MAME ROW #61 - Willow
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@gtbfilms The timer seems to be unreasonably short, and yeah, the game is unforgiving. The farthest I've gotten is just past the "Shop" in stage 2.
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I was having a hunt around the internet for tips for Willow, and came across this:
https://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-videogames/W/Willow__1989__Capcom.pdf
It's the instructions for fitting the Willow boards into the cabinet of an old game - it looks like this game was sold as an upgrade to existing cabinets to provide a new game at low cost. There's interesting advice on cleaning up the cabinet, and replacing the marquee/artwork to make it look like new, but all the arcades I remember used to just jam a new board in and leave the cabinet a total inconsistent mess!
I actually find this sort of thing quite interesting, as it shows arcade-owners side of the business, which I was never really aware of (or even considered) in the hey-day of arcades. I remember being flabbergasted to first find out about dip-switches and how arcade owners would set a new machine to EASY on arrival, then bump up the difficulty after a few weeks - all the kids like me would plough more cash in adamant that "I used to get further than this on a credit!"
I did manage to find a comprehensive game guide as well:
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Willow overlay and launching image are now available.
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Wow this game is hard. My highest score, I think, is 2,000 points. Furthest I've gotten is just past the first bad guy that requires more than one shot.
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@periodiclogic best strategy I have found for that guy (on the bridge) is buy the ring from the shop before, this allows you to take a few hits, then keep jumping towards him firing, trying to time it so you jump any projectiles. If you get close to him he disappears and reappears elsewhere but it prevents him firing too many shots. Also if he reappears at the level of the bridge (instead of in mid air) you can get a few shots in before he disappears again.
When he dies the bridge collapses so get ready to run.
Having said that, he still manages to kill me about half of the time!
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They had Willow in my local arcade back in the early 90s. I seem to remember, near the start of the game, there is somewhere you can shoot into what looks like empty space but there is something there which turns from invisible to visible when you fire there a few times if you know what I mean. Some kind of power up? Sorry for the vagueness but it was a long time ago!
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Got to the second stage twice in about 30 attempts. 14050 is my best so far.
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The Ghosts and Goblins comparison is surprisingly valid from a gameplay perspective. It certainly feels like a have from the series, maybe slightly easier than those.
Still, I never managed to get into the high score table. Maybe I'll play some more this week if I have the chance.
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17,300!But only after setting the difficulty to the lowest level (which I'm not sure really changed anything), and jacking up the number of lives and hit points.
I found the game a lot less sadistic with these settings, although the time limit still eliminates one of those extra lives.
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MAME ROW #62 is live!
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