Faxanadu
| Faxanadu | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original title | フ ァ ザ ナ ド ゥ |
| Studio | Hudson Soft |
| Senior Developer | June Chiki Chikuma |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
NES: November 17, 1987 August 17, 1989 December 28, 1990 Virtual Console:
October 5, 2010 November 26, 2010 February 21, 2011   |
| platform | NES , Virtual Console |
| genre | Action adventure |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Gamepad |
| medium | Plug-in module |
| language | Japanese, English |
Faxanadu ( Jap. ファザナドゥ , Fazanadu ) is an action-adventure - video game for the Famicom and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The game was licensed by Falcom and developed by Hudson Soft . The market was launched in Japan in 1987, followed by the USA in 1989 and 1990, finally also in Europe.
Faxanadu can be seen as a side story to Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , which is the second part of Falcom's Dragon Slayer RPG series . The title Faxanadu is a suitcase word , which is formed from the name of the console Famicom and the game Xanadu .
history
The protagonist of the game Faxanadu is a nameless wanderer. The game starts when he arrives in his hometown Eolis, which is in a very bad condition and is almost completely deserted. He meets with the Elven King, who asks him to kill a creature that goes by the name "The Evil One". According to the Elven King, this is the only way to bring prosperity back to Eolis. As the story progresses, it turns out that elves and dwarves lived in harmony. This idyll was destroyed when The Evil One emerged from a fallen meteorite . The Evil One turned the dwarves into monsters against their will and incited them against the elves. The dwarf king Grieve swallowed a magical sword before he was transformed. He wanted to prevent The Evil One from getting the sword, because he can only be defeated with this sword.
The game takes place in three ascending worlds that are built up like a tree: the first, which is covered with a fungus-like substance (the roots), the second, which is enveloped in poisonous mist (the inside of the trunk), and the third world, which resembles the branches of a tree. After passing through these worlds, the player reaches the stronghold of The Evil One and faces him in battle.
Game mechanics
The player guides the hero through a series of fields, cities and dungeons. The hero can run, jump and climb ladders. On the way he can also buy items, equipment, bladed weapons and magical projectiles for gold. In addition, he can hold conversations with people he meets en route and thus collect information. His “life” and his supply of “magical power” are displayed in two bars at the top of the screen. There is also information about the amount of gold, the experience points you have collected, the remaining time for levels with a time limit and the equipment you are currently using. If an opponent is defeated, he usually leaves behind gold or “life”-giving food that the hero can collect, and he also gains a certain amount of experience points . The game does not have a memory option, but has a password system. With the help of the password you can return to certain games with certain equipment.
presentation
Faxanadu's color palette mainly uses brown, green, red and blue tones, creating an atmosphere that is intended to underline the mysticism in the world of elves and dwarves. This is rather atypical compared to other games of the time, which contained many bright, cartoon-like depictions. Many aspects of the game, especially the different shapes and types of enemies, are largely inspired by a mix of Norse and Japanese mythology and are reminiscent of the works of HR Giger . Christian symbols that can be found in the Japanese version have been removed from the international version. In the Japanese version, for example, the gurus hold a Christian cross and images of the crucifixion of Jesus can be seen in the temples .
criticism
In the November / December 1989 issue of Nintendo Power , the game debuted at number 6 in the magazine's "Top 30" list. In subsequent issues, it gradually fell off the list.
Trivia
Based on the game, two episodes were produced for the second season (1990-1991) of the cartoon series Captain N. The Elven King was renamed Melvis and looked and sounded like Elvis Presley , the Dwarf King was replaced by Queen Dwarfine.
After Zelda II: The Adventure of Link had great success in the 1980s, numerous imitators came onto the market, with Faxanadu being one of the best-known alongside The Battle of Olympus .