Willow was a movie that kind of under performed at the box office, but was still a modest hit. It spawned a few games, this being the one I played. There was also an arcade game and probably a Commodore 64 game too. I say probably, because that system had a game for everything back in the day! This one basically takes a lot from the original Zelda game, right down to the way the screen scrolls and adds a few touches to the mix such as towns and the chatting with characters and such. I would rank it higher, but it gets a bit repetitive at points too as they seem to add some stuff that was not in the movies, but leave out stuff that is.
The story centers around Willow as he is the fabled hero of legend that must take down Bavmorda. The baby is in the game, but she is not as important in this retelling the story, nor is any other character other than Willow. So you see just about all the main characters from the films, but they mostly just make what would be essentially a cameo appearance in the game. Though, that is a good thing as far as those two little dudes from the movie goes.
The game play has you going through the forest, mountains, caves and castles on your quest to get to the evil queen's castle and defeat her. You enter a couple of towns along the way and get some clues and pick up a quest or two. It would have added a bit to the game if they had given you the ability to purchase items, but you pretty much get everything in the game for free. You can use magic, but other than the final fight, this magic is pretty much worthless against all the boss battles; however, most bosses can be defeated fairly easily with the exception of the first phase of the final fight.
So, the game is fun and quite a good adventure game for the NES as it is one of those titles that prove a movie adaptation can be fun. That being said, this one is not made by LJN or Acclaim (I believe those two are actually the same company) but rather it is done by Capcom who knows how to design a game. I would have liked more scenery though as this one turns into a mountain slog late in the game, and I am baffled by the fact they had no area with snow as there was one in the movie. Still, worth a play through, but some of those levels get awfully tough to traverse as you near the end!
