Willy Wombat -20th anniversary webpage-
Page originally created in 2017 to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary.
What is WILLY WOMBAT?
◆ Willy Wombat is an isometric action game released on June 27, 1997 for the Sega Saturn in Japan only.
◆ Developed by WESTONE (Wonder Boy/Monster World series) and published by HUDSON SOFT. It retailed for 5,800 JPY.
◆ AQV System (Around Quarter View) let's you rotate the camera 360 degrees around to see enemies, pathways, and other objects.
◆ Features full English voice acting, opening and ending theme songs, and comic book style graphics.
◆ Import friendly title: only some menus and the written dialogue are in Japanese.
◆ Features 6 worlds and 27 levels.
◆ Requires 9 blocks to save and allows up to three save files.

STORY
Dark souls who taste the forbidden fruit...
Lost souls who yearn for freedom...
Search the foreign lands for Miracle Gems.
When six Miracle Gems reunite...
The doorway to the garden of freedom, Eden, shall show its way.

Willy, once an enforcer of the "perfect society" Prison, escapes into the outside world to seek the mysterious Miracle Gems and find Eden. But just what are these stones? Where is this Eden? He only has that one message to go by in his search for a new world. However, he is being pursued by his former fellow enforcers that seek to eliminate him. Just then, an old man appears offering his help...
GAMEPLAY

Upon starting the game you are asked where you'd like to save your data to: the Saturn's internal memory or a Backup RAM cartridge. Then, you can choose to start a NEW GAME, CONTINUE (provided you have a save file already), or KEY CONFIG to map controls the way you'd like.

◆ Willy's Abilities
Willy has double boomerangs at his disposal. With the B button, he can throw them one at a time in quick succession, but be mindful of the time it takes to return or you'll be open to attack. Boomerangs can also grab items for you.
When enemies get really close, you can do a slash attack with the A button.
Willy can jump with the C button to reach platforms, but can't jump over enemies.
To get out of a tight spot, double tapping any of the directional buttons will send Willy dashing. Be careful as getting damaged or descending/ascending platforms/stairs will halt the dash.
Pressing the L and R shoulder buttons will make the camera rotate around Willy. Use this feature to explore stages efficiently. Try combining dashing with rotating the camera.
◆ Ancient Scripts
These come in three flavors: Blue, Yellow, and Red. They are used to unlock powerful screen clearing attacks. If you come across one of these colored books in a stage, bring them to one of the save points after clearing the stage.
 Afterwards, you can pick up corresponding Force items and use them to unleash a powerful attack by pressing both the A+B buttons.
◆ Items & Gimmicks
The amount of these crystal shards vary by stage. Collecting enough will net you elusive Hexagon Medals. You can check how many you have in the current stage by pressing start.
Hexagon Medals are required to save your progress at save points in each world. Three are required each time you save and up to three can be earned if you collect all crystal shards in a level.
Pick these up to replenish lost health. Yellow restores 1 unit, while pink restores 5.
Collect five of these to increase your maximum health units by one.
These come in various guises and will activate things such as platforms and doors.
These are scattered about the stages to keep you from getting lost.
Jumping into one of these can take you to another part of the stage.
Collect keys and bring them to the key holes to unlock new passages.
Step on these to bring up a map of the current surrounding area. It shows where the exit is and highlights spots you've traversed.
Watch out for spikes and lava as well.
(There are no bottomless pits however.)
CAST
WILLY
JAVA
GHOSTS
With only a cryptic message to go by, he escapes from Prison. He believes in free will and isn't afraid to show an attitude with foes.
Voiced by Tom West
Just an old man down on his luck...
Voiced by Dennis Falt
The enemies seen during stages. Many ghosts tend to travel in packs so be mindful of your surroundings.
NOTES
TAGDOR
MAIL
Leader of the team sent to apprehend Willy. Believes Prisons law is absolute. He is curious about what Willy knows however...
Voiced by Jason Russel
The brawn of the team who would do anything to earn respect from the higher-ups and get a promotion.
Voiced by Jeff Manning
Acts as the tactician of the team. Like the others, is devoted solely to the mission and Prison.
Voiced by Deidre Merrell-Ikeda
EXTRAS & SECRETS
Spoilers below!
◆ Cheat codes:
① To restore health one by one, pause the game and hold Z then press X+Y simultaneously.
② To instantly complete a stage, pause during a stage then while holding A+X+Z, press Y to instantly get to the stage clear screen. It will tally all gems you collected at the time of inputting the code.
③ If you want to return to the title screen anytime, just hold down A+B+C then press start.
④ Cutscene viewer: If you own Hudson's SBom Joycard game pad for the Sega Saturn, flip the switch on the front to the "Hu Position" and mash the Start button 15 times a second on the stage select screen to access it.
⑤ Action Replay/Gameshark codes
◆ Screensavers:
If you idle during the game, one of three screensavers will appear: 1 - 2 - 3
Hidden screensavers will also show up depending on the date set for your Sega Saturn's internal clock.
Dates:
⬩ 6/27/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 23 - Willy Wombat strategy article published! On sale today!"
⬩ 6/28/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 24 - 6 days left until release."
⬩ 7/4/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 24 - On sale today!"
⬩ 7/5/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 25 - 6 days left until release."
⬩ 7/11/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 25 - Now on sale! Willy Wombat strategy article published!
Bring light to those in pursuit Forbidden spell (more hints are in Sega Saturn magazine) - On the pause screen: [ra2] + [ko7] + [o6], While holding down: [ku4] + [ki9] + [ka3]"
NOTE: This is a cryptogram, solving it reveals the instant complete level cheat.
⬩ 7/18/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 26 - On sale today!"
⬩ 7/19/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 27 - 6 days until release."
⬩ 7/25/97 "Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 27 - Now on sale! Willy Wombat strategy article published!
Bring light to those in pursuit! Forbidden spell (more hints are in Sega Saturn magazine) - On the pause screen: [ku9] + [ke3] + [a2], While holding down: [I8] + [e5]+ [ra1]"
NOTE: This is a cryptogram, solving it reveals the restore health cheat.
⬩ 8/1/97 Sega Saturn Magazine Vol. 28 - On sale today!
◆ Soundtrack:
If you place the game disc in a computer or CD player, you can listen to music from the game.
OP & ED songs:
⬩ Opening (Here To Stay)
⬩ Ending (Fearless Heart)
Vocals by Dawn Marie Moore, Music by Masayoshi "Chamy" Ishi
Song lyrics and game dialogue transcript can be found here.
The above full version of the credits song was only released on a CD titled Caravan on the Radio (HCD-7082), released by Hudson Soft in 1997. In-game, only 1:57 of the song is played. Interestingly, track 11 on the game disc is never actually heard in-game. It was likely to be used for a bonus world as an unused audio file makes mention of it. (see ...Canvas? below for more on this.) This track can also be heard at the very end of the Caravan CD as the narrator says goodbye to the listener.
◆ ...Canvas?
During the credits sequence, voice actor Lynn Harris is credited to a character named Canvas. However, this character is never seen or heard in the game without hacking. Anything related to them was scrapped likely due to time constraints. An event where you meet the character does exist in the game's code but crashes if you select either Yes/No. An unused graphic for Canvas exists among the level complete graphics. There is also an unused voiced conversation between Willy and Canvas. Listen!
Special thanks to @ragey0 for this info.
◆ 100%?
Unfortuately, there is no special bonus for getting 100% completion on your save file, nor is there a secret/alternate ending. Upon beating the game, you can revisit stages to find the hidden "Hu cards". Finding all of them doesn't appear to reward you with anything though.
◆ Other
⬩ Willy Wombat's working title was Combat Wombat: The Adventures of Willy Wombat. The game started as a Super Nintendo side-scrolling action title but switched to the Sega Saturn as the gaming market was shifting towards 32-bit titles. [Source]
⬩ The characters were designed by Susumu Matsushita and did the cover and manual artwork. His other works include Motor Toon Grand Prix, the Adventure Island games, and Maximo: Ghosts to Glory. Curiously, Mail's character design differs the most between the one seen in-game and the one in the manual.
⬩ Real wombats can run up to 25 miles per hour and maintain that speed for a minute and a half. This is likely the inspiration for Willy's dash ability.
⬩ Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot character was known as Willy the Wombat (or Willie) during development. Crash was released in 1996, a year before Willy Wombat.
⬩ Hudson Soft merged with Konami in 2012 and now Willy Wombat's copyright likely lies with them.

WILLY WOMBAT (C) WESTONE/HUDSON SOFT. Character Design By Susumu Matsushita Company. SEGA SATURN (C) SEGA.
Site by @mushroom32x. This site is purely fan-made and not associated with the above entities.
I hope this page was convincing enough to be from 1997. Since 6/27/17, ported from fc2 to Neocities 1/20/24.