A stately pleasure-game decree: Faxanadu | NES Works 143

Fax-anna-doo? Fuh-zahn-ado? However you choose to pronounce it, one thing is clear: This game rips. Developed by Hudson, based on a computer game by Nihon Falcom, published in the U.S. by Nintendo: A lot of hands touched Faxanadu! But what matters is that it eventually reached America, nearly two years after its debut on Famicom, and it still stood comfortably in the presence of 1989's massive NES milestones. A clever and compelling take on the action-RPG concept, Faxanadu presented a console-oriented take on Dragon Slayer's sequel Xanadu whose aesthetics and mechanics hinted at some real consideration for how things worked best on Famicom. A breezy, compact, and fairly dense quest packed with memorable music and atmospheric visuals, Faxanadu is one of the strongest games of its type ever to appear on NES... even if you aren't familiar with its background. (And, let's face it, NES kids in 1989 didn't.) Production notes: Available now an exclusively for preorder at Limited Run Games: The NES Era Vol. I: Japan and the Road to NES, a comprehensive photographic atlas of every Japanese console game released from 1979 through the U.S. NES launch in October 1985. Take a deep dive into the prehistory of NES with this limited-edition oversized (12x12"!) photo book: https://limitedrungames.com/products/the-nes-era-vol-1-hardcover Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 4K with RetroTink 4X and 720p with xRGB Mini Framemeister.