Arcade Memories Game Of The Week - Operation Thunderbolt

[Bods]

Now this one I'm not sure if I saw it in local arcades, don't have any memories of watching the intro like other machines and it's not likely you'll forget it because it's one cool intro for sure as the music is awesome and Stereo

I did have a copy on the Amiga so I think it's the memories of playing it on that, could you play 2 player? sure mate used to play it as well, wasn't bad conversion on Amiga

When I got Op Wolf I thought it would be awesome to get one of these to go with it. in early 2000 when I was working there was one in the back of arcade at Skegness, over other side from the big Simpsons, So I had a go on it and that's when I realised they weren't light guns, it was when you entered your name and it moves around the letters, I felt cheated again as I would always assume they had light guns, then you check the end of the gun and just plastic end, no lens

That kind of put me off getting one but then could they have added the Laser Sight feature with a Light Gun? I got over the disappointment after a while as the guns do work well when everything is okay, yeah there cheaper plastic guns and feedback solenoid instead of motor in Op Wolf but the game is still great to play with added fun of 2 guns

When I found out about the Op Wolf Mini and then Thunderbolt I thought it's time to sell full size Op Wolf and get Both games in smaller size and I'm glad I did as it's another cool 80's shooter

Many others play it in the arcades or was it another home computer/console fave

 

[CMYKhazi-Dan]

Used to bunk off school to play this at the arcade at Poole Quay with my mate in about '92. Was able to get all the way to the last boss guy holding the pilot on £1, must've been set to easy mode 😆

Also learnt that bunking off school when everybody else is at school is a bit shit 😆

 

[CMYKhazi-Dan]

Bought it for the Amstrad. Like most games on that, was shit 😆

 

[Del Griffith]

Loved this game, It was in a fair few of the arcades that I used to visit as a kid. I didn’t know it worked differently back then but do remember the disappointment I had with the recoil and feel of the guns compared to Op wolf. Op would felt real and vicious, Thunderbolt felt a bit lame. I still loved the game itself tho. It felt easier to play and the added bonus of being 2 player. Great memorable speech same as Wolf.

 

[John Bennett]

It was never in our local arcades, but I saw it on holiday a few times. I liked it, although it never seemed quite as special as Operation Wolf - a lot more frantic, sprite scaling moving levels, tiny magazines everywhere to shoot at... just not as focused.

It's got me puzzled now though. I'm sure I remember a PC version and a magazine saying it was pretty decent, but then comparing it to the Hungerford Massacre as it was a shooting game (!!? ).
I can't seem to find a mention of a DOS version anywhere. I suppose it does all sound like a weird dream, so maybe that's all it was

 

[Max...]

Just got this for the SNES recently - it's an OK conversion and I loved it in the arcade but have to be honest I probably prefer Op Wolf on the PCE as a home/non-arcade play.

 

[John Bennett]

Ah, it was a review of the Amiga game I remembered https://www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com/operthun.htm
No PC/DOS version exists, unlike Op Wolf.

 

[Bods]

Ah, it was a review of the Amiga game I remembered https://www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com/operthun.htm
No PC/DOS version exists, unlike Op Wolf.

That's one crazy game Review

So I was going to say about the dog noise when you shoot them is same one they took from The Ninja Warriors and was just double checking dates and yeah that was 1987 and Thunderbolt 1988 and I see this



by Golan-Globus duo in 1977 before they bought Cannon Films in 1979, Breakin' and Revenge of the Ninja being some of my fave 80's movies and they did Over The Top with Stallone that I've never seen

Operation Thunderbolt, known in Israel as Mivtsa Yonatan (מבצע יונתן‎, literally "Operation Jonathan"), also called Entebbe: Operation Thunderbolt in the US, is a 1977 Israeli film directed by Menahem Golan and stars Klaus Kinski, Yehoram Gaon and Sybil Danning. The film is based on an actual event – the hijacking of a flight by terrorists and the freeing of Israeli hostages on July 4, 1976. The operation was known as (Operation Entebbe, military code name: "Operation Thunderbolt") at Entebbe Airport in Uganda. Operation Thunderbolt follows the events following the flight's takeoff until the hostages' return to Israel. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

On June 27, 1976, four terrorists belonging to a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the orders of Wadie Haddad boarded and hijacked Flight 139, an Air France Airbus A300 in Athens, Greece. Two of the terrorists are West Germans named Wilfried Boese and Halima, and the other two are Palestinians.

After landing to refuel in Libya, the four hijackers force the airliner to take off once again. With President Idi Amin's permission, the terrorists divert the airliner and its hostages to Entebbe Airport in Uganda. The hijackers are joined at Entebbe by more Palestinian militants. After identifying Israeli passengers, the non-Jewish passengers are freed while a series of demands are made, including the release of 40 Palestinian militants held in Israel, in exchange for the hostages.

The Cabinet of Israel, unwilling to give in to terrorist demands, is faced with difficult decisions as their deliberations lead to a top-secret military raid. This commando operation, "Operation Thunderbolt", will be carried out over 2,500 miles (4,000 km) from home and will take place on the Jewish Sabbath.

While still negotiating with the terrorists, who now numbered seven individuals, the Israeli military prepared a group of Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports for the raid. The transports landed at Entebbe Airport under the cover of darkness. The commandos led by Brigadier General Dan Shomron had to contend with a large armed Ugandan military detachment and used a ruse to overcome the defenses. A black Mercedes limousine had been carried on board and was used to fool sentries that it was the official car that President Amin used on an impromptu visit to the airport.

Nearly complete surprise was achieved but a firefight resulted, ending with all seven terrorists and 45 Ugandan soldiers killed. The hostages were gathered together and most were quickly put on the idling C-130 aircraft. During the raid, one commando (the breach unit commander Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), and three of the hostages, died. [Note 1]

With 102 hostages aboard and on their way to freedom, a group of Israeli commandos remained behind to destroy the Ugandan Air Force MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters to prevent a retaliation. All the survivors of the attack force then joined in flying to Nairobi for refueling and then back to Israel via Sharm El Sheikh

 

[69er]

We acquired two Op Thunderbolts not sure where they originated as they were secondhand ( one may have been ex Stretton leisure the Greenall pubs operation in Cheshire ) which I ran on youth club sites across cheshire and Flintshire the other holiday park arcades and north gate arena Chester in its first winter where getting it upstairs onto the viewing balcony was a bit of a challenge.
So cheaper with good earner potential.
Every bit as good as op wolf but 2 guns made them popular with younger players and the bright yellow cab in spite of its bigger size was quite attractive too
Didn’t have the overall longevity of wolf tho!

 

[Vamino]

Op Thunderbolt was located in a pub in Tyseley Bham by one of my old workplaces.

I credit fed it to completion a few times, but killed the pilot more often than not.
Pretty good game but back in the day Op Wolf seemed the better game. These days I'm not sure how Op Wold and Op Thunderbolt stack up as I haven't played them in years.

I remember buying Op Wolf for NES from one of the games magazines way before it came out officially, I may have bought it from Mention Technical Services or something, rings a bell anyway. It was the Japanese version that came with a Famicom to NES adapter.

The intro to the game on NES was awesome! It was an OK game but I wanted to play it with a lightgun, so I bought a NES lightgun from Toys R Us for something like 20 quid, it was the grey Mattel version. It sadly didn't work and I never used the lightgun again so it sat it a cupboard for years until I sold it with a bunch of other stuff.

 

[stevebm1]

I too used to be able to get all the way to the end on a quid,but always ended up shooting the pilot by mistake instead of escaping,we also learnt that if you held the player start buttons in,when you deposited a quid it would give you nine credits instead of eight,which was enough to get to the end
I converted an empty t2 midi to opthunder years ago and still have it today

 

[John Bennett]

I note they're throwing hand-grenades at you whilst on an aeroplane.
Arguably not the wisest form of attack.

 

[vids]

man i had one in my front room when the boy was younger huge but great fun sure i have it on camera somewhere ?