[1][2] The game follows the film's plot:[3] The evil witch queen Bavmorda is after the holy baby of the lands, Elora Danan, intent on destroying her.

Later on, a brave warrior named Madmartigan joins Willow to fight the enemy rival General Kael.

Moonlight - sends a crescent shaped blast forward, which splits into smaller beams on impact, damaging enemies in its path.

Willow for arcades is loosely based on the heroic fantasy movie of the same name by Ron Howard.

[6][3] The game was part of a broader strategy of Capcom at the time to appeal a wider audience by using established characters from other media, as director Yoshiki Okamoto stated that their original characters could be too niche, citing titles based on Area 88 and Destiny of an Emperor as part of this plan.

[7] Willow was released by Capcom in Japan in June 1989 and North America on September of the same year as well as in Europe, using the CP System board.

[21] In North America, it was considered a successful title for the CPS board, with Capcom VP of Sales and Marketing Bill Cravens saying that "U.N. Squadron and Willow were major hits".

[22] Willow was well received by critics since its release in arcades,[13][15] with multiple reviewers praising the game's graphics at the time.

Since the game was never ported to a home console, they suggested buying Ghouls n' Ghosts for the Sega Mega Drive as an alternative.

However, Whitta believed that the gameplay was limited and would mostly appeal to fans of the movie for a short period of time.