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I want to remember a late 80s arcade game, and have ridiculously few details

Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
But I trust GAF will solve it to me regardless. This was a coin-op game I used to play every Saturday after swimming, they had one in the cafeteria. I thought back then that one day I'll play it in my living room. Now I have a TE stick and a big TV, so I could finally experience it home. I thought I'd do justice to the promise I gave to the 8 year old myself and get the game somehow.

Here's all I remember:

- I played it in very late 80s / early 90s
- It had 16 bit graphics, because the sprites and backgrounds looked way better than NES
- It was a platformer adventure, scrolling left to right
- Sort of like Alex Kidd, but not as bright
- It had more of a Wizards & Warriors color palette going on than Alex Kidd
- The first level was some sort of a cave, with brown rock, green wines and blue water pits
- The protagonist seemed also more serious than Alex Kidd

It might also have involved shooting blue fireballs while proceeding. This I'm not sure of.

If I see a screenshot, I'll recognize it.
 
Sounds kinda like the Willow arcade game.

Willow_arcade_game.png
 
It's certainly close to Willow, as it had the more cartoony feel going on and similar proportions of characters.

Looking at the videos of Willow, it's very close - differences are that I don't remember boss battles, and I recall the main character being less colorful, especially hair.
 
Ah...Well the first level was pretty much as you described. You were going along a mountianside/cliffs with waterfalls and green vines. You shoot blue fireballs which are supposed to be Willow's magic or the magic acorns or something.

By the way is there any way one can play the Willow arcade game without spending a fortune or going the "Yarrrrr" route?
 
Chittagong said:
It's certainly close to Willow, as it had the more cartoony feel going on and similar proportions of characters.

Looking at the videos of Willow, it's very close - differences are that I don't remember boss battles, and I recall the main character being less colorful, especially hair.
Click to expand...

Magic Sword?

MagicSword.jpg

1439_1.png
 
Looking at Black Tiger, Kid Niki and Rastan, the game I remember is still closest to Willow. Black Tiger and Kid Niki graphics aren't rich enough / small sprites, and Rastan is more mature.

Very bizarre if it's Willow, since I was a huge fan of the movie, loved the NES game. How couldn't I have noticed it was a Willow game?


EDIT - Holy shit @ Magic Sword - loved it on Super NES soooo much, and had totally forgotten its brief existence.
 
Mega Twins has also got the right feel. Funny, it's Capcom too.

Also, how on earth can you guys know all these games! That's what I counted on, but it still amazes me.
 
Jive Turkey said:
By the way is there any way one can play the Willow arcade game without spending a fortune or going the "Yarrrrr" route?
Click to expand...
Not unless you want to buy the arcade board for it on ebay, should be under $100 but you'd have to have something to play it on
 
Haha, I'm tempted to take these pics to Photoshop to apply the TV Scanline filter - they never looked this sharp and bright.

This game came some time before Hard Drivin' to the cafeteria. Hard Drivin' was amazing, too.
 
Chittagong said:
Haha, I'm tempted to take these pics to Photoshop to apply the TV Scanline filter - they never looked this sharp and bright.
Click to expand...
Here's some video of Willow CPS1 arcade game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCbFZS3JVg

The sound is unberable loud, and the quality is ass, but it might spring your memory back.


....and i'm pretty sure the game you're talking about is Willow.. He even throws fireballs at enemies.:D
 
i have a different game i'd like to know the name of. should be easy, as it was fairly common. the cabinet had a futuristic motorcycle/flying thing to sit on. the game took place in a tube (probably 6-8 sides). you dodged things and i believe you could also shoot things. the graphics looked wireframe.
 
dfyb said:
i have a different game i'd like to know the name of. should be easy, as it was fairly common. the cabinet had a futuristic motorcycle/flying thing to sit on. the game took place in a tube (probably 6-8 sides). you dodged things and i believe you could also shoot things. the graphics looked wireframe.
Click to expand...
STUN Runner?

EDIT: curses, foiled again. *shakes fist*
 
I was gonna say Cadash also.

Willow was a pretty uncommon game to find in an arcade. Too bad it wasn't Rastan.
 
BrodiemanTTR said:
These topics make me sad I missed out on the days of arcades. :(
Click to expand...
yeah, arcades were pretty much the coolest thing you could ever imagine.

Rastan is so fucking sweet. I should have bought that arcade cabinet when I had the chance for 100 bucks.
 
Sorry to hijack the thread, but..

Does anyone remember an arcade game that was a side-scroller where you had this Macross type robot that transformed into a jet? You could shoot your gun while you ran or transform and bomb stuff.

I know it's very little to go on. From what I remember it had a black background, green "grass" and took place on different planets (I think)
 
When I first saw Wardner I was blown away by the visuals. There was a smoothness to the art and animation as well as punchiness to the color I had never seen in a game before then.
 
Here's another one. I went searching for this game, but I can't remember many details. It was in my local arcade for just one week.

It was Japanese.
Th first level scrolled upwards ala commando (I never passed the first level, it was difficult). You controlled a samurai and two people could play at the same time cooperatively
The graphics were more advanced than commando
It had a medieval style, and wasn't cartoony (not 100% on the last bit)
You could pick up armor by walking over it
I think you fired projectiles and could power them up
The name was something like Kay-ka-gii (no, not the beatem-up with a similar name. Although I guess it could have just used the same cabinet.)

I remember going through each game listed on mame but never found it.
 
Black Tiger is also a possibility for the OP.
 
Cth said:
Sorry to hijack the thread, but..

Does anyone remember an arcade game that was a side-scroller where you had this Macross type robot that transformed into a jet? You could shoot your gun while you ran or transform and bomb stuff.

I know it's very little to go on. From what I remember it had a black background, green "grass" and took place on different planets (I think)
Click to expand...

Aeroboto?

2dv0n6x.png
38_1.png
 
DD-11 said:
Here's another one. I went searching for this game, but I can't remember many details. It was in my local arcade for just one week.

It was Japanese.
Th first level scrolled upwards ala commando (I never passed the first level, it was difficult). You controlled a samurai and two people could play at the same time cooperatively
The graphics were more advanced than commando
It had a medieval style, and wasn't cartoony (not 100% on the last bit)
You could pick up armor by walking over it
I think you fired projectiles and could power them up
The name was something like Kay-ka-gii (no, not the beatem-up with a similar name. Although I guess it could have just used the same cabinet.)

I remember going through each game listed on mame but never found it.
Click to expand...

Guwange? I´m pretty sure it is, if not, play it regardless =P
 
Me, me, me!

It's a classic 90's beat' em up brawler. Back in the day it shared an arcade with Guardians of the Hood, Captain Commando, Zero Team, DD Crew and few other genre-like games.

This one had you choosing between at least a white guy and a black guy. The black guy had a combo finisher that kicked enemies all the way to the edge of the screen where they got slammed in to and slid down from. In barrels you could find grenades for your supermove; a jump with a grenade to the ground, similar to the grenade move in The Punisher.
One level in the demo run takes place in an big passenger airplane.

It's the last childhood arcade game I can't seem to remember the name of.
 
Huggy said:
Me, me, me!

It's a classic 90's beat' em up brawler. Back in the day it shared an arcade with Guardians of the Hood, Captain Commando, Zero Team, DD Crew and few other genre-like games.

This one had you choosing between at least a white guy and a black guy. The black guy had a combo finisher that kicked enemies all the way to the edge of the screen where they got slammed in to and slid down from. In barrels you could find grenades for your supermove; a jump with a grenade to the ground, similar to the grenade move in The Punisher.
One level in the demo run takes place in an big passenger airplane.

It's the last childhood arcade game I can't seem to remember the name of.
Click to expand...

Vendetta?
 
After looking at these screens I have to say: GAF needs an old arcade games appreciation thread now!
 
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