Anyone own/enjoy Willow?

jow

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A friend of mine and I were discussing our favorite arcade games from BITD and he mentioned he used to play Willow a lot at a pizza shop. Now, I've heard of Willow, but have never played it (or remember seeing one). Being curious I looked it up on YouTube to get a sense of the game, and it seems like a pretty freaking decent Capcom side scroller. Does anyone own one? Do you enjoy it? Seems like sort of a poor mans (for lack of a better term) Ghosts n Goblins? The graphics look pretty, the music is pretty sweet, and it seems to be side scrolling goodness.

Speaking of sweet Capcom side scrollers, my fav BITD was UN Squadron. Fuck, that game ROCKS.
 
Really fun game. I love to play it with kids,they have a blast. Good all around fun with very little thought involved, a couple beers, pizza and the kidds on a friday night and you have a great family night. Now go get one. LOL.
 
I love Willow and have a couple boards. My plan one day is to put it in its own cabinet along side my other favorite of the day, Ninja Gaiden.

I played both of these games at the local 7-Eleven. Theye rotated tons of games through this location, two at a time, and most of them were bad ass. Of the ones I remember - Willow, Ninja Gaiden, Street Fighter (the original), Wrestlefest, TMNT, Crime Fighters, Pole Position, and Outrun Deluxe. There were others but I can't remember them all.

Unfortunately the vids were replaced with VHS rental shelves at some point. The back corner which had always housed the vids was now the "adult only" area of the video rentals.


Big picture: Willow is bad ass and you should give it a try.
 
Seems like sort of a poor mans (for lack of a better term) Ghosts n Goblins?

More like Ghosts N' Goblins was a rudimentary precursor to Willow. But, if you play the GnG sequel Ghouls N' Ghosts, you'll see a ton of similarities.

Willow's attract sounds used to fill the little cafe I ate at years ago. I associated them with hot dogs, so they always made me hungry. It says "Willow!" once every two minutes or so...
 
One of my favorite sidescrollers from when I was a kid and also a fan of the movie.

I used to own one and let it go for cheap before we moved.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=208991

It had nostalgic value for me, but like most sidescrollers, it gets old fast. One of those games where owning the board is fine (it was a kit anyways) unless you have the space for it in your lineup.
 
It had nostalgic value for me, but like most sidescrollers, it gets old fast. One of those games where owning the board is fine

So, you wouldn't want to own a G&G, either? No side scrollers at all?
 
So, you wouldn't want to own a G&G, either? No side scrollers at all?

Nope, but I'm a guy with limited space. 5-6 games at the most. I've owned sidescrollers like Double Dragon, X-Men, TMNT, Metal Slug, etc. They get old and have little replay value IMO. But if I had room for 20+ games, sure. Haha.
 
Nope, but I'm a guy with limited space. 5-6 games at the most. I've owned sidescrollers like Double Dragon, X-Men, TMNT, Metal Slug, etc. They get old and have little replay value IMO. But if I had room for 20+ games, sure. Haha.

Do you ever try playing them with one credit and see how far you could get? I can see sidescrollers/beat em ups being lame on free play, for sure.
 
A friend of mine and I were discussing our favorite arcade games from BITD and he mentioned he used to play Willow a lot at a pizza shop. Now, I've heard of Willow, but have never played it (or remember seeing one). Being curious I looked it up on YouTube to get a sense of the game, and it seems like a pretty freaking decent Capcom side scroller. Does anyone own one? Do you enjoy it? Seems like sort of a poor mans (for lack of a better term) Ghosts n Goblins? The graphics look pretty, the music is pretty sweet, and it seems to be side scrolling goodness.

Speaking of sweet Capcom side scrollers, my fav BITD was UN Squadron. Fuck, that game ROCKS.

I've only played Willow in MAME. It's just meh to me, but I can see how it would appeal to a young buck such as yourself.
 
Do you ever try playing them with one credit and see how far you could get? I can see sidescrollers/beat em ups being lame on free play, for sure.

That's a really good point and yes, I've tried. But that still doesn't resolve the lack of replay value IMO. I guess my point is that it's the same levels and button mashing all the way through, every time. So it kind of loses it's "I remember this game! It's awesome!" value after you play it about 20+ times.

Though, I'd gladly have any of these games in a lineup for nostalgic value if I had the room. Some themes like X-Men, TMNT, Avengers, Simpsons, etc. still ring true with today's kids so that would be another good reason to own one of these button mashers.

Ironically, I have a Double Dragon in my lineup right now, but it's a loaner. Friend gets free storage and I get a free Double Dragon. And of course, it's collecting dust. :)
 
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I have collected many side scroller boards for the very reason that there's almost no reason to have a dedicated for them. I rotate them in a Dynamo if I want to play them or if people want to try them out. Replay value often is pretty low on them and it ends up being something you just want to play with others. You end up rotating boards often.

I have tons of Side Scroller PCBs. Others that were not mentioned just from Capcom include.

Final Fight
Magic Sword
Dungeons and Dragons 1&2
Punisher
Captain Commando
Bionic Commando
I am always looking for Armored Warriors CPS2

Then there are the 4P boards that I own. that I swap into a Xmen cab
Xmen
TMNT 1&2
Sunset Riders
Avengers
Simpsons
GI Joe
Metamorphic Force

Other random SS boards
Rastan
Cadash (can link)
Growl (can go 4P)
Dungeon Magic

I am probably forgetting others. Having dedicated cabs would just get crowded with games that don't see that much play time. Mame cabs would be good for these games also.
 
Willow is awesome. I think it has more depth than most side scrollers. The levels aren't just left and right but up and down, plus the character switching and upgrades you can buy.
 
Willow is awesome. I think it has more depth than most side scrollers. The levels aren't just left and right but up and down, plus the character switching and upgrades you can buy.

This is true. And it is on a whole different level than the quarter-munching Konami games. But when I owned it, I played it through three times and used maybe 5-6 credits for each play and I had no motivation to play it anymore.
 
This is true. And it is on a whole different level than the quarter-munching Konami games. But when I owned it, I played it through three times and used maybe 5-6 credits for each play and I had no motivation to play it anymore.

I haven't been able to get past the 3-headed dragon thingy, in my admittedly casual playing so far.
 
I remember liking it. The NES version was okay too (although a lot different). I agree with a lot of the above though about replay value. That's kept me from taking the leap on quite a few post classic era games.
 
I remember liking it. The NES version was okay too (although a lot different). I agree with a lot of the above though about replay value. That's kept me from taking the leap on quite a few post classic era games.

Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but that's just it. I started off in the hobby crazed on Nintendo classics. Then realized, I never played any of them as a kid and had no real interest playing most of them. I kept DK and sold everything else.

I started picking up JAMMA games because that's what I remembered playing the most. Then realized that most, if not all, are broken games on the freeplay model. Unless it's unique multiplayer every time (Ex. SFII, Wrestlefest, NBA Jam, etc.), it will get boring fast.

Unless you have all the space in the world, having a bunch of dedicated cabs for single-player sidescroller/beat'em up games is just not practical.
 
I remember liking it. The NES version was okay too (although a lot different). I agree with a lot of the above though about replay value. That's kept me from taking the leap on quite a few post classic era games.

The NES version was awesome too. I reburned one of my PC10 carts to play it, when I still had it.
 
The midgets in that movie and on the artwork freaked me out as a kid.
Plus why did they cast that woman for his wife? Good gravy she is hard on the eyes.
 
The midgets in that movie and on the artwork freaked me out as a kid.
Plus why did they cast that woman for his wife? Good gravy she is hard on the eyes.

Now you have done it.

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