The Adventures of Willy Beamish
Description official descriptions
Willy Beamish is a kid who likes to goof off and have fun. Naturally, all the grown-ups get in the way by making him go to school, making him clean his room, etc. But now that's school's out for the summer, Willy is determined to have a good time and maybe even have his pet frog win the frog jumping contest. However Willy has a habit of getting into trouble, and naturally, that means it will be a challenge to get out of it.
The Adventures of Willy Beamish is a point-and-click graphical adventure. You play Willy Beamish, an eight-year-old kid who is just trying to get through life without losing his lunch money. But he'll have to deal with parents, teachers, babysitters, and bratty sisters. The player must solve different puzzles to ensure Willy can progress, get out of trouble and generally avoid ending up grounded.
The in-game time progresses even if no action is taken. This means many puzzles have to be solved in a certain time frame or rely on being in the right place at the right time. A special aspect of this game is the bar which shows Willy's relationship with his parents. It gets affected by the way certain situations are resolved, e.g. it increases if Willy refuses to play with his sister, and when it is full they send Willy to a military school and the game is lost.
The GOG release of this game for Windows includes both Floppy and CD versions of the game. The main differences are that the CD version has updated graphics, features animations and animated character portraits instead of static images, enhanced audio, and full voice-acting whereas the Floppy version doesn't feature any voice-acting.
Spellings
- הרפתקאות ווילי - Hebrew spelling
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Credits (DOS version)
83 People · View all
CD Director | |
Lead Programmer | |
Voice Casting | |
Voice of Willy Bleamish | |
CD Art Director | |
Lead CD Artist | |
Sound Engineers | |
Lead CD Game Tester | |
CD Game Tester | |
Technical Support | |
Manual Layout | |
Willy | |
Narrator | |
Gordon | |
Sheila | |
Leona | |
Tiffany | |
Dana | |
Perry | |
Spider | |
Brianna | |
[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 70% (based on 29 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 78 ratings with 9 reviews)
Entertaining, but often arbitrarily difficult adventure game.
The Good
I do remember being extremely impressed by the graphics. As several others have noted, this game pioneered the hand-drawn look to give the whole thing a cartoon look and feel. This is probably the most successful aspect of Willy Beamish-it does indeed always feel like some sort of Saturday morning cartoon gone slightly twisted.
The Bad
Unfortunately, the cartoon motif is also the game's biggest flaw. Like most cartoons, Willy Beamish isn't always long on logic. I got the feeling during certain parts of the game that I was being unfairly punished, especially in dialog encounters with Willy's strange parents. I recall being prevented from giving a response that I thought would palliate them, so the end result is that I was screwed with whatever line I clicked on. That sort of thing is unacceptable in an adventure game like this one.
The Bottom Line
Take one part Sierra adventure game, two parts cartoon plot and animation, add in some illogical and painful puzzles, stir and bake until done.
DOS · by Lucas Schippers (57) · 2001
The Good
Graphic adventure games were one of the favorite type of video games, although they tended to be more common on computers then home consoles. One of the giants within this genre was fine folks of Sierra.
Taking advantage of the CD-ROM format, this great computer adventure game is made ever cooler with an, amazingly, talented crew of voice actors (especially the narrator) and a few other good changes (i.e. the ability to actually play the game in Willy's bedroom and to save your progress).
The Bad
Two of the major problems are mostly the fault of Sega itself for failing to make the Sega CD into a proper, or even halfway decent, upgrade.
First, the cartoon quality artwork and animation had to be cut down from the PC's 256 colors to the Sega CD's 64. Second, the Sega CD edition of the game also suffers from very slow loading times (hence the ability to manipulate Laser Balls while you wait).
Minor problems: It would have be nice if an option existed to get text and or voice.
The Bottom Line
The Adventures of Willy Bemish is a great graphic adventure game and I truely wish it was redesigned for Windows XP or one of the modern video game systems.
Yet, adventure games mean solving, often, complex puzzles, which may seem dull if you simply want to blast your way out of any given situation.
You need to be willing, even eager, to interact with an assortment of interesting people (often with a bit of innuendo and satire) and simply experiment and explore the environment.
SEGA CD · by ETJB (428) · 2008
A charming game on the surface - but with a very sticky underside
The Good
Beautiful cartoon-style graphics and animation - better than most games of the period and many since. Characterisation and story-line are also good. You care about the characters - which is quite an achievement in a computer game.
The Bad
Its hard. I used a walkthru pretty much from the beginning and played it with my kids - who really like it too by the way. Even with the walkthru it was hard - you had to click on things at the right times and in the right order and if you used up too many moves in the process you'd lose the game. Restoring the game again and again tended to ruin the atmosphere.........
The Bottom Line
In this game you play a kid with a frog, a skateboard and a sappy father. Worth seeking out. A classic family-friendly game from the golden age of adventure gaming.
DOS · by jossiejojo (37) · 2004
Trivia
Cancelled sequel
At one point there were plans for a sequel that would have featured Willy as a teenager.
Version differences
The CD version of The Adventures of Willy Beamish featured full speech while the floppy version did not. The CD version also contains some different cutscenes and different credits part.
The DOS and SEGA CD versions of the game used slightly different color palettes and contained small differences in visual details. In general, the DOS version featured a lighter color palette than did the SEGA CD release of the game. This can be seen in a scene of the school auditorium in the introduction of the game (DOS -- SEGA CD). Notice in the comparison not only that the auditorium seats have completely changed color but that the stage has a different design, such as the inclusion of floor lights in the DOS version, and that the children have appreciably different appearances.
Extras
Some boxes included four removable stickers featuring artwork of "Willy and Horny," "Horny," "Leona," and "Squad Monster" (from the Nintari game). Specially marked game boxes also included a free Willy Beamish LCD watch offer which required that players send in a coupon and the warranty cards. The watch was in-fact analog and depicted Willy Beamish's face in the center of a circle, surrounding the game title, with Horny the frog's webbed-prints representing the hours between 12, 3, 6, and 9.
Manual
The original game had a real wirebound notebook (32 sheets/college ruled, approx. size 8x5in/20.3x12.7cm) in crude childlike writing as its manual. The installation instructions were printed on the back of pinkish A4 sized "Pizzarama!" pizza menu (as visited in the game) complete with main courses, beverages, on the side items, desserts, and prices. The later CD-ROM booklet reproduced the notebook pages as b/w pages within a larger ringbinder, though the pizza menu instructions were excluded.
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #10 Most Innovative Computer Game
- Enchanted Realms
- January 1992 (issue #9) – Distinctive Adventure Award
Information also contributed by Garcia, John David Karlgren, and Timo Takalo.
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Related Sites +
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Patches Scrolls
Download the DOS patch for Willy Beamish here. -
UHS Hints for Willy Beamish
Helpful hints will give you nudges before the final solution is revealed so you can solve the puzzles yourself. -
Video review of the system (WARNING: Language)
The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Rolfe, reviews the Sega CD and gives brief reviews of some games, including The Adventures of Willy Beamish for Sega CD. -
Willy Beamish - FAQs & Guides
Walkthrough on GameFAQs
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by mclazyj.
Amiga, SEGA CD added by POMAH. Windows added by Cavalary. Macintosh added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: Roger Wilco, Jeanne, LepricahnsGold, Crawly, Zeppin, 6⅞ of Nine, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Narushima.
Game added July 12, 2000. Last modified January 13, 2024.