I've been wanting to do this one for a while now. Thankfully, I found a Let's Play that was actually good enough to do this with!
Finally! A game based on Where's Waldo?, also known as Where's Wally? in its native UK.
Believe it or not, the game was developed by Bethesda. Yeah, that Bethesda. Before publishing the Elder Scrolls games, Bethesda was both a publisher and a developer before turning strictly to publishing in 2001. You'd think that since Bethesda is involved here that this would be a good game, but like the other games that they published during the time, this is based on a licensed property, meaning that this is absolute dreck and won't end well if history is to be observed.
The game is just like the book: just move the cursor around with the Control Pad and press A when you think you've found Waldo. Unfortunately, the game falls victim to the limits of the NES hardware, making this harder than it should be.
When you start the game, you get a ticket to the moon...which has a timer that ticks down. This is the in-game timer, and it starts ticking as soon as you start the game! It ticks down on the ticket screen, it ticks down on the map screen, it ticks down when you're looking for Waldo...it ticks down non-stop. If you make a wrong guess while looking for Waldo, you lose 10 seconds. To make matters worse, trying to get back whatever time you've lost is near-impossible and a bit of a gamble.
Waldo's random walking around on the map screen - which you have no control over - is frustrating if you're short on time. I know what level we're going to, Waldo, just get your dumb ass the fuck over there before I turn the damn game off.
It doesn't matter what difficulty you play on, the ending is always the same, which is good because Hard is a nightmare.
Train Station
It should be noted that everything is placed on the map at random, being a Game Pak that has the ability to place stuff at random instead of a book that is always the same every time. This makes playing through the game over and over again a must if you want to beat this game and cross it off your bucket list.
At least Waldo is wearing his red and white stripes here, so that makes it easier when you search for him. He'll usually be standing straight whenever you find him, so keep that in mind.
The Forest
Waldo may be green with red stripes here. If you've been paying attention to the guide so far, this is what I meant when I said that the limits of the NES hardware make the game harder than it should be. There's something to be said for the Super NES's 256 colors here.
The Cave
This stage is different from all the rest. Here, you'll have to move the cursor around as you stumble around looking for Waldo in the dark. Waldo apparently thinks it's funny to walk around in a dark cave while you're looking for him. We'll see who's laughing when you trip and fall and break your glasses on an invisible stalagmite.
When you have Waldo in your sights, press A. You'll have complete control of Waldo. Get him out of the cave by moving him into the white square.
You could grab the hourglass, but this is where the gamble happens. You could gain more time...or you could lose more time than you already have from playing this game and guessing wrong a zillion times. Therefore, the hourglass isn't worth taking the few extra seconds to pick up.
The Fairgrounds
Waldo could be green and white instead of his usual red and white. Heck, he could be any color and white. As long as you know how his posture is, you'll be able to find him.
The City
Waldo may be driving one of the cars or peering out of one of the manholes, as seen in Cornshaq's playthrough of this. Those are two spots he usually likes to hang out on this map.
Odds are good that he'll be colored correctly here.
The Subway
You'll be a blue bullet going through the purple subway baths. Use the Control Pad to move around and switch directions at the black spaces. Press B to rotate the octagons and change the direction you're heading.
You'll need to get both Waldo and his glasses before making your way to the arrow on the right side of the screen. If you run into the evil wizard, you'll start losing a lot of time to the point that it's very, very possible to get a game over on the subway.
The Castle
Once again, Waldo can be one of a few different colors here: red, green or blue. At least there aren't as many people here (or so it seems).
Launch Pad
It's a slot machine. Obviously, you'll have to get all three slots to show Waldo. Thankfully, the order of which the characters show up on the reels is the same every time.
Waldo always shows up after the man with the blue turban, so press A as soon as Waldo shows up to get him to appear when you stop one of the reels.
When you get three Waldos, you've won! Enjoy your crappy one screen ending! Don't question why Waldo wanted to go to the moon, just enjoy it.
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