Airwolf, based on the Donald Bellisario 80s TV show about a hi-tech military helicopter solving Cold War era missions, is a horizontal shoot-em-up. Kyugo Boueki originally created it for the Arcades in 1987 and it would receive an NES home version the following year. It is not to be confused with the 1989 Airwolf licensed game from Beam Entertainment and Acclaim. The player receives their mission via an introductory cutscene, chooses the weapon load-out for the Airwolf that best suits the kind of resistance they're likely to face (so an emphasis on bombs if there's expected to be a lot of ground units) and is sent off to complete the mission. For the boss battles, the game will occasionally switch to a first-person view in which the controller guides a set of crosshairs on screen. The goal of these battles is to shoot down each element of the boss (guns, etc.) as well as any projectiles the boss sends the player's way.