The Adventures of Willy Beamish

From Sega Retro

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WillyBeamish title.png

The Adventures of Willy Beamish
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Adventure

















Release Date RRP Code

The Adventures of Willy Beamish is an adventure game for the Sega Mega-CD. The game originally appeared on the PC in 1991, with an enhanced CD version created in 1992. The Mega CD version is based on this enhanced version, and offers full voice-acting and a CD-quality soundtrack. While the Mega CD version suffers from long loading times and a limited color pallete, it also features an exclusive minigame called 'Super Space Knoid'trix' which can be played from the video game console in Willy's room.

Story

The game stars a young boy named Willy Beamish, where the game begins shortly before the last day of school ends. The game takes place across four days of Willy's summer vacation, as the challenges he faces go from simple, such as avoiding bullies, to more challenging, such as defeating a monstrous babysitter and winning a frog race. The game ends with Willy having to foil a plot to destroy his home town.

Gameplay

Gameplay is controlled by a cursor that can switch between two modes, one to interact with hotspots such as objects and characters, and one to look at them, giving a more detailed description on them. Interacting with objects Willy can pick up will put them in his inventory for later use, and interacting with exits in an area have him move to a different area in the game.

When Willy talks to characters in the game, he will often get a choice of a certain things to respond to them with. While most lines of dialogue will continue the game, some lines of dialogue, such as lying to the school nurse about how sick Willy is, will instantly trigger the end of the game. The game also has a 'Trouble Meter', represented as a thermometer, which increases with each time Willy misbehaves. If the meter becomes full, Willy will be sent to military school and the game will end. Certain other situations, if not handled quickly enough or correctly, will also cause the game to end in failure.

The game takes place across four days of Willy's summer vacation, and time continues to progress as long as the game isn't paused. Opening the inventory will show a clock that keeps track of the time of day, and from there, time can be skipped if the player has already completed every necessary action for the current day. Time is important to keep track of, because if Willy is too late in collecting certain items or completing certain events, the game will become impossible to complete.

Laser Balls

Because of the long load times in the Sega CD version, the game also includes a screen saver that allows the player to control a visual demo of spheres by holding a direction on the D-pad. The screen can be brought up at any time by pressing and holding the : START  button, even while the system is loading the next scene or action.

Main Game Controls

A: Cycles through hotspots
B: Interacts with hotspots, selects conversation options
C: Switches cursor between look/interact modes
 START : Displays the "Laser Balls" screen saver

Promotional Material

  • WillyBeamish MCD US PrintAdvert.jpg

    US print advert

Physical Scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
75 №140, p109
55 №10, p58/59
43 №10, p50
60 №2, p31
65 №18, p38/39/40
68 №8, p84-86[1]
56 №45, p56/57
55 №21, p32/33
59 №19, p68/69[2]
Sega Mega-CD
 60
Based on
9 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Computer & Video Games (UK) NTSC-U
75
[3]
Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U
94
[4]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
60
[5]
GameFan (US)
85
[6]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
88
[7]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-U
86
[8]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-U
55
[9]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
43
[10]
Mega Action (UK) NTSC-U
60
[11]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
65
[12]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U
68
[1]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U
56
[13]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
55
[14]
Sega Force (UK) NTSC
59
[15]
VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) NTSC-U
60
[16]
Sega Mega-CD
 67
Based on
15 reviews

The Adventures of Willy Beamish

Mega-CD, US
Willybeamish mcd us backcover.jpgWillybeamish mcd us frontcover.jpg
Cover
Willybeamish mcd us disc.jpg
Disc
Willybeamish mcd us manual.pdf
Manual
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 File:MeanMachinesSega08UK.pdf, page 84 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesSega08UK.pdf_p84" defined multiple times with different content
  2. ↑ File:SegaForce19UK.pdf, page 68
  3. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-15), page 109
  4. ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "January 1993" (US; 1992-12-10), page 91
  5. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 126
  6. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 5: April 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 15
  7. ↑ GamePro, "April 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 60
  8. ↑ Joypad, "Juin 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 88
  9. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-04-29), page 58
  10. ↑ Mega, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-17), page 50
  11. ↑ Mega Action, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-17), page 31
  12. ↑ MegaTech, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 38
  13. ↑ Sega Power, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-01), page 56
  14. ↑ Sega Pro, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-06-10), page 32
  15. ↑ Sega Force, "July 1993" (UK; 1993-05-27), page 68
  16. ↑ VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "February 1993" (US; 1993-0x-xx), page 70
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