Faxanadu (1987). Play online

Summary

Faxanadu, a blend of "Famicom" and "Xanadu", arrived on the NES as a licensed spin‑off of Falcom’s Dragon Slayer saga. Though Hudson Soft handled its original Japanese development, Nintendo presented it as a first‑party title overseas.
The title fuses side‑scrolling platform action with classic role‑playing depth. You steer the hero through fields, towns, and dungeons, jumping, climbing ladders and slashing with swords while managing health and magic bars displayed at the top of the screen.
Enemies usually yield gold and a life‑giving bread, both of which boost the experience meter that raises your rank. As you rank up you can purchase better armor, blades, or tap into magic projectiles.
Progress is saved with password "mantras" handed out by church‑dwelling Gurus, who also award you a new rank once certain experience milestones are reached.
The memorable soundtrack was composed by Jun Chikuma, who leveraged the NES’s three‑channel sound chip with a jazzy approach, granting her unusually creative freedom for the era.

Storyline

In Faxanadu you play as a nameless wanderer—called Nello in Western releases, while the Japanese version lets you choose a name. He returns to his hometown Eolis after a long absence to find it in ruins and besieged by dwarves. The Elven king says the sacred fountain water has stopped and the remaining water is poisoned, then gives the hero 1,500 gold to start the quest.

Elves and dwarves once lived peacefully in the World Tree until the Evil One crashed from a meteorite, corrupting the dwarves into monsters. The dwarf king Grieve swallowed his enchanted sword before his transformation, hiding it inside his body to keep it from the Evil One. Only that sword can finally defeat the evil presence.

The journey spans four overworld zones: the tree’s buttress, the trunk interior, the branches, and the dwarves’ mountain stronghold. Each area tests the player with platforming, enemies and hidden items. Restoring the fountain’s water and gathering upgrades revives the world, and the hero finally confronts the Evil One to bring peace to Eolis.