Nostalgia Is a Hell of a Drug Part 2: My Cursed Willow Playthrough

In the late 90s I got really into emulators (NESticle anyone!?) and started searching for RPGs I had never heard of. I played through my cartridge copies of Final Fantasy and Crystalis more times than I can remember, so I wanted to expand on that by playing through more RPGs, even if it was just through emulation. Games like Legend of the Ghost Lion, Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, Sweet Home and Dragon Quest were titles that came up frequently, all of which I gave a try, even if only brief. Yet, one game was mentioned that I never really paid much attention to until later in my life: Willow.

Fast forward to 2008, I remember this because Adult Swim was just starting to air Clerks The Animated Series, when I'm burning emulator discs for the Dreamcast. Yes, I was up at 5am burning emulator discs for the Dreamcast to play NES games. You still have a shred of respect for me? Set it alight and watch it slowly turn to ash and disappear. After the disc was burnt I put it into my Dreamcast and started sorting through all the games it came with, one of which stood out, again that's Willow. At this time I had watched the movie a couple of times and was more interested in playing it, especially since I knew it was from Capcom. So I booted into Willow and started playing.

I was immediately hooked as the gameplay was very Zelda-like, and while not the most expansive RPG, there are only 16 levels to be earned, there is still a lot of RPG elements and a ton of gameplay to be had with this game. At some point I quit playing the emulated version and bought myself a real cartridge version. I started playing through the actual cartridge version in about 2013, and I remember having such a great time throughout. That is until I got to the boss, Bavmorda. NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING worked on her. I lost time and time and time and time again. I found all the items, I was max level, I was trying my best and simply nothing worked.

Upset that I couldn't beat the game I packed the cartridge away and forgot about it until about 2017, when I tried again, but this time I used a youtube walkthrough video. This time I was going to beat the game, because I had the power! Youtendo... power? However, it simply wasn't destined to be. I saw the strategy, I copied the strategy and then I noticed that my magic cane wasn't taking anywhere near the same amount of her HP away. What the heck is going on? Yet again I tried and tried and tried, but still nothing worked. So I tried another password I found online and wouldn't you know it? She was taking the correct damage this time. But you know what? I was so pissed off that I had played through the game only to get a whack ass password I packed the cartridge away yet again and forgot about it.

That is until literally an hour ago. I tested the old password and yep, it's still shit! So I used the new password and finally beat Willow. Imagine playing through a game all the way to the final level and it just shits out on you. Could I be missing something? Maybe, but I don't see why the game would let me get all the way to Bavmorda and still be missing something. I swear I collected all the items, I have all the swords, shields and magic. Unless there was some dialogue I missed along the way, I don't see there being any reason for the game to make Bavmorda far more difficult, nearly immortal, in my playthrough. I've never had this happen before, and I hope it never happens again. As for Willow, I've beaten it and I might play through it again sometime in the future to see if I get another cursed password.

Here! Try it for yourself. Good luck!