helicopter
press fire button: fire the board weapon
Space music on/off
C= pause on/off
Restore restart

The Airwolf helicopter has in this game a kind of protective shield. In a collision the helicopter takes some damage until the total shield's energy is used up. If this happens, the Airwolf is destroyed. The shield energy is fittingly displayed by medieval shields.

But beware! There are enemies that cause so much damage that one single collision leads to the total destruction of the helicopter despite a full shield.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Map

A map from the game made out of C64 screenshots.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

The game has to be loaded first, then you need to enter the poke and restart.
The following commands makes you invincible:
POKE 13473,255 or
POKE 13473,255:POKE 13481,0 or
POKE 14073,255

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
5.56 points at 16 votes (rank 886). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	6	31st May 2014 - 6 out of 10 points - 23724 downs
Lemon64	5	5th June 2014 - 5,0 out of 10 points - 92 votes
The Legacy	5	5th June 2014 - "average" - 10 votes
C64.COM	10	7th July 2014 - 9,5 out of 10 points - 11588 downs
Ready64	5	16th July 2014 - 5,25 out of 10 points - 4 votes
Commodore Force	7	Issue July 1993 - 70% - p.58
Commodore Horizons	7	Issue May 1985 - 7 out of 10 points - p.13
Commodore User	7	Issue May 1985 - 3 out of 5 points - p.42 Issue July 1988 - 8 out of 10 points - p.62
Home Computing Weekly	6	Issue April 1985 - 3 out of 5 points - p.12
Your 64	8	Issue June 1985 - 4 out of 5 points - p.41
Zzap!64	8	Issue May 1985 - 88% - p.54 Issue December 1988 - 70% - p.93

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Shmendric: "There are points off for the flabby controls (at least with VICE and keyboard), unfair situations and an extremely unnerving music. Instead of motivation, the game created rather frustration in me, I did not even want to play a reasonably presentable highscore. My reminiscence of the game was negative and this has not really improved during the creation of this article. The music reminds my strongly of a cassette in a recorder where the batteries are running low. And I was also not a fan of the series, this would probalby have given a bonus. I have only given 3 points here."

Flodder: "Well, I do not remember this game being thaat bad. Especially the graphics were rather nice to look at. For the sound there is the Mute key on the TV remote control. I liked to play it at that time, but I was also a big fan of this series (let me, this was the 80s). Just enough for 5/10."

Robotron2084: "I would say: This is one of those games that could have made it big. If the programmer only had invested the 1a scrolling and the nice graphics into a quasi follower of Fort Apocalypse and not into a game, where the player's biggest enemies are the hypersensitive controls. This would have been much better than this technically refined but eventually frustrating small game. Sure... would have, could have, should have. 6 out of 10 points."

TheRyk: "For exploring caves there are more adequate vehicles than a huge helicopter. Everyone had this game and most people liked it in a way, but next to no one could play it really well. Back then I found it kind of fascinating, maybe just because I knew and liked the TV series and recognized the title music, maybe because flying through the caves was really fascinating once you figured out how to leave the starting room. However, I never got really far due to the game being too fiddly, comparable to Killerwatt and its clones, the shield system not really making it much easier, since some of the enemies kill you at first collision, anyway. I think, music and graphics are pretty well-done for 1985, but all in all, the game is too frustrating till the first successful rescue to rate it any higher than 5, nostalgia bonus already included."

ThunderBlade: "For me as a fan of the TV series this is of course a must have and of course extremely disappointing. Technically well done for the year of release, but the loveless conversion of the title music announces it: No, this is not a game where you can experience the Airwolf flair very closely! The author has probably never seen the series, at the most the cover of the game, because obviously the helicopter is blue there, therefore it gets this colour in the game. Some kind of wannabe Fort Apocalypse, in which Airwolf flies around in a cave system... ouch. Instead of several weapon and spy systems it has suddenly shields like the Enterprise. To complete the fiasco, the difficulty grade is also much too high. I can only give benevolently 4 out of 10."

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Airwolf is the movie realisation of the TV series with the same name, which was successfully produced from 1984 to 1986. In the centre of the plot is Stringfellow „Huckleberry“ Hawke, played by Jan Michael Vincent, who is a former Vietnam fighter pilot. With the special supersonic speed helicopter Airwolf, he flies secret missions and also solves private problems. A Bell-222 helicopter was optically modified for the series.