I have a very long and colorful history with this game. Started with my dad when he brought it home for the SNES on a blustery September evening way back in 1994. He liked the original Warlock movie and picking up the game seemed like a good idea. Seemed like a neat enough game too. Well....after about an hour of playing he came to a few conclusions: 1.) This was not based upon the first movie but in fact the second movie Warlock: Armageddon. 2.) It was rather neat game, looked good, cool enemies, decent music etc. 3.) ITS REALLY F****** FRUSTRATING! And so it would be for the next few months for my dad whenever he would play it and I would watch. It would start okay (some mild annoyances here and there), then start to decline to yelling and swearing at the screen whether it was because he wasn't able to control your little magical orb to get an item or using it kill a bat or crow, thus avoid a cheap hit etc. And then it would turn to silent scorn and near deadly fury when he would get to the Wizard's Castle (which takes up a decent part of the game) which starts you in the dungeon where you have to jump across platforms that you blast down from the ceiling and while standing on them to blast the next one down the one you're standing on is sinking, therefore making the jumping controls/platforming even more frustrating. By this point controllers would be thrown, words and curses would be blasted at the screen followed by him turning the game off and storming out saying "I'm not playing this again, I quit." And.....it actually rang true. My dad more or less quit playing games after that entirely because of this game (and one other; Prince Of Persia) and has more or less stayed that way to this day. Now I felt a bit different about this game. I liked it and found it to be very hard but still fun even though it was pretty cheap in the amount of enemies and cheap hits you encountered. I essentially picked up where my dad left off and after about 13 yrs of trying I did eventually beat it on my 16th birthday, with my dad very proudly and bemusedly watching me send Satan howling back to hell. Was one of the most heart-pumping and exhilarating boss battles of all time for me since the game seemed impossible before-hand. And so it seem to stay for many, many people apparently. The whole reason I got into doing game videos for YouTube can be traced back to this game and a couple of videos stating that this game is "unbeatable and impossible to do at all with the aid of cheats and save-states". Yeah......sure, if you insist. Now my very first playthrough video of this game on SNES was very much a "plug it in and play" run-through/attempt and it very, very much shows since I had not played it in years. Very rough around the edges. And then people had asked me "hey, you ever gonna do or try the Sega version?". A fair point. Now I was aware of the Sega version but had never really played it since I was more then content with the SNES version and did not feel like reliving some of the horror and hell that a couple levels bring later on in the game. But after several years of debating the issue, I figured "screw it, what the hell. Give it a try". So I got the game, then severally burnt my fingers at home right in the middle of doing/practicing this video. So as I'm playing this one, half my right hand is bandaged right up and I only got use of a couple of my fingers the entire time, but I got the game and ultimately the video done. What I came away with that surprised me most was that the game was actually easier in a lot of ways then the SNES version. Can't really say why or how but there are subtle little things that I found to be easier and the controls to be a hair bit tighter in some spots as well. Was really pleasantly surprised overall and it made for a very enjoyable experience, burnt fingers aside. So for the record, this game is not impossible and I do not find it to be complete utter garbage at all. It is very challenging in areas, and item/health management is KEY in getting through areas while conserving heath and pickups to make your life easier the further you go, especially near the end. Its arguably the LJN game I have fondest memories of growing up (and there's a few I really love too) and I do return to both versions of the game from time to time still. So I hope enjoy and maybe give this game a second try.
