I bought this game a while ago for the NES. I'm saving it for a time when I'm in between construction jobs. Thank you for your video on this game.

@fastinradfordable

Жыл бұрын

I love you

There was a side scrolling Willow game for the Arcade. You can in fact find it and play it in ROM form. I remember as a kid they had it somewhere, so I actually got to play it.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I've seen some of that game before. I might give it a try someday, but adventure games appeal to me more. I'm glad I played this one first.

@antiantifa886

6 ай бұрын

The arcade game is excellent. Lost many quarters to it in the late 80s.

Yay, Willow! As a kid obsessed with the The Legend of Zelda, I considered Willow and Crystalis to be pretty much essential parts of my gaming library. Glad you had a chance to enjoy this one, and agreed on the music -- the Dartmoor Castle theme will always stick with me, and is one of those tracks I just occasionally find myself humming for no reason, even decades after the last time I fired this one up. I cannot even IMAGINE playing through the first half of the game without the Healmace, though. You are definitely hardcore! ;)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Sometimes I play through a whole game and can't remember a single bit of the music, but this game's soundtrack has definitely stuck with me. And it was so tough getting through without the healmace, but I kept going. Thankfully someone was there in the streams to gently let me know that all hope was not lost on healing capabilities and soon enough I had found the heal ball. A close call though! I can't imagine getting through some of those later areas with no ability to heal whatsoever.

@childofcascadia

2 жыл бұрын

Crystalis is best NES game. Just saying! (I have a Crystalis tshirt even)

@Wyrdwad

2 жыл бұрын

@@childofcascadia I mean, I can't really argue with you! Crystalis is one of those perfect storms of an NES game that basically did everything right. It's a classic for a reason!

@vginsprdsobepr9698

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah this was a great game that brought something new to the Zelda formula. Willow was one of my favorite NES games.

@leeyang6840

2 жыл бұрын

@@childofcascadia crystalis is my all time favorite nes game to.

It's cool to see how well crafted this game was in spite of being a licensed title. I suspect licensing issues can also make it challenging or unprofitable to be re-released for modern audiences.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Well, it'd be nice to see it come around again in some form with the new TV show coming out soon! I really enjoyed this one even though I haven't seen the movie in ages.

Where have you been my WHOLE LIFE! I still play this game every few years! Great review!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I've been around a long while here. Glad you found me! Thanks very much for the kind words!

I'm surprised how good this one looks. I usually would have passed over this because it's a licensed game, but it seems like it would be a fun one to try. Gonna have to keep an eye out for it on my game hunts.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I hope you can find a copy. I think it's still on the cheaper side. My choppy composite video doesn't quite do its brilliance justice compared to seeing it on a CRT.

@dangunheadachron1603

2 жыл бұрын

Capcom made good licensed games bitd man. All the Disney titles. The Marvel games....

@wyldelf2685

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya hey there HG , I'm a mega retro gamer who loves Legend of Zelda NES series , , , that being said Willow has that vibe ,hate to admit it but Willow looks WAYYYY better than ZELDA-1 and 2 , , , ,kinda ticks me off that NES didn't get a better looking ZELDA-3 , , , no instead we get ZELDA game on SNES and the Willow sprite details look better than the SNES ZELDA ,dang dang dang , makes me want to kick Mr Miyamoto in the balls , , ,😞👾

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@wyldelf2685 It's a great-looking game, that's for sure!

The wiggly forest animations during battles always make me smile 😆 Awesome review! One of my favourite games I've seen you stream.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Awww thank you! I'm glad you liked the review. It's always a better stream when you're able to pop in, so thank you for being a constant part of that aspect of my gaming as well!

I was lucky enough to get this game for Christmas in 1990, back when my brain still absorbed information like a sponge. Heh, it's been one of my favorites on the NES ever since then. Great review, great writing! And props on using (forgive if I misspell these) Muzh and Zeena's theme for the outro.

@hungrygoriya

6 ай бұрын

Oh nice! I wish I'd had the chance to play something like this as a kid. I think I would've really enjoyed it back then, but we didn't have a lot of NES games at the time. And thanks so much for the kind words! Exploring the NES library beyond what I got to experience growing up has been wonderful. The outro tune I used is absolutely beautiful and wistful. It seemed like the proper way to close out the review and leave people feeling a little hopeful.

Been playing this on and off for years. Always a fun game to come back to.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I liked this one quite a bit.

I've had this cartridge for quite a number of years but haven't gone past just checking it out. It really seemed awesome and I told myself one day I'm going to really have to get into this. Now more then ever I think the time has come. The clips you provided and great review have made it a must for me now. I don't know why I've sat on it so long. Thank you very much and as always stay hungry 😊

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Good luck with your playthrough! I'm sure you're going to enjoy your time with it. It'll be well worth the wait!

As to the soundtrack in Willow.... the cave bgm and the boss battle bgms are a couple of the NES's most "dangerous" sounding musics, right next to Faxanadu's boss battle, and TMNT 1's boss battle themes. I like boss battle themes that make you feel like you are in genuine danger, instead of metal-heavy "you're gonna curb stomp this boss!" theme.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Oh goodness, totally. The Faxanadu boss music still freaks me out to this day just as much as it did when I was little.

Great review as always! I played this as a kid when it was new, and I fondly remembered it as a masterpiece until a few months ago when I replayed it. Without my nostalgia goggles on, I noticed the same flaws that you pointed out. In the end I think it's a 4-star game, while I give Zelda 5 stars. Willow's world often looks great but for the most part it's just a bunch of what you called "labyrinthine passageways", while Zelda features a world that's far more explorable and mysterious, where almost every screen hides a secret in the form of a burnable tree, a bombable wall, etc. One thing Willow has going for it is the nice towns; Zelda might be my favorite game of all time if only it had a hub town to make the world feel more like a world.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I hear ya! I do appreciate how different Willow is from Zelda though, in that it is more fleshed out NPC-wise and also very interconnected and linear in its design versus that open-world feeling. Folks always compare the two and other than a top-down perspective and someone swinging a sword, they're pretty different!

Thank you for this review. I enjoy every time you upload a new video

Just found your channel and watched a few reviews. Love it. Gonna watch em all. Thanks for such high quality content.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Oh right on! Thanks so much for your kindness and enjoy!

[2:53] ... "this stack of tires with a head on top." The Michelin Man: Am I a joke to you?

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I live in a cold climate and had a coat that made me look like that... she was fair game!

Yesssss!!! I had looked up your channel earlier to see if I had missed content and was sad. But alas I rejoice for to my surprise a new video is here! It was great. :-)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Hooray! Your senses were tingling, apparently!

I was lucky enough to see you complete this on twitch. I remember how you had to go right back to the start to heal before the final boss! I actually tried this on an emulator after watching you play and it's a great game of its type, really love the music too. This is the type of game I'd have loved as a kid.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Po definitely got a workout in my streams! I'm glad you got to play it too. I think I would've loved it as a kid!

Just found this channel, I have to say, I love your review style! Kind of reminds me of a lot of early 2010's game review channels, in a good way. Very laid back, wonderfully narrated, straight to the point without leaving out anything important, and you did a great job of smoothly transitioning between your talking points. I didn't know anything about this game, but I was immediately hooked into wanting to learn more about it regardless. You've earned another subscriber.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

This is extremely high praise! Thank you very much!

I’ve recently gotten into retro gaming and watching retro reviews. You happened to be in my feed one day and I’ve been watching you ever since. I enjoyed your Lunar and Spellcaster videos a lot, and this one’s great too. Willow was a game I had the opportunity to rent but never did. I regret that now lol. It looks great. Keep up the awesome work and Big Ups!

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the encouragement! I'm really glad you found me here!

Awesome video. I played this when it was new, and this lined up with my experience a lot of the time. Thanks for the review

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Hey no problem! Thanks for taking the time to watch. The music from this one's still stuck in my head all these months later.

I know this was posted a year ago, but YT decided I need to see it, and you unlocked some memories of renting this NES cart from a local supermarket video rental shelf, I was so upset how lacking the printed booklet was with HOW to play so MUCH. I loved Zelda 1 and 2, but so many games with more complex systems just never gave you any hint about how it worked. Never bear this game on cart, but still loved the side characters, and as an adult who loved the movie, the extra lore was so great to revisit..

@hungrygoriya

6 ай бұрын

It's nice that it's almost like a new adventure for everyone involved in the original movie. If it was just a rehash of the movie events, it wouldn't be nearly as endearing to me!

I'm really enjoying these reviews, very detailed and thorough and often titles that I haven't heard of.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

So glad you found me here! I try to mostly focus on titles that aren't as well-discussed, but sometimes I like to talk about stuff that's a bit more mainstream too.

I love this video and you for making it. This game has haunted me since childhood and I hope I get the chance to replay it again before I die. Keep up the good work!

@hungrygoriya

5 ай бұрын

Good luck with your playthrough when you get around to it. It's a beautiful little game.

There aren't many western released NES games I haven't given a try yet, but this is one of them. Will have to give it a try in 2023. Another very good review/retrospective. I was pointed to your channel by the guys at Red Cow Arcade, and I'm a big fan of your content. I love how no-nonsense and informative your videos are. This is an approach that's surprisingly rare on KZread. Even when the game you cover doesn't really interest me (as with Solstice, for example) I find myself really enjoying the way you analyze them. No gimmicks, just quality. Keep up the great work. 👏

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I hope you like Willow when you give it a go. It's probably some of the most fun I've had on the NES in terms of action RPGs and it's very rewarding to get through some of the tougher parts. And thanks very much for your kind words. Those folks at Red Cow Arcade have send quite a few people out my way and I'm grateful for that! I really enjoy this hobby and it's nice to know that my enthusiasm comes across to the viewer side. I try to put a personal spin on most of my videos so they're not just the same old same old you'll find on other channels. I'm always interested in hearing about people's experience with a game versus a history lesson, so that's the kind of review I like to make. Thank you for taking a chance on this channel!

"Skeletal Accessories" has to be one of my favorite ways to describe skeleton parts. I do love the way this game looks and it's still fairly cheap. Definitely lots of good fun to be had with this one! Nice review!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I loved this one! And you do fight a lot of skulls and complete skeletons. It's hard to ignore all the boney bits you run into! Thank you for stopping by!

The portraits look great! I can recognize the actors.

Such an awesome video! Thanks for playing it and bringing more eyes to this title! I'm a little biased towards it but all your criticisms were spot on and valid. No magic use during boss fights was another sore spot the game decided to run with but I understand that would prob be too op with refresh and thunder

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much for checking this out and for all the help during my playthrough. If it hadn't been for you, I'm pretty sure I would've started over just for the healmace! Having you and some folks from your community around to rally around the playthrough was really wonderful and very appreciated.

@CurlyFromTheSwirly

Жыл бұрын

That's something I hated about Lagoon. No magic against bosses? I would just allow magic there, but make the bosses immune.

I played through Willow when my brother bought it. At the time I wasn´t very impressed, it didn´t capture me as much as other action RPG adventures I´d played. You´ve mentioned some of the things I didn´t enjoy in your review, many of the music loops were too short for me and I also found many high notes to sound shrill (especially the password screen). The drab environments made the game less exciting and I found it to be rather linear. There is one standout moment however: ascending the sacred red towers. The eerie music and illusion of height made this straight forward challenge strangely captivating for both me and my brother. Everything just fell into place there. And I completely agree that Nockmar Castle has the best music by far.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I love the soundtrack but a little more length to some of the tunes would've helped it be even better. The music's very memorable though. I've played a lot of games where the music falls out of my head as soon as I turn the console off, but the "voice" of this music also feels pretty unique. And yeah, mountains and caves looked pretty meh compared to the rest of the game. But I totally agree with you about that stretch of the game with the towers. I loved how that part looked and getting to the top to see the little cutscene up there. I always try not to include too many big story bits in my reviews to avoid spoilers for others, but that was definitely a goosebumps moment for me. I think Nockmaar Castle and the song titled Zhena & Muzh are my favourites. I've listened to the latter a lot while writing the script for this video. I love those "sad but hopeful" tunes most.

@bjornh1527

2 жыл бұрын

Cool I’ll listen to The Zhena and Muzh tune! And I think I get what you medan with the ”Voice” of the game, guess it’s both the compositions and the sound fonts.

I remember drawing sooooo many maps for this map as a kid. Loved it

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

This was definitely one of my favourite new to me NES games. I liked that it was almost like an alternative adventure for some cool characters I knew from a movie as well.

Another great video!! So glad I stumbled in here!!

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Oh hey! Thanks so much for checking out more of the channel!

okay, now I'll watch Willow. I've always wanted to but kept forgetting!

@hungrygoriya

6 ай бұрын

I think it holds up pretty well! Enjoy!

Looks like a fun little game! Love that you highlighted the cons (as always), they seem quite small and nothing that would put me off giving Willow a try! Thanks for the review!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

They were definitely small flaws given how much fun the rest of the game is to play. It's not so bad having to retrace your steps to find the path forward either since everything's so nice to look at too. Thanks for stopping by and your thoughtful comment :)

Such gorgeous graphics for a licensed game. The moving foliage does seem a little extra, but it’s still pretty impressive. 🌀 🌀🌀

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I was really shocked it was an NES game when I first saw it. Just beautiful!

the game that got me into arpg's. love this game so much! thanks for doing a video on it.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure! It's a very fun game that's still relatively inexpensive!

Another gem, friend! Nice work. I always remember playing the arcade cabinet, but not the NES version. You've inspired me, yet again!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Are you gonna play it? I hope you will!

@WallyWallcakes

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I definitely think I'll give it a shot!

Oh man, I mentioned this as a recommendation in a comment years ago, I'm excited to see your take on it (once it's done processing, of course)! You had recommended me the Lucky Dime Caper, which you also covered recently - I guess it's time for me to hold up my end of the bargain and give it a play :}

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It's been on my list for a long time. I only got around to playing it a few months ago. Enjoy your playthrough!

@childofcascadia

2 жыл бұрын

Im still waiting for Deep Duck Trouble so I can continue snickering like a 14 year old boy 😆

Im glad that I discovered this wonderful channel

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Me too! Thanks for stopping by.

I recently rediscovered this game after almost a decade after watching the movie again and I'm amazed at how well this game holds up.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It's worth spending some time with, no doubt! I remember the movie being very funny as well!

Great video! I found Willow was a good game but is definitely a hard game to figure out where the heck you are supposed to go.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it's a lot of walking it back and trying to figure out what's changed. I definitely got stuck a few times.

@JohnSmith-ch9sm

2 жыл бұрын

Yup, there's a point about 3/4 through the game that made me go searching through tips and tricks magazines to find out where to go next.

@AsherBunnyman

2 жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure I never owned this game, but I somehow have the original world map hanging on my wall. Never imagined this game would have so much going on in it for a licensed NES title.

Great trip down memory lane! I loved playing this as a kid, but I never finished it. I've been wanting to pick it up and try again. I'm surprised you didn't mention the interesting mechanic where you have to "learn" how to use new weapons by them attacking slowly until you level up enough. It's a mechanic I don't think I've seen in other games of this era.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I was going to mention that, but because I was always overlevelled, it only really affected me at the beginning of the game. Almost every sword I picked up I was already swinging around like I was born holding it!

I remember my brother playing this game, and now watching TASes of this very game this game is actually pretty good and awesome. Great review you did a wonderful job, even my brother would say the exact same thing as well

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! Now that I've played it, I need to watch some speedruns or some TASes. It's amazing how fast a game can be won!

Love your videos!

The healmace is in the second town of Dew. You get it by talking to the village chief after getting the wood shield.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Yep, I know that now. I didn't when I was playing through without any help/spoilers.

I forgot all about this game!! Thank you for reminding me!!

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

Your narration in every of your video has a very consistent quality, it's good, the way you speak is fast but didn't left myself with lost of information with me having really terrible attention span. I'm having a terrible ecszema and your content has helped me preoccupied from the unbearable itchy skin that unbelievably took my sanity. Thanks.

@hungrygoriya

16 күн бұрын

Glad you're enjoying the channel. Get well soon!

After listening to your pros and cons about Willow I realized it’s similar to Crystalis in many of those same points. I played through Willow about three years ago and made it all the way to the final battle; but my level was too low, which meant I didn’t have enough MP to finish the battle. I was grumbling about that for weeks ;) I recently finished Scurge Hive on the GBA, and I was shocked by how well-crafted it is! If you’re done with your backlog in the next 75 years you should tack it on at the end ;)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I definitely ran into the same trouble. I think I was one level short of being able to finish off the boss? It came out to one or two hits with the spell you have to use. It didn't take me too long to grind up at least! Scurge Hive eh? I'll have a look!

@7thangelad586

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya Willow was one of those fortunate weekend rentals in my home. I knew it was something special back then: I’m relieved Capcom got the rights to it instead of LJN. Scurge felt like an isometric Metroid Fusion with experience points. Isometroid, maybe..? ;)

Excellent descriptive documentary. "...the many dark colons of this ancient land." Well done.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

We were the very best bolus we could be while exploring.

your channel is really cool and really nice to find people who have passion for retro gaming i subscribe friend

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much for the kind words!

@wackyt.bobcat7576

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya for real is nice to support old school troopers btw i recommend a game called black jewel to check is a c64 based game is really cheap is really weird to see c64 inspired game if you are looking ideas to play lol

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@wackyt.bobcat7576 Thanks for the suggestion! I'm playing through my physical collection and don't have any way to play C64 at the moment. Was it on anything else? I'll still check into it though!

I love this review so much

Some of the disconnect you are seeing with the game's story from what's in the movie is partly because while the visuals and character designs are taken from the movie, the story is mostly taken from the associated novels. I guess the people who designed the packaging never heard of the novels (I hadn't either until a couple years ago) and went with the movie's plot instead.

Another fact filled review. Really enjoyed that one thanks. Looks pretty nice as a fantasy adventure. I think I played it breifly as a kid, but as it wasnt like the movie it didnt grab my attention. - You make it sound so much better though :) x

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I think even if it wasn't a Willow game, it'd have a lot of cool aspects going for it. It definitely looked and sounded wonderful! Thanks for stopping in!

Willow was a surprisingly ambitious game for it's time. I was really impressed with it. I think this game went in it's own direction because they knew it needed to in order to succeed.

@hungrygoriya

10 ай бұрын

I thought it was really well done as well! Definitely polished compared to other experiences I've had from that time period.

@neonshadow5005

10 ай бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I was surprised by just how much it actually attempted for it's time. So I've always described it as 'ambitious' when I've talked about it which I have a few times. Some dev-teams really tried to go all out and they definitely did with Willow.

Continue to love your content : )

I like your style of videos very much!

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Thanks very much for taking the time to watch!

Thank you for this, I keep saying it but I love your old school RPG 😍videos, keep them coming :)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I intend to.

Oh, pro tip: for fast leveling near the end, fight the multiplying red bubbles in nockmaar in the room directly west of sorsha and madmartigan. They sap 10 mp every time they split, and they split 3 times into 8 bubbles before they go berserk and attack you. If you use thunder on them they all die for 800 XP (100 x 8 bubbles). After they are dead you should recharge your MP to -10 from entering the room. You can do this over and over again until you slowly run dry on MP, then equip the Devileye and just kill them before they split to recharge ;)

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Very smart suggestions! I think I was one level too low to be able to defeat the final boss so I took a walk and worked it out, but it was closer to a save point so I wouldn't lose my progress afterward.

@Danthrax81

Жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya yeah in my recent playthrough i didn't use a guide so i didn't know how strong i had to be to kill bavmorda. So i just winged it and thought there's no harm in going overkill. I was level 24 which is BARELY enough, you pretty much can't miss more than a couple of times with the wand.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

@@Danthrax81 Yeah I think I ran into the trouble where I was the right level but I missed twice and had to do the fight again! So silly! The manual says something about needing to be a specific level, but I can't remember now if it's to pick up Cherlindrea's wand or fight Bavmorda.

I was waiting for you to review this game. ⭐Those swaying trees got me, not going to lie. And you are not foolin' anybody about the item you couldn't pick up "forcing" you to grind out levels lol. We know you like to explore the whole game anyway! Looking forward to the next review. Oh and if you like Warwick Davis check out Life's too short it's pretty hilarious.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Well, I explored it many, many times more than what I usually would've is what I meant, haha... I'll definitely try to check out some more Warwick Davis stuff.

Me and my dad played this when I was a kid. Best time of my life.

@hungrygoriya

9 ай бұрын

I'm so glad you have some nice memories with it. I liked this game a lot as well!

Nice intro song, I love the game it's from. Good review!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Faxanadu's a long-time favourite of mine. Thanks very much!

@bananajoe9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I had the chance to play it in the weirdest way. I travel for a living to very old radar sites in the middle of nowhere. Most of these sites used to house people, which they stopped living at in the 80s. Alot of old entertainment was left behind at a location in canada and Faxanadu with an NES was hooked up. On my off hours, I played it so much. I think it was 2018.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@bananajoe9951 Oh no kidding! That's so interesting. I've heard of those old radar bases (I wonder if I'm thinking of the same place you are actually) and it's neat that you got to experience it that way. What luck!

@bananajoe9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I believe it was Shepherd Bay Radar station, Canada. Pretty cool location. Pretty sure it's on google maps. (Edited the name)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@bananajoe9951 I'll take a peek! That's not where I was thinking about, but cool nonetheless.

I remember playing this 30 years ago and being afraid we'd messed up getting trapped in the dungeon at the end and that we'd have to reset the game.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Those kinds of fears were real! I had a copy of Zelda that didn't save and sometimes locked up on me, so the fear was serious!

Great review :) For sure, the defenseless respawn is such a strange mechanic. Like why?

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It baffled me too! Just something else on a long list of things to have to remember.

Love the movie! Had to find a VHS copy just to own it. This game is on my list for finds. It was one I was never able to find when I was young. I did play the arcade game a few times!

@hungrygoriya

11 ай бұрын

I've also got a VHS copy of Willow hanging around that I picked up last year. I'd love to try the arcade version sometime. It looks good! I hope you end up tracking down a copy of the NES game. Last I checked, it was still pretty affordable.

I remember playing the heck out of this game. I was disappointed at how much it seemed to diverge from the movie (which I had watched and loved), but I got over that pretty quickly (we didn't have much of a selection of games at the time). I recall having a hard time getting started with it, and not being sure where to go or what to do. Willow was pretty much defenseless against trolls, which I would run into fairly frequently. Fortunately, as you pointed out, you could run, but if they boxed you in you were done for. And, yes, the music was pretty great. I can still hear most of the tracks playing in my mind. (Also, strangely enough, the game's plot seemed to fill in some of the gaps that the movie left behind. I don't know if those fill-ins were canon or not, but they made sense enough to middle-school me.)

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I watched Willow as a kid and didn't rewatch it again until after I played the game here, but it's such a fun little movie. I loved the game and appreciated that it was a bit different from the movie's plot, but I can see why as a kid it might be frustrating if you're not expecting that. The music's certainly memorable, though I wish they could've worked in some of the movie's main theme or something. It's such a lovely piece!

I'm glad I found this channel.

@hungrygoriya

10 ай бұрын

Me too! Thanks for stopping in here!

This was such a hidden gem. I played the hell out of it as a kid.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It's a great one for sure! I wish I would've played it when I was younger. I think I would've loved it!

Willow! I'm so happy they're bringin it back! But anyways, this game was awesome, and I might have in life a time or two played the soundtrack by on my way to work. As a kid I loved it. It was to me one of the gems growing up. Another one I'd suggest is Crystalis. That was another one of the gems.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I can see why you'd want to spend some time with the soundtrack outside of the game. It's awesome! And Crystalis was another game I really enjoyed. I need to replay it again sometime.

Seems like it held up well in some ways but showed its age in others, not a mix I come across often on the Nes. Great video.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, there were a couple of stumbling points but I liked it a lot overall!

I get goosebumps when I hear Faxanadu music

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I love it too!

I remember watching the movie on vhs when I was around 12 or 13, then when I saw that a friend had an nes rpg based on it I immediately started playing it. It took a while but I was able to get through the whole game without resorting to guides and such. I remember missing an endgame sword somewhere but the Wing sword outclassed it after completing the eagles quest. Iirc, you need to be lv14 to revert Raziel's polymorph then she powers up your wand. Idk if that was required to damage Bavmorda's 1st phase but it was nice to have. Despite Madmartigan having a very minor role, it was nice that they still put in the Sorsha romance even if it was very abridged. Then right after that moment was the boss fight with Kael then the home stretch to Bavmorda.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I played this after not seeing the movie for about a decade, so my memories of the movie were really foggy. It was nice to have such a Willow-centric game but the other characters, especially Madmartigan were so downplayed! The romance scene caught me completely off guard because I didn't remember any of it but it was a hilarious contrast to the final faceoffs with Kael and Bavmorda. Too funny!

I always wanted to try this as a kid, but never got the chance to! I kind of love the idea of taking the characters from the movie and just doing their own thing with it to make a new adventure. I feel like the unequipping of armour and weapons when you die is a holdover from Capcom's arcade games in a "You've been powered down until you can find pickups" way, sort of like the Willow arcade game, but I dunno... It does seem like a weird choice, especially from a modern perspective. Thank you for another great video!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah it's like a little alternative telling of the same story. I thought it was a neat decision! I've never really played anything from the arcades so that would make sense. I've played shooters where you die and go back to base levels for speed/weapons etc. but I've never experienced that in an adventure game before! And you're very welcome :) Thanks for taking the time to watch!

Wholeheartedly agree with you, just LP'd it a month ago and it really holds up. Although, when I was a kid it felt much longer!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I was sad it came and went so fast too.

I loved this movie when I was younger, but had no idea this game existed for the NES until just recently. Looks like it would be fun.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

It's lots of fun for sure. Definitely worth a play. It's like an alternative story with all the characters you know and love from the movie!

@toddburgess5056

Жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I only have the Nintendo Wii with a few original NES and SNES games saved on the hard drive. Are you playing that on the original NES?

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

@@toddburgess5056 Yep, all my videos here are recorded from the original systems. This video in particular has some weird artifacting that I usually don't get on some of my other NES footage, but it's composite out from an NES here.

A great game that I hadn't even known about till around 2006. Me being not only a fan of the movie but Capcom as well was a no brainer when I first seen it. On the NES I don't think there were even 3 bad Capcom games and though I did the normal level up grind at the beginning per usual it made the game more enjoyable in the long run. Great video with a stellar game 😁👍

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I found out about this one quite late as well, but was immediately interested in buying it. I remember Willow as the movie on a tape my parents had where there was another movie I liked better after it. I remember seeing so much walking and nothingness fast-forwarding through it all the time. I saw it again about 10 years ago though and remember enjoying it then.

Awesome video. Spot on about the music. May I suggest Times of Lore or Dragonstrike for a future vid?

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

What system are those on? I have a long list of backlog I'm trying to work through for videos, but I'll definitely have a look.

@ctomfaith

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya Both are on the NES. I believe Dragonstrike is an Advanced D&D title.

I haven't played this one since the late 80s when it first came out. The gameplay is something I found rather forgettable after all this time; at least it didn't give me heavy nostalgia as with the case of Zelda or Simon's Quest or Faxanadu. I remember it being a bit of a slog and maybe more relieved when I beat it that I could move on to a new game instead of reflecting so fondly at the end. On the other hand, the music is something I recall so vividly. The extremely short and loopy Cutscene Theme in triple metre when we encounter characters (ex: when entering a building in town) is permanently stuck in my head and pops into my mind at the oddest times; it gave me an ambiguous and bittersweet sort of feeling as though it's a little bit sad, comfortable, peaceful, and hopeful all at the same time! The music I found almost as memorable as Faxanadu.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I found Willow a bit tough to make progress in once in a while but it was definitely something I enjoyed overall. I really liked the combat especially! Faxanadu and Zelda were childhood games for me so they're very nostalgic. Playing games these days hits me if they live up to those experiences. but it's rare that games come close to those. The music in Willow is fantastic. I really love the song that plays when the two lovers are reunited, the one I closed out the video with. It's been stuck in my head for weeks. The rest of the soundtrack is extremely memorable. Even though I hadn't played it myself until recently, I'd be humming this soundtrack randomly as well.

@darkengine5931

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya One thing I'm wondering is what you might think about The Immortal on NES if you haven't tried it. The musical variety in that one is limited but so fitting and atmospheric. I have a love/hate relationship with that game since I brute forced myself through it with trial and error all the way to the end, maybe even more so than Willow, and felt more relieved than fulfilled when I beat it. But I can never forget the music combined with the visuals. But you have a remarkable level of patience for such games from what I can see, and it's a "beautiful" game in my opinion. As beautiful as Willow, Faxanadu, Legacy of the Wizard, Simon's Quest, games of this nature. But it's an isometric action-adventure-puzzler sort of game.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@darkengine5931 I've had Immortal sitting on my shelf for a while now. I should really get around to it!

I remember my older brother playing through this game when i was maybe 6 or 7. I tried it out much later. Solid game

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I really liked this one. It's challenging and fun, and what more can you ask for?

Thank you!

It looks surprisingly good, and maybe even more fun than the arcade version (which could get a little tedious in the long run). Great video! 💪🏻💪🏻

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I haven't tried the arcade one, but I'm definitely a sucker for adventure games. This was definitely a memorable experience on NES for me.

I remember playing through a little of this with my friend Joey. Can't recall another thing about it though.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It's a great game. I hope you'll revisit it someday.

back in the very early 90s Willow was my personal absolute favorite NES Game, more than Zelda, more than Super Mario, more than Final Fantasy. i use to play it for hours, as well as "The Legend Of Kage" which unfortunately was a very repetitive game.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Willow is such a great little game. I think about it a lot!

Interesting. I only knew the arcade run and gun by Capcom from this franchise. I think it's really cool when the same game becomes something completely different (when it's good) when transitioning to a different platform.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

It's almost like a side story to the original adventure! I really liked it!.

Underrated gem right here. It reminded me a bit of a link to the past in the graphics.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Right? Lots of this game's aesthetic screams Super Nintendo to me.

@jsebastian9547

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya yep. This is one I discovered with my mom back in the mid 90s actually, well after the snes had already hit the scene. We made it pretty far but never finished it. It's really the detail and depth I think that adds to that snes aesthetic. I almost feel like a horrible person to say that between this and crystalis, the o.g. Zelda really got surpassed by these hardly remembered and later titles.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@jsebastian9547 I have a special place in my heart for NES Zelda, but graphically and in terms of story/writing, you're bang on.

@jsebastian9547

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya yep. Definitely same here. It's pretty amazing to see such evolution on the nes, from the early releases to the later ones.

Oh hey the game that gave me my YT/Gaming name idea. Always did love this.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

It's a wonderful game! And great screen name, too!

@ProjectDevilEye

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Liking your content so far. Subbed also.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@ProjectDevilEye I appreciate that! Thanks so much :)

Great Video! I would love to see your take on Dark Sun, shattered lands (PC). That was my favorite RPG of my childhood.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Oh really? I haven't heard of this one before. I'll have to have a look and see if we have it in the PC collection.

That reminds me...I'm going to go rewatch this awesome movie.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Enjoy! I hope it's as fun as you remember it.

@Marc_Araujo

2 жыл бұрын

It hasn't been that long, maybe a few years. This movie is pure nostalgia in a cassette tape...just like the Goonies.

Funny story: I'd played this back when it was new, but had never seen the movie, and for my lady, it was the opposite. We got into this conversation about Willow one day, and I brought up Kchill of the nail clan, and she had no idea what I was talking about. "You know: the cute little bunny/hedgehog thing! Gives you the seed that lets you breathe underwater?" I'd had no idea that none of that was in the movie. When I did finally sit down and watch it with her, I really didn't care for it, but this is still one of my all-time favorites on the NES, and it has what, for my money, is one of the all-time greatest adventuring tunes playing while you're exploring the overworld; it's energizing at the start and breaks into something wistful and emotional by the end.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

That's a great story! I looked up what characters/plot points were from the movie and which ones weren't since I haven't seen the movie in a very long while. My husband's very familiar with Willow and while we were talking about the game, he had the same kind of puzzled expression I'm sure your lady had as well. Too funny!

Being that I had been conditioned that any movie adaptation games on NES sucked, I avoided this one for a long time but was pleasantly surprised when I finally gave it a shot.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Great to hear you finally came around on it! I've found lots of the movie-based games I've played just fine. I always like to play something myself before jumping on any bandwagon about it.

For some reason I thought you already did this game. Guess not! I love the old TV vibes in your videos. This one is especially good at capturing the 80s/90s RF connected CRT jank. Makes me wonder how you get all that artifacting to show up in your recordings.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I'm capturing off of an original NES with composite. It's not a perfect capture but it's certainly nice and gooey.

When I was a kid, I went to my grandma's house all the time. And she had a NES with a few games, and this was one of them. This game infuriated me, but I loved it anyway.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Did you ever get around to finishing it?

@josephjarosch8739

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya No, sadly. Password systems like this always just rubbed me the wrong way, and they still do. Too many symbols look too similar. Ive been meaning to get back to it for a while, but I am 22 now with the attendant responsibilities.

Looks cool. If I ever see it for sale, I would probably buy one.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I hope you get to try it out someday. It's a lot of fun!

I love this game! I need to play it again... Also one of my favorite movies :)

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I think it's a blast to play and short enough that once you know where you're going, it'd be easy to play in an afternoon.

@jacobthesnacob4192

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya Awesome! I haven't beat it, but I really liked it from playing a while back and have been wanting to get back to it, thanks!

Wow, this game is gorgeous!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

There's lots of detail in every aspect!

I actually just started Willow the other day. Was able to "modify" my mini nes, so now I have all these games I never played. Wanna finish this one, then jump to the SNES.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Ooooo nice! Congrats on having more games at your disposal. This one's definitely worth playing and was easy to jump into. Enjoy!

Willow was one of my favorite movies as a little kid, but I didn't even know this game existed until I started using the internet actively in the 2000s. It's definitely one of my most wanted NES games, and I secretly hope it and the very cool looking arcade beat-em-up also based on the movie get a modern rerelease someday. Also, if my timeline isn't too far off, isn't this one of the first action RPGs to have your character swing their sword in an arc like that, instead of poke or bump? I feel like some elements of this game influenced a lot of titles in following years

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I think I first found out about this game from Daria Plays RPGs ages and ages ago now, and it's been on my list to play ever since! I agree: it'd be wonderful to see a modern release of the games from this series, and with the new TV show coming out, who knows what will happen? I'm not sure if this was one of the first wide arc swing games, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. I'd love to see a timeline of all RPGs laid out someday to see where this one fits, because you're right: there's lots from this game that appears in others around the same time and after the fact.

@HybridAngelZero

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya I know it was out two years before Link to the Past was out in Japan, but they were likely in development concurrently, which creates the interesting possibility that both Capcom and Nintendo EAD's devs were aiming to improve the top-down action RPG player experience in similar ways. It's pretty fascinating!

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

@@HybridAngelZero Yeah! Somebody around this comment section mentioned the ocarina and fast travel with ALTTP and that similarity never dawned on me. Very interesting insights indeed!

Just looking at your playthrough this game looks like a blast. Similar to a Secret of Mana vibe but with darker creatures and on the NES. They probably could have had the baby Lara Danin on Willows back if they wanted to get closer to the movie plot but this looks very fun the way it is. The evil crabs remind me of those windmill creatures in Zelda that spin on the surface world itself. I have never seen a good movie adaptation game that was worth playing but this one does look very good. I like SNES drunk's videos but I think your review on Willow here is a lot better going deeper into the playthrough. Wish I had this game growing up instead of Ghostbusters, Tag Team Wrestling etc. The funny thing is for so many NES games growing up a lot of the time the games were borrowed from friends, and you never had a manual to lookup things with. I like the continue and password feature all good things. It looks like you tend to prefer the action RPG games more so than the turned based ones.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

I have a tendency of digging into games and what I like or dislike about them, for sure! This game is definitely worth playing. It's like an alternative Willow adventure with all the people you know and love but on a slightly different trek. I do love some good action RPGs but I also really enjoy a good turn-based one too. It's harder to make turn-based combat fun, but some games go above and beyond with good story and characters that suck me into the experience as a whole. Action RPGs definitely hold my attention a little better in general.

Another game I rented numerous times but never bought for some reason. Those crabs were a pain you aren't joking!

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

The crabs are awful! I wish I'd gotten to play this game as a kid, but my family never really rented anything until we got a Sega Genesis later on in life. I wish I could've tried more NES games back then.

Great review! I got this game back when it first came out and was very frustrated by this one I remember. I wasn't quite as experienced with the RPG genre as a kid though, bet revisiting it would be a completely different experience now. Give Crystalis for NES a try if you haven't yet. It has an over-abundance of one particular thing you said frustrated you in Willow, that I won't spoil.. but I think you'd enjoy it all the same.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

I usually have a pretty good RPG sense and I still got really tripped up with Willow. There's a lot of running back and forth trying to figure out what's changed in a few places, but it was mostly good. I've played Crystalis a long while ago now and I'm curious to know what you were thinking of specifically. I thought the end of that one was really weird, and some of the story parts were also a bit obtuse.

@WalrusFPGA

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya ah, since you've played Crystalis before, the part I was referring to is the weapon swapping for invulnerable enemies. It's constant throughout the entire game pretty much, and not just in limited sections. Story can be a bit weird for sure, with some obtuse puzzles that would have you looking through nintendo power magazines to figure out back in the day. "use this item randomly in this room"-type stuff, and forcing very minor dialogue interactions to continue the game. Besides that its still a fun one to revisit I feel. Cheers!

I'm looking over the giant graphics dump @BenjaminNixon linked to, and I see this game made very clever use of the 2/3 palette trick. This is a thing a lot of NES games did to try to squeeze more tileset variety out of the console's 4 palette limit; they'd try to use only two of the three available colors for most tiles so they could fake having more palettes than they really did (for most simple background textures, you only need two or three anyway to make it clear what you're looking at). In this game, they use the "combined" palettes most games avoided to make tiles where two things meet, like patches of bare dirt in grass or diagonal edges of a body of water. In addition, the tiles just have more fiddly details overall including a fair bit of dithering. This game must have looked practically next-gen on a CRT.

@hungrygoriya

7 ай бұрын

The capture for this game does nothing to support my praise of the graphics. It looks absolutely glorious on a CRT and I had no idea about the trick you've mentioned here before now. I don't know much about the specs/capabilities of consoles or cartridges, but it's always interesting to hear a little more about it. Thank you for sharing!

I always thought of Willow as a "poor man's Zelda." I remember I was able to beat it as a kid without any additional help. Not that beating it was amazing or anything, but certain games like Simon's Quest were near impossible to beat without some inside knowledge or some rich kid on the block having a subscription to Nintendo Power.

@hungrygoriya

Жыл бұрын

Willow was wonderful. I think it's very different from Zelda. It's way more focused on equipment upgrades, no dungeons to speak of... it's a fantastic adventure that I'm glad isn't excruciatingly difficult.

For some reason, this makes me think of Jurassic Park for the SNES, because of how much it diverted from the movie (though JP was actually more in-line with the novel). You' mentioned in a comment about hoping for a re-release alongside the upcoming TV series, which would be fitting considering how much more of a central role Willow has in Claremont's novel trilogy (which the upcoming TV series is based on). At least on the first novel, anyway.

@hungrygoriya

2 жыл бұрын

Oh I haven't tried out the SNES Jurassic Park yet. I keep hoping to find a copy to try, but I've played through the Genesis game. I hadn't looked too hard into the new TV show but those are novels I'd definitely like to read some day. I lost my love of reading books a long while ago but this story and these characters are so interesting that it might just draw me in. Thanks for the information!

@nwcrawford

2 жыл бұрын

@@hungrygoriya You're welcome. I looked into the series because my wife is a huge fan, and I was curious as to whether they were going to use the books or completely retcon them. Regarding Jurassic Park on the SNES, it's a completely different game than the also awesome Genesis games. It's a combination of top-down (outdoors) and first-person perspectives (when exploring buildings).