The game pioneered the use of in-game graphics drawn to resemble classic hand-drawn cartoon animation.

Willy is passionate about science fiction, hanging out with his gang in their tree house and playing video games, being highly skilled with his Nintari console (a portmanteau of Nintendo and Atari).

As they all gather for dinner, Willy's father Gordon, who was due a promotion at work, shocks the entire family by announcing his unexpected layoff.

To cut on family expenses, Willy is denied the entry fee to the video game championship he was training for.

Also, his access to the Nintari console is revoked due to a "C" grade tainting an otherwise satisfactory report card, which Willy has failed to hide from his parents.

Willy leverages his elder sister Tiffany's weaknesses to get back the Nintari key she was given custody of and resume training.

The next day, Willy learns that Tootsweet, the local producer of artificial sweetener, is sponsoring a frog jump contest with a prize in cash and decides to enlist Horny.

Later that day, he is left in the care of a babysitter named Alicia who transforms into a vampire bat: Willy manages to dispose of the creature by using a vacuum cleaner, only to wake up to the realization that it was a nightmare.

Meanwhile, Gordon has obtained the job at Tootsweet: by this time, however, the plumbers' strike has caused the sewer system to overflow, polluting Frumpton's water.

There, he learns that Leona and Louis are planning to eliminate Gordon after he has publicly unveiled their scheme and announced his resignation.

In addition, Willy has a score system called the Trouble-O-meter, a thermometer with "Good Boy" at the bottom and "Cadet School" at the top.

[5] Charles Ardai wrote in Computer Gaming World in 1993 that the CD-ROM version of Willy Beamish was disappointing compared to the corresponding version of Space Quest IV, with poor voice acting that was, in his opinion, "insulting to children and inconsiderate of adults, whose skin it will make crawl".