The arcade version of the gamebelongs to the platform genre. It has six stages, some where Willow plays his part, others where Madmartigan plays his and one of the stages where either character is selectable. The stages consist of Crossroad, Cherlindrea's Forest, Fin Raziel's Island, Sorsha's Camp, Tir Asleen Castle, and Nockmaar Castle. Each stage must be completed within a certain amount of time. Defeated enemies drop coins which the player can collect to buy things at shops. Depending on whether the player is playing as Willow or Madmartigan, either magic blasts or sword swipes are the attacks. Madmartigan's attack has less range than Willow's, but can destroy enemy projectiles. Both can purchase attack upgrades at shops. Madmartigan's upgrades give him greater power and range, while Willow's upgrades are far more versatile. With each upgrade, his regular blasts become more powerful, the actual upgrades being utilized by holding down the attack button and releasing it when the meter at the screen's bottom reaches a certain point. The following are his magical upgrades: 1. Moonlight - sends a crescent shaped blast forward, which splits into smaller beams on impact, damaging enemies in its path. 2. Tornado - sends a tornado shaped blast forward and at a slightly upward angle. 3. Gold - defeats most on-screen regular enemies; the coins they drop are worth twice their normal value. 4. Time - freezes all regular enemies and their projectiles for a few seconds, during which time Willow is invincible. 5. Explosive - sends cascades of blasts to both forward and back of Willow. 6. Crystal - sends a circular barrier around Willow, damaging enemies in its path; this is the only of Willow's magic that can destroy projectiles.
Plot
The evil witch queen Bavmorda is after the holy baby of the lands, Elora Danan, intent on destroying her. A young peaceful wizard called Willow Ufgood was selected to protect Elora. Later on, a brave warrior named Madmartigan joins Willow to fight the enemy rival General Kael.
Development and release
Capcom director Yoshiki Okamoto commented that the game was part of a broader strategy of Capcom at the time to appeal to a wider audience by using established characters from other media, as their original characters could be too niche. In addition to Willow, he cited games based on Area 88 and Destiny of an Emperor as part of this strategy. Capcom developed two games based on Willow in 1989. The arcade game plays similar to Capcom's previous fantasy action platformerGhouls n' Ghosts. The Willow game developed for the NES is a role playing game.
Reception
Willow was well received by critics since its release in arcades. In Japan, Game Machine listed Willow on their July 15, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the year, outperforming titles like Gang Wars and Golden Axe.
