Based on the infamous 1980s TV show of the same name, Airwolf hit the top of the ZX Spectrum sales charts back in 1984, but – in reality – wasn’t a particularly good game.

Airwolf even received a coveted ‘Crash Smash’ rating back in Crash issue 13, but even that never managed to convince me it was any good, even as a teenager.

Playing it now you’d be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about – it only has 14 different screens of play and is arguably too difficult to be enjoyable. Graphically it’s not bad, and this was probably the main reason why it did so well back then – people were seduced by the graphics.

As helicopter action games go, it’s not terrible – there are certainly worse – but in my opinion Airwolf is not a retro gaming classic. It is an example of how archaic video games did well back then because we didn’t know any better, and because publisher Elite pumped thousands of pounds into marketing.

Still, Airwolf is nowhere near as bad as its sequel, Airwolf 2, so we can at least be thankful for that small mercy.

More: Airwolf on Wikipedia