Willow
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
Despite being a big fan of the movie Willow, I never knew that this game even existed. Which is a surprise, because in the 80s and 90s, I was a kid who spent a LOT of time hanging around at video game arcades. After accidentally stumbling upon some screenshots of the game online, my interest was immediately piqued. One look at Willow was all I needed to convince myself to give it a try.
Read on to see what I have to say about this game.
Story:
This game follows the plot of the movie relatively well. Not gonna lie, it has been a LONG time since I’ve seen Willow – at least 10 or 15 years. So while I am sure that certain liberties have been taken with the movie’s story, I didn’t notice them as I played.
I’m not going to sit here and recap the whole plot of the movie for you, but long story short – a baby that has been marked for death arrives at Willow’s village, and he sets out on a quest to protect the baby and take down the evil forces trying to kill it. How’s that for Cliff’s Notes?
Gameplay:
If I had to compare the gameplay of Willow to any game I have played in recent memory, it would be Ghosts ‘n Goblins. It’s a side-scroller. You start on the left side of the screen and make your way to the right. You throw projectiles (similar to the knife in Ghosts ‘n Goblins). The controls are similar. The platforming challenges are similar. The bosses are similar. The difficulty is similar. I think Willow is actually a better and much more polished game than Ghosts ‘n Goblins, however.
The thing that stood out to me the most upon first playing it was the level design. The stages are very creative, the enemies are well-placed. As I played through each stage I got the impression that I was really playing through this fantastic, mystical adventure. Despite the game’s difficulty, I really wanted to keep playing just to see what was around the corner for me.
Speaking of the game’s difficulty, you better prepare yourself for a stiff challenge. This is an arcade game, so it is designed to be more difficult than anything you’d play on a home console. Got to keep plugging those quarters in! You have a life bar, but if you aren’t careful, it will drain real quick. Each quarter gives you exactly one life. If you die, you are forced back to the nearest checkpoint. And trust me: you are going to die. A lot.
You make your way through six stages, fighting enemies, dodging the insane amount of projectiles thrown your way, collecting gold, and defeating bosses. Occasionally the game switches characters from Willow to Madmartigan (played in the movie by Val Kilmer). Madmartigan is a swordsman who slashes at enemies at close range rather than from afar like Willow. Each character has a charge attack where you hold down the attack button and release it to unleash an extra powerful attack.
What makes Willow unique is that there are RPG elements to be found here, which is pretty rare for an arcade game. You are going to want to kill as many enemies as you can and search each area thoroughly for gold, as gold is needed to upgrade your health and magic at shops located randomly throughout the game. The first time I tried playing through Willow, I made the mistake of not upgrading Willow well enough – particularly his weapon. I made it to a boss about midway through the game that I simply could NOT defeat because my attacks weren’t doing enough damage to it. I had to restart the game as a result.
I fared much better on my second attempt as I made it my mission to pump up the power of Willow and Madmartigan as much as I possible could. The game was still challenging as all hell, but I don’t see any way I could have possibly beaten it without the character upgrades. The character upgrades stick around forever too. So if you die you don’t have to worry about losing your extra powerful new spell attack. You will retain it when you plug in a quarter and continue.
For the most part, each mission is traditional side-scrolling platformer fare. But there are a few levels where the game throws some wrinkles at you. One takes place aboard a boat and another has you in control of Madmartigan as he fights off an onslaught of enemies onboard a moving cart. This stage in particular was SO hard for me. These enemies come at you from all directions with almost no room to maneuver… and if you fall off the cart, you die. I struggled with this part even using save states. I can’t imagine how anyone could make it through without them. The checkpoints are genuinely forgiving, though, so if you die it doesn’t set you back too horribly far.
Graphics:
Willow just looks incredible. I mentioned earlier in my review how this game came on to my radar when I accidentally stumbled upon some pics of it online. My initial thought was that this game looked so good that it had to be new, or fan-made. It couldn’t possibly be 32 years old. It looked like a game made in present times designed to look retro despite actually being new.
But no. This game really is 32 years old, and it looks amazing. The bright colors, the vivid characters, the detailed scenery, the incredible bosses and atmospheric visual effects. When I think of games that came out back then I think of things like Rolling Thunder or Shinobi. This game is so colorful and gorgeous that my mind is struggling to comprehend how this game could have possibly come out in that era.
If I had to make one complaint it would be that the characters don’t necessarily look like their big screen counterparts.
Sound:
The game sounds really good. The level tunes are catchy and get stuck in my head. The sound effects are perfectly appropriate to what is going on onscreen. They match the music and the tone of the game very well. I have absolutely no complaints here.
Overall:
I had such a fun time playing Willow. I still can’t believe that this game somehow slipped past my attention for over 30 years. How could I not know that this existed? I guess the good news is that now I do!
My only real complaint with the game is its difficulty. How many quarters must it have taken to master this game and complete it? I can’t even imagine. Even using save states, I really struggled at times. I tip my hat to anyone who was able to beat this playing it on the actual arcade cabinet.
All in all, this was such a pleasant surprise. I could tell right away by the game’s graphics, music, and overall presentation that I was going to like it. The very first level proved me right. If you can get past this game’s steep difficulty level, you’ll discover a fun and enjoyable platformer at its heart. With its shops and the ability to buy items and upgrade your character – a surprisingly deep one as well.
I recently played Rastan for the arcade and I can easily say that Willow blows that game away. Find some way to play it if you haven’t already.
Final Score:
B
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