upright arcade unit of the month. It became Japan's second highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1989, below Chase H.Q. In the United States, Operation Thunderbolt was the third highest grossing dedicated arcade game of 1989. Operation Thunderbolt was also Japan's eighth highest-grossing dedicated arcade game of 1990. Reviews The arcade game received positive reviews from critics, upon release. Commodore User said it "takes all the best elements" of Operation Wolf, including "the brilliant graphics" and "action blasting", and added "a two-player option, a brand new perspective and some really clever scenario ideas". Reviewing the Super NES version, GamePro praised the colorful and detailed graphics and strong sound effects, but criticized the repetitiveness of the gameplay and the slowness of the aiming reticule, and concluded that "this Operation is a success, generating plenty of shootin' thrills for intermediate soldiers". A reviewer for Next Generation dismissed it as "another shooting-gallery game, just like Operation Wolf ... It's good for a mild adrenaline rush–barely–but that's it". Accolades The game won the 1989 award for best graphics of the year according to the readers of Crash magazine. At a British game industry awards event held at the end of 1989, Operation Thunderbolt was awarded "Best 16-bit arcade license translation" for Ocean Software's home computer conversions. Legacy Operation Thunderbolt is in the Taito Legends compilation for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. See also Operation Wolf (1987) Line of Fire (1989) Space Gun (1990) Operation Gunbuster (1992) References External links 1988 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Light gun games Ocean Software games Rail shooters Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games about terrorism Video games scored by Hisayoshi Ogura ZX Spectrum games Video game sequels Taito arcade games Video games developed in Japan