Williams Defender was one of the best selling arcade games of its time, a huge hit for Williams. The side art for the game is iconic and instantly recognizable by the classic game aficionado, while the original control panel overlay does its very best to cram as much color and detail into the small space as possible. The feeling you get from looking at that control panel really matces the game, with a lot going on, the purposeful chaos makes Defender a tough game to master. That is not at all what I see when I look at the Willis Defender replacement overlay. Sure it has mountains and the space background with a nice moon hanging in the sky. Hmmm, have we seen this moon used before? The feeling I get is one of peace and quiet, sitting around a camp fire with my feet up enjoying the night sky. It certainly doesn’t say “battle aliens at a frantic pace while they try to steal and morph the citizens of your planet into machines of death”. I think this was a missed opportunity. Think Willis Centipede. Some wreched alien grasping citizens with our hero in a spaceship on the overlay perhaps? Or maybe even the geometric cockpit designs Willis loved so much, with you piloting the ship, blasting aliens. Instead we get mountains, a space scene, and lots of text and some boxes. Notthe most exciting overlay, but a cool piece of arcade history. I love the work Willis did for the industry during the arcade boom, I just wish they had spent a little more time an effort on the replacement overlays, as this one could have been great. Of course we still have the Willis quality with multiple screen printed colors, die-cuts, and 3M materials. The © WILLIS IND. INC. 1981, makes an appearance, but no “Willis men” or part number. Not a hard overlay to find in decent shape if you’re into collecting Willis artwork, and they even come in various mountain shades, light and dark.
From the original Tokens Only post…
Nothing from the old site about the Defender replacement overlay, 1st post!
You can see the original control panel overlay below for comparison. Thanks to ArcadeShop for the image. If you haven’t been to ArcadeShop for your arcade supplies and parts, you are missing out. If by chance you have one of the Willis Defender control panel overlays installed on your game, I’ve not seen it before and would appreciate if you share some pictures. Thanks!
