<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>http://www.nesfiles.com/NES/Faxanadu/Faxanadu.asp
Here's a cool site I found when I entered the word Faxanadu on the lycos search engine looking for some screenshots from the game. It has a few mini reviews and shots of the game and some music for anyone who listens to that Midi crap =P
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Nintendo
System: NES
Release Date: 1989
This NES Side Scrolling Adventure title features an ancient War between
the Elves of the World Tree and the Dwarves of the Mountain World.
You are a young Elf Warrior returning home after a long journey and
soon discover something is not right. You arrive at the Capital city
situated at the bottom of the tree, and everything is in ruins. The walls are
crumbling, the people are frightened, and everyone seams to have hidden
themselves behind the town walls. If you talk to one of the people upon
entering the town, you will be told to visit the King.
Upon Visiting the King in the Castle at the end of the town you soon
discover that you must leave the Capital and go and save the Elf People
from the terrible Dwarf Plague which has befallen them. So your
adventure begins.
You will soon discover that Dwarves aren’t what you’d believe them to
be, they’re not small human looking things, they are gigantic Dragon
looking things, I don’t know, maybe it was the bad translation. Anyways,
there’s a King and Queen of the Dwarves, and according to rumor in the
Capital City, the Dwarves and the Elves were once friendly with each
other and no one knows why the Dwarves suddenly attacked, what evil
force is driving them to do this? That is your quest. Along the way you
find many towns situated throughout the Tree World, most of them will
have Weapon Shops where you can buy Swords and other such items,
Magic shops for magical items, Churches (And Cathedrals in some
places) where you learn Mantra’s for saving, armor shops for armor, Key
shops for keys that you will need to open doors and get through the quest,
food shops where you might buy bred or fish to replenish your health or
your magic power. Of course there will be regular houses in the towns as
well, and many independent people and such. Outside of towns you will find
that the world has many towers and dungeos which hold items of importance
that you will require to progress through the game.
The Gameplay is very unique, it has a system of experience points and
level ups through experience, you gain extra ranks as your experience
level goes up. Rather than traditional RPG’s, experience does not
increase your Stats (unless I’m forgetting), but rather it will allow you to
use more powerful Magic, Armor, and Swords, as you go on. You receive
your rank from the Elf Priests located in the Churches. This game
belonged to a genre of Side Scrolling Adventure RPG’s that was fairly
popular back in the late 80’s on NES which was highlighted by other
titles such as The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link, and
Castlevania 2: Simons Quest. Faxanadu though it did not have the follow
up name of a very famous game (Castlevania and Zelda) it was still the
best Side Scrolling Adventure game of its time. It is quite sad that this
genre didn’t take off after the introduction of the SNES, I blame it mostly
on the fact that Zelda 3: A Link to the Past, was an overhead game like
the original, and rather than have side scrolling adventures, they had the
new overhead adventure titles highlighted by others such as: Soul Blazer,
Illusions of Gaia, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of
Evermore, and Terranigma. Instead, the whole Side Scrolling action
Adventure idea was scrapped and they instead used the elements in
Platformer titles such as Mario World, Kirby Superstar, and Donkey
Kong Country, games which highlighted the SNES and gaming World for
the duration of the 16 bit era. Castlevania has been a relatively
underground series since then, and the only other famous title was Paper
Mario, which combined elements of a Side Scrolling Adventure, with
elements of an RPG, I’ll admit I haven’t played the game but everyone
who I know who has played it has enjoyed it quite a bit.
Some finishing comments: This game was the crowning achievement of
the Side Scrolling Adventure genre on NES, and even to this day I enjoy
pulling the game out and having a quick run through it, well, in truth, it’s
been a few years, but I will probably play it again sometime =)
When I was a kid, if there was a game that had some sort of a impact on
my life, it was this one, and that’s one reason why I consider it one of the
greatest games of all time.
Completion Time: Depends on how fast you are or what you choose to
do, the game can be completed in under 3 hours, but most people will
take 10+ hours to finish it.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Atmosphere: The music and graphics make for a darker atmosphere,
similar to what you’d expect in Lord of Rings when they were traveling
through the Old forest. It’s fairly dark in parts, but there are towns and
villages throughout the world, and two cities (maybe 3 if I’m forgetting
one) the Capital and then the largest city which is fairly close to the end
of the game. The game definitely has a Medieval setting, Royalty,
Churches, Knights, etc...</div>
Here's a cool site I found when I entered the word Faxanadu on the lycos search engine looking for some screenshots from the game. It has a few mini reviews and shots of the game and some music for anyone who listens to that Midi crap =P
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Nintendo
System: NES
Release Date: 1989
This NES Side Scrolling Adventure title features an ancient War between
the Elves of the World Tree and the Dwarves of the Mountain World.
You are a young Elf Warrior returning home after a long journey and
soon discover something is not right. You arrive at the Capital city
situated at the bottom of the tree, and everything is in ruins. The walls are
crumbling, the people are frightened, and everyone seams to have hidden
themselves behind the town walls. If you talk to one of the people upon
entering the town, you will be told to visit the King.
Upon Visiting the King in the Castle at the end of the town you soon
discover that you must leave the Capital and go and save the Elf People
from the terrible Dwarf Plague which has befallen them. So your
adventure begins.
You will soon discover that Dwarves aren’t what you’d believe them to
be, they’re not small human looking things, they are gigantic Dragon
looking things, I don’t know, maybe it was the bad translation. Anyways,
there’s a King and Queen of the Dwarves, and according to rumor in the
Capital City, the Dwarves and the Elves were once friendly with each
other and no one knows why the Dwarves suddenly attacked, what evil
force is driving them to do this? That is your quest. Along the way you
find many towns situated throughout the Tree World, most of them will
have Weapon Shops where you can buy Swords and other such items,
Magic shops for magical items, Churches (And Cathedrals in some
places) where you learn Mantra’s for saving, armor shops for armor, Key
shops for keys that you will need to open doors and get through the quest,
food shops where you might buy bred or fish to replenish your health or
your magic power. Of course there will be regular houses in the towns as
well, and many independent people and such. Outside of towns you will find
that the world has many towers and dungeos which hold items of importance
that you will require to progress through the game.
The Gameplay is very unique, it has a system of experience points and
level ups through experience, you gain extra ranks as your experience
level goes up. Rather than traditional RPG’s, experience does not
increase your Stats (unless I’m forgetting), but rather it will allow you to
use more powerful Magic, Armor, and Swords, as you go on. You receive
your rank from the Elf Priests located in the Churches. This game
belonged to a genre of Side Scrolling Adventure RPG’s that was fairly
popular back in the late 80’s on NES which was highlighted by other
titles such as The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link, and
Castlevania 2: Simons Quest. Faxanadu though it did not have the follow
up name of a very famous game (Castlevania and Zelda) it was still the
best Side Scrolling Adventure game of its time. It is quite sad that this
genre didn’t take off after the introduction of the SNES, I blame it mostly
on the fact that Zelda 3: A Link to the Past, was an overhead game like
the original, and rather than have side scrolling adventures, they had the
new overhead adventure titles highlighted by others such as: Soul Blazer,
Illusions of Gaia, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of
Evermore, and Terranigma. Instead, the whole Side Scrolling action
Adventure idea was scrapped and they instead used the elements in
Platformer titles such as Mario World, Kirby Superstar, and Donkey
Kong Country, games which highlighted the SNES and gaming World for
the duration of the 16 bit era. Castlevania has been a relatively
underground series since then, and the only other famous title was Paper
Mario, which combined elements of a Side Scrolling Adventure, with
elements of an RPG, I’ll admit I haven’t played the game but everyone
who I know who has played it has enjoyed it quite a bit.
Some finishing comments: This game was the crowning achievement of
the Side Scrolling Adventure genre on NES, and even to this day I enjoy
pulling the game out and having a quick run through it, well, in truth, it’s
been a few years, but I will probably play it again sometime =)
When I was a kid, if there was a game that had some sort of a impact on
my life, it was this one, and that’s one reason why I consider it one of the
greatest games of all time.
Completion Time: Depends on how fast you are or what you choose to
do, the game can be completed in under 3 hours, but most people will
take 10+ hours to finish it.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Atmosphere: The music and graphics make for a darker atmosphere,
similar to what you’d expect in Lord of Rings when they were traveling
through the Old forest. It’s fairly dark in parts, but there are towns and
villages throughout the world, and two cities (maybe 3 if I’m forgetting
one) the Capital and then the largest city which is fairly close to the end
of the game. The game definitely has a Medieval setting, Royalty,
Churches, Knights, etc...</div>
-Insert Inspiring Quote-
