I will never forget buying this game from Funcoland mail order. My stepfather who has passed away since, would sit and watch me play this game everyday! I came home from school one day and he had beaten half the game! after that we would take turns playing this game until I finished it first. My fondest memories of my stepfather sitting around playing Nintendo with me. When I hear the theme music for Faxanadu, It tears me up thinking about this.. One of the best games I played growing up.
This was a game I played with my Dad too. We'd stay up late into the night questing through the world tree together. I remember staying up late on a Friday one time and reaching the mist world deep into the night. That music totally immersed you in that damp, mysterious land. It creeper me out to the point that I was looking over my shoulder at every shadow that moved in the dark living room, glad to have my Dad nearby, but reveling in the uneasy feelings the game stirred. We made it out of the mists to Daybreak, ironically as the real sun was rising outside and the light beneath our curtains turned from black to gray. I couldn't believe Dad had let me stay up all night! Wonderful memories.
Faxanadu played a huge part in shaping my childhood love of fantasy games. My dad and I would play together on weekends, taking a couple of months to get through it due to how the mantras were so hard to copy correctly, and didn't even save your golds when you did put them in right. We did SO much grinding for money. Still, looking through the manual and seeing the cool sword-wielding knight in plate mail and then FINALLY getting to play as that guy was everything that young me wanted. Better games have certainly come around since, but every few years, I give Faxanadu another playthrough and I've loved it every time.
Had the exact same experience. My Dad and I bonded over video games, especially action RPGs, though at the time we called them "questing" games. Though he's a huge Zelda fan (way more than I am), Faxanadu was, and still is, one of our favourites to this day.
@@legionarybooks13 I love that--I've never heard them called questing games before, but that's such an easy thing to understand. And that's awesome that your dad's still a Zelda fan!
Love hearing stories like these. How important memories are made just playing with your dad or brother or friends. It’s a side to gaming you don’t hear enough of.
I recommend this video game I recommend this video the algorithm gods have made me 5 minutes of fame my name is Snoop Dogg no my name is Sean The gamer no my name is primordial ooze no my name is the aftermath that comes after a nuclear bomb 💣💥💥💥💣
I just replayed this last year. My brother and I first played this in 1990 and remember how fun yet unbelievably frustrating it was. What a great game and so unique!
This game is in my top five, along with Guardian Legend, Zanac, and MegaMan 1-2. You got it spot-on, that mist music sure put me in a wierd mood when I was a kid.
I was watching a friend playing Elden Ring and I noticed the color palette was very similar. The big tree also looked like the one from Faxanadu. This game is super fun and I love them aesthetic of it. I think I bought it for like 10$ at a thrift store.
12:00 Yeah, early Falcom loved to do that. Another infamous one is at the end of the first Ys. The second half of the game has you climb a huge 25-floor tower, but you hit a locked door near the top which requires a hidden item that you almost certainly missed... on one of the bottom floors. And what's worse is that you're given no clue where it is at first, so you'll likely spend the next couple *hours* slowly working your way down, scouring every level, until you finally learn how to fetch it. And then you get to climb all the way back up again! Yay 80s gaming!
@@BigOleWordsI have an older cousin who filled a role of a big brother. I have all these highly detailed memories of things we did and played games etc and he doesn’t remember any of it that clearly either 😂 I think it’s more that we were young and learning things whereas they were just going through the motions.
I played this game when I was VERY young and ofc never beat it, but I remember it having a strange name, the intro sequence, the portrait animations, and the music, as mentioned many times on this video. About a year ago, at 32 years old, I had a "core memory unlocked" moment and it took me almost 1.5 hours to figure out what game this was.
I used to love playing this game when it first came out. The mist level was so creepy it scared my cousin and I so bad we had to turn all the lights on in the house in order to grind through the level. It will always be one of my favorites. And thanks for bringing it up 😊
I was in Highschool when this came out and I loved it. Nice to flashback to this. It’s weird how games we played bore into our memories with the music and visuals. Takes you back.
I got Faxanadu & the soundtrack to Batman on cassette for Christmas in 1989. For the rest of winter break from school I was in my bedroom spending nearly all my waking hours with both! I loved Faxanadu, even with it's quirks and jank. I played through it a couple of years ago and had a blast. A couple of weeks back I watched the 1989 Batman movie again and while watching it thought to myself that I should revisit Faxanadu again sometime soon!
I loved Faxanadu. I wish it would come out on the Switch. I do remember one other bug is I learned after awhile to not get an item I think that was called a pendant. It was supposed to increase your attack power, but it actually decreased it.
I loved this game and for the longest time couldn't remember what it was called. Played dozens of (totally legally acquired) ROMs looking for it. I always appreciated the detail of the armor and weapons in this game, when most games were content with palette swaps.
I love Faxanadu. It nailed the atmosphere of exploration in a mysterious and slightly alien world. It's also cool how the entire game is one big connected and logical semi open world without an overworld map.
Wild!! My sister loved that game too. She woke me up one night telling me she was going to collect the last piece of the stall. I got to witness her beating the game and it’s an awesome memory
My best friend lived down the street and had this game. We were obsessed with it (until SMB3 came out), it being a "hidden gem" to an extent though gives it those special memories where it felt like we had our own little game no one else did.
I remember buying this game at Long's Drugs when it came out. I knew nothing about it at the time, but the box art intrigued me to buy it. Needless to say, I loved the game.
Siiiiiiiick sign, dude! I love it, thanks so much! Solstice was a game my dad loved, but I hated for the sole reason of that death sound. It *haunted* me when I was young, absolutely scarred me. Faxanadu was a game I saw for about... five minutes or so, completely worn out during a road trip. Don't remember where we were, but there were two siblings, one my age and one younger, and that got popped in while I watched. I was mesmerized by the intro and first couple minutes of gameplay, but their mom mistook my enthrallment as boredom and told them to put in something I could play too. I couldn't remember the name of that game for like, twenty years, and it lived rent-free in my head, tormented me whenever I thought about it. Then I found it through emulation, played five minutes, and was like 'okay that's the game' and never played it again, with the intention of actually playing it again at some point. LOL
Faxanadu is so great. I also grinded for the Magic Shield and Death magic from the first shop way back in the day. The trick was to keep killing the winged boss that drops the mattock over and over and over and over again. Though I can't remember if I did so before or after getting the long sword to make the grinding a bit easier.
Fun fact...because of Faxanadu and Goonies 2, side scrolling action games with an emphasis on backtracking are called FaxanaGoons* *I may or may not be the only person that calls them that
I rented this game from Sun Coast Hobby; they were mostly RC planes and cars but had a small game rental section. Played the entire weekend, got absolutely nowhere, and loved it.
I can feel some people slowly dying every time you say “fax-anna-doo” and I can’t help but smile each time, I can almost hear the sadistic glee in your voice right after the irrefutable evidence from what is historically known to be the most source correct game adaptation ever. I’m saying this with no sarcasm at all, love it!
@childofcascadia lol I laugh at ‘em too 🤭 live translation, kids, it’s _ezpz_ lol you even get to _hear_ how it’s pronounced! Best thing since breathable air!
Spent countless hours on this game in the 80s. This is a pretty cool game. Was able to bypass many of the annoying jumps and backhits by using the wing boots.
Great video dude. I always wanted to play this one. I’d love to see you cover Battle for Olympus. I played it a ton as a kid, but I never was able to beat it. It a pretty cool game though, I had a lot of fun with it.
One of my favourite games of all time. Always a great experience to go back to it. Very atmospheric. Mandela effect moment: I had the false memory that the game Solstice was for the ZX Spectrum.
Constructive criticism: When you share the music, try to mix/master the volume better. I understand it has to be louder than when you were talking but it scared the crap out of me because of how loud it was :x That being said, loved your video. Huge fan of Faxanadu as a kid. So was nice trip down memory lane. :)
My aunt got this for me for my 10th birthday.. I was disappointed as hell considering the box art and the fact that I never really heard anything about it.. it turned out to be a decent game, I never got really far in though.. Rip Aunt Becky.
@@BigOleWords It's weird because I didn't think Faxanadu sold well, but it was in captain N so they were obviously pushing it pretty hard. I'd love to see what else Captain N tried to promote
This was definitely one of those games that I never would have discovered if video stores never rented Nintendo games because it didn't really have a recognizable name, but I've loved it ever since it's Zelda-esque box art convinced me to give it a try. Still, I understand that the cheap enemies and stiff platforming will likely make it a tough sell for anyone too young to remember the days when you could smoke in a key stop.
in Portuguese the X can also be read as "SH", and our A's are more "opened", like AH! So yeah, when I was young, I called it Fashanadu with all A's like AH :p
Oh I always thought it was pronounced Fa-Zanadoo because I knew the name Xanadu as that of the Olivia Newton John film and well known song and hearing her sing Xaaanaduuuuu so often, it just seemed natural to me that the Xanadu part of Faxanadu would be the same. By the way, the SF live action movie and the US made cartoon series both mispronounce Ryu so you're not to blame there (they also make the mistake of having Ryu be a bit player, in favour of the 'all-american' Guile). However the classic Street Fighter 2 anime movie pronounced it correctly even in the (excellent, particularly the music) english dub released in 1995.
I believe the characters on the Japanese box art says it’s spelled in Romaji as FaZaNaDou. It would be interesting if there were videos of Japanese speakers reading out how video game names should be pronounced compared to American mispronunciations for futon, karaoke, emoji, etc.
Since the game was developed and released first in Japan, ファザナドゥ(visible at 1:59), pronounced fah-ZAH-nah-du, is the _actually_ correct pronunciation, much to the apparent incredible irritation of a few average “facks-anne-uh-due” enjoyers.
Great review as always. One of my top games along with bionic commando, Zanac, gun.smoke, mm2 and guardian legend. I remember playing this a ton with friends in 89/90.
When this game came out I remember not being able to beat it. This was one of my all time favorite NES games. Thanks for the video. Brought back a lot or memories
Hi, first time viewer on your channel here. I really, really enjoyed the video. I have always heard of Faxanadu but never had the chance to give it a try. I have to say, the graphics are pretty darn good for a NES game ( the foggy level in particular), and seemed to incorporate some textures I didn’t see until Genesis games came around. Great job keeping the humor lively and understated, and keeping the video to a digestible length. I am looking forward to your next ones and am glad the TH-cam algorithm threw this one my way! Take care!
A game that I never played, but remember seeing the ads for it back in the day. I would give it a try for nostalgia sake, just because im a sucker for these realmy-adventure type 8 bit games.
I've been a fan of Solstice from back in the day, but I never played Faxanadu until my wife showed it to me. I'm so glad she did! It's a great game. Anyone on the fence - try it out!
Someone told my brother and I about this game in the 80’s. My brother wasn’t into it, so we never rented it. I remembered, purchased it when I was older, and I loved my decision.
This is definitely one I wish I played as a kid! Always loved these sort of explanation games even if I might not get too far. With all the praise it gets from NES lovers I am surprised I never came across it until later. For what I have played, I can see those complaints too. I just chalk it up to it being a NES game. All the difficulty and backtracking was just par for the course! I mean just try getting through Legacy of the Wizard for the first time without any guide. I use to rent it and play for hours without actually getting anywhere 😅 Anyways, absolutely love the channel! Always fun seeing what you come up with every week 😊
When I first tried Faxanadu as a kid, it was something I just couldn't really get into. Going back to it a couple years later though, man what a great game it turned out to be!
My brother and I saved our paper route and caddying money to buy a new Nintendo game back in the day. For some reason, we wanted to buy Robocop, but it was sold out. So I bought Faxanadu instead. Turned out to be a good purchase.
@BigOleWords its a great game for sure but your experience just sounds funner, mine was more frustration and struggle but i think thats why i like the game
A longtime favorite of mine! I could never resist action/adventure games that mix in RPG elements with a great atmosphere. There are certain particular things it does better than most games, like the feeling of each town being an oasis from a dangerous road, or feeling lost & confused in trunk/mist, and your character sprite changing and becoming more badass with better equipment. Amazing stuff overall, warts and all (bugs, translation issues, etc). Also, about the magic shield & death early on, you weren't really intended to grind for it. Instead, there's a town in Mist where a guy in a bar tells you to head back to Eolis, which brings you to that shop, where you should be able to buy the magic shield (and death magic, although you can buy it later too). When you come back and update your rank with the Guru, the NPC in the bar will give you free armor to compensate for giving the run-around. I did this on my last run, and it all worked out, with my rank & golds lining up with this sequence so well that it must've been intended. It's also nice to take a detour through Roots after being in the mists awhile.
🤓 Confidently wrong, lol The game was developed in Japan, so ファザナドゥ, visible at 1:59, is pronounced “fah-ZAH-nah-du”, is _actually_ correct. He dropped that mic onto his own head lol 🤓
Same here about the pronunciation. As a kid I thought it was "Fax-a-nadoo". I didn't play Faxanadu as a kid but I've played it as an adult. I suck at it but Faxanadu is a good game.
As the game was developed in Japan, the correct English pronunciation of the game’s name “ファザナドゥ” (visible at 1:59) is “fah-ZAH-nah-du”. Happy to help! 😉
I missed this one on release, but stumbled on it much later in my late 20s and was very impressed with it. Def enjoyed my second NES era, revisiting all those older titles and seeing how deep and well designed some of them were even in the face of a decades-long changed landscape,
I came here to see if you actually did your research on what series this game was connected to and i'm glad to see you did. Also.Did you know that series that it's connected to the dragon's Slayer series. From what I read on the internet anyway said it was the first action rpg that Zelda would later make popular. I was actually surprised when I did my research and found Out this game had ties to another series that was mainly released in japan. But we did get a few here like legacy of the wizard is one of the games in that series. And I believe the NES had one or 2 others from it as well but I forget what they are at the moment.
@BigOleWords It's sad we're gonna get more on this series Because what most people don't know about dragon slayer series. It is in vintage the action r p g that became popular in zelda. From what I've read, it's truly an iconic series.That woman came out of japan except for the two games we got here. Someone should do a deep dive in the series. Hint someone hint
@3:23 LOL I did the same thing. I love this game and talk about it to people from time to time. I also will mention the blinking eyes for every letter they typed too.
I thought I was the only one who likes this game. I really enjoy it! Even though I think the enemies are a bit unfair, but which NES game back then didn't have them?
I will never forget buying this game from Funcoland mail order. My stepfather who has passed away since, would sit and watch me play this game everyday! I came home from school one day and he had beaten half the game! after that we would take turns playing this game until I finished it first. My fondest memories of my stepfather sitting around playing Nintendo with me. When I hear the theme music for Faxanadu, It tears me up thinking about this.. One of the best games I played growing up.
Man that’s such a sweet memory!
Funcoland, now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time, a long time.
I rented it and was quickly frustrated and gave up. I've beat several games on NES and SNES, but never this one.
This was a game I played with my Dad too. We'd stay up late into the night questing through the world tree together. I remember staying up late on a Friday one time and reaching the mist world deep into the night. That music totally immersed you in that damp, mysterious land. It creeper me out to the point that I was looking over my shoulder at every shadow that moved in the dark living room, glad to have my Dad nearby, but reveling in the uneasy feelings the game stirred. We made it out of the mists to Daybreak, ironically as the real sun was rising outside and the light beneath our curtains turned from black to gray. I couldn't believe Dad had let me stay up all night! Wonderful memories.
Funcoland damn.
Faxanadu played a huge part in shaping my childhood love of fantasy games. My dad and I would play together on weekends, taking a couple of months to get through it due to how the mantras were so hard to copy correctly, and didn't even save your golds when you did put them in right. We did SO much grinding for money. Still, looking through the manual and seeing the cool sword-wielding knight in plate mail and then FINALLY getting to play as that guy was everything that young me wanted. Better games have certainly come around since, but every few years, I give Faxanadu another playthrough and I've loved it every time.
Had the exact same experience. My Dad and I bonded over video games, especially action RPGs, though at the time we called them "questing" games. Though he's a huge Zelda fan (way more than I am), Faxanadu was, and still is, one of our favourites to this day.
@@legionarybooks13 I love that--I've never heard them called questing games before, but that's such an easy thing to understand. And that's awesome that your dad's still a Zelda fan!
Love hearing stories like these. How important memories are made just playing with your dad or brother or friends.
It’s a side to gaming you don’t hear enough of.
Grrr, I had forgotten how annoying the mantras were to get right. It was that weird font.
Look at me, TH-cam. I am commenting on this video and therefore suggesting to your malevolent algorithm that other people may enjoy it.
May they hear your electronic prayers my friend!
I too have liked, commented, and subscribed, as I have been told this pleases the TH-cam gods.
The Algorithm be praised!
It might be working, I just got this video recommended
I recommend this video game I recommend this video the algorithm gods have made me 5 minutes of fame my name is Snoop Dogg no my name is Sean The gamer no my name is primordial ooze no my name is the aftermath that comes after a nuclear bomb 💣💥💥💥💣
Me too
Faxanadu is one of my favorite NES games!
Same!
Same!
Same here
Same!
I just replayed this last year. My brother and I first played this in 1990 and remember how fun yet unbelievably frustrating it was. What a great game and so unique!
This game is in my top five, along with Guardian Legend, Zanac, and MegaMan 1-2. You got it spot-on, that mist music sure put me in a wierd mood when I was a kid.
Solid games right there!
I was watching a friend playing Elden Ring and I noticed the color palette was very similar. The big tree also looked like the one from Faxanadu. This game is super fun and I love them aesthetic of it. I think I bought it for like 10$ at a thrift store.
Interesting!
12:00 Yeah, early Falcom loved to do that. Another infamous one is at the end of the first Ys. The second half of the game has you climb a huge 25-floor tower, but you hit a locked door near the top which requires a hidden item that you almost certainly missed... on one of the bottom floors.
And what's worse is that you're given no clue where it is at first, so you'll likely spend the next couple *hours* slowly working your way down, scouring every level, until you finally learn how to fetch it. And then you get to climb all the way back up again! Yay 80s gaming!
That sounds AWFUL!
Your sister had good taste in games! Ever thought about getting her on an episode and share some stories from the olden days and games?
Funny enough she barely remembers any of this. I think it made way more of an impression on me than my sister
She has great gaming taste
@@BigOleWordsI have an older cousin who filled a role of a big brother. I have all these highly detailed memories of things we did and played games etc and he doesn’t remember any of it that clearly either 😂 I think it’s more that we were young and learning things whereas they were just going through the motions.
I played this game when I was VERY young and ofc never beat it, but I remember it having a strange name, the intro sequence, the portrait animations, and the music, as mentioned many times on this video. About a year ago, at 32 years old, I had a "core memory unlocked" moment and it took me almost 1.5 hours to figure out what game this was.
Same! The music is what brought me back... to nothing but frustration! Lol, pretty sure i was way too young to figure out what to do in this one!
I bet that was satisfying to finally scratch that itch!
this game did scare me as a kid too, the music deeply enhances the experience
For sure
I used to love playing this game when it first came out. The mist level was so creepy it scared my cousin and I so bad we had to turn all the lights on in the house in order to grind through the level. It will always be one of my favorites. And thanks for bringing it up 😊
Right? So creepy!
I was in Highschool when this came out and I loved it. Nice to flashback to this. It’s weird how games we played bore into our memories with the music and visuals. Takes you back.
This one definitely stands out graphically and musically for sure
Everything with "fax" in the name was totally hip in the 80s like filofax and fax machine 😄
My pitch for new retro-baiting media.... Go Fax-a-Tron!
Str8 fax
I got Faxanadu & the soundtrack to Batman on cassette for Christmas in 1989. For the rest of winter break from school I was in my bedroom spending nearly all my waking hours with both! I loved Faxanadu, even with it's quirks and jank. I played through it a couple of years ago and had a blast. A couple of weeks back I watched the 1989 Batman movie again and while watching it thought to myself that I should revisit Faxanadu again sometime soon!
I like that combo!
I loved Faxanadu. I wish it would come out on the Switch.
I do remember one other bug is I learned after awhile to not get an item I think that was called a pendant. It was supposed to increase your attack power, but it actually decreased it.
Yeah that is a weird bug for sure
I have a lot of memories of this game. Still regret lending it out and never getting it back. Thanks for this video it was a good watch.
Man the old lend and lose was the worse back in the day.
😢@@BigOleWords oh, the feels. Be still, my heart.
I'll never not pronounce it "Fax-anna-do," I don't care if it's wrong. Some childhood habits stay with you for life, it's like muscle memory.
Damn right!
Agreed
That's definitely correct
Plus "FUH-ZANAH-DOO" sounds pretty lame.
I loved this game and for the longest time couldn't remember what it was called. Played dozens of (totally legally acquired) ROMs looking for it. I always appreciated the detail of the armor and weapons in this game, when most games were content with palette swaps.
Nice! Yeah I didn’t mention how the armor and whatnot changes as you upgrade. Big deal at the time
I love Faxanadu. It nailed the atmosphere of exploration in a mysterious and slightly alien world. It's also cool how the entire game is one big connected and logical semi open world without an overworld map.
Agreed. And yeah I really like the way the game progresses where it feels open world with lots of options but is definitely following a set path.
Fun fact! Faxanadu was one of the big inspirations for Hollow Knight, along with the anime movies A Wind Called Amnesia and Angel Egg.
Honestly wouldn’t have made that connection, but that’s cool!
Wild!! My sister loved that game too. She woke me up one night telling me she was going to collect the last piece of the stall. I got to witness her beating the game and it’s an awesome memory
Are you talking about Solstice?
the opening alone made me "Like" & "Subscribe and hit the bell icon" it made me unexpectedly laugh out loud.
Glad you liked it!
My best friend lived down the street and had this game. We were obsessed with it (until SMB3 came out), it being a "hidden gem" to an extent though gives it those special memories where it felt like we had our own little game no one else did.
I remember buying this game at Long's Drugs when it came out. I knew nothing about it at the time, but the box art intrigued me to buy it. Needless to say, I loved the game.
Siiiiiiiick sign, dude! I love it, thanks so much!
Solstice was a game my dad loved, but I hated for the sole reason of that death sound. It *haunted* me when I was young, absolutely scarred me. Faxanadu was a game I saw for about... five minutes or so, completely worn out during a road trip. Don't remember where we were, but there were two siblings, one my age and one younger, and that got popped in while I watched. I was mesmerized by the intro and first couple minutes of gameplay, but their mom mistook my enthrallment as boredom and told them to put in something I could play too. I couldn't remember the name of that game for like, twenty years, and it lived rent-free in my head, tormented me whenever I thought about it.
Then I found it through emulation, played five minutes, and was like 'okay that's the game' and never played it again, with the intention of actually playing it again at some point. LOL
Glad you liked it man! And yeah both these games scared the shit out of me as a young lad.
Such an underrated masterpiece! The story is great too. It's basically The Color from Space combined with Tolkien. Really awesome.
I was just reading about that Lovecraft story, good call!
Faxanadu is so great. I also grinded for the Magic Shield and Death magic from the first shop way back in the day. The trick was to keep killing the winged boss that drops the mattock over and over and over and over again. Though I can't remember if I did so before or after getting the long sword to make the grinding a bit easier.
Id assume before since the sword is after you use the mattock
I absolutely loved this game. Wish they had made more for the US market.
Fun fact...because of Faxanadu and Goonies 2, side scrolling action games with an emphasis on backtracking are called FaxanaGoons*
*I may or may not be the only person that calls them that
Hahaha I love Faxanagoons!
🤣🤣🤣🤣 This needs to be an actual thing
I'm setting up the Wikipedia page right now 🤩
you are one of my favorite gaming youtubers. i always enjoy your intro. 'check this shiiit oooouuut"
Hey thanks so much, glad you dig it!
Faxanadu atmosphere is so great!
Yeah it is!
I rented this game from Sun Coast Hobby; they were mostly RC planes and cars but had a small game rental section.
Played the entire weekend, got absolutely nowhere, and loved it.
That sounds like an average gameplay experience!
I can feel some people slowly dying every time you say “fax-anna-doo” and I can’t help but smile each time, I can almost hear the sadistic glee in your voice right after the irrefutable evidence from what is historically known to be the most source correct game adaptation ever. I’m saying this with no sarcasm at all, love it!
Who me?!? 🐣
Bite me.😆
Its ファザナドゥ. Not my fault if Muricans cant pronounce it right.
@childofcascadia lol I laugh at ‘em too 🤭 live translation, kids, it’s _ezpz_ lol you even get to _hear_ how it’s pronounced! Best thing since breathable air!
Faxanadu and Castlevania II Simon's Quest were my 2 favorite games on the NES. So well done!
Another game I’ll talk about soon!
Spent countless hours on this game in the 80s. This is a pretty cool game. Was able to bypass many of the annoying jumps and backhits by using the wing boots.
Especially if you know where items like that spawn, you can have a goldmine of easier options.
Been a while since I've commented or had time to watch, getting rid of some of my collection, but I'm glad to see you're still at it. Good video
Oh no! Slimming down or unloading?
Great video dude. I always wanted to play this one.
I’d love to see you cover Battle for Olympus. I played it a ton as a kid, but I never was able to beat it. It a pretty cool game though, I had a lot of fun with it.
I’ll get to it soon!
@@BigOleWords That brings a smile to my face. Looking forward to it.
I'm with you, I've always thought this is such a great game. Finished it back in the day. The atmosphere and art is pretty awesome!
One of my favourite games of all time. Always a great experience to go back to it. Very atmospheric. Mandela effect moment: I had the false memory that the game Solstice was for the ZX Spectrum.
It's definitely based on ZX Spectrum titles that use a similar isometric perspective.
@@BigOleWords Nice.
This and Zelda II were my jam back in the early 90s. Played them religiously.
Same!
Great video! I love the deep cut into Captain N at 2:00 to verify the canonical pronunciation. 👍
Gotta reference the historical texts!
One of my favorite games of all time. Loved it.
Constructive criticism: When you share the music, try to mix/master the volume better. I understand it has to be louder than when you were talking but it scared the crap out of me because of how loud it was :x
That being said, loved your video. Huge fan of Faxanadu as a kid. So was nice trip down memory lane. :)
My aunt got this for me for my 10th birthday.. I was disappointed as hell considering the box art and the fact that I never really heard anything about it.. it turned out to be a decent game, I never got really far in though.. Rip Aunt Becky.
Oh my god, I'd love to see you review some episodes of Captain N.
But man you're right I should!
@@BigOleWords It's weird because I didn't think Faxanadu sold well, but it was in captain N so they were obviously pushing it pretty hard. I'd love to see what else Captain N tried to promote
This was definitely one of those games that I never would have discovered if video stores never rented Nintendo games because it didn't really have a recognizable name, but I've loved it ever since it's Zelda-esque box art convinced me to give it a try. Still, I understand that the cheap enemies and stiff platforming will likely make it a tough sell for anyone too young to remember the days when you could smoke in a key stop.
I spent many a day bumming cigs in those key shops ;)
in Portuguese the X can also be read as "SH", and our A's are more "opened", like AH! So yeah, when I was young, I called it Fashanadu with all A's like AH :p
That’s the best name so far
Love your videos! I was born in 94 and missed practically every game you talk about on the channel. Keep retro alive! (Liked, commented, and subbed)
Oh damn, the PS2 was probably your NES then!
Oh I always thought it was pronounced Fa-Zanadoo because I knew the name Xanadu as that of the Olivia Newton John film and well known song and hearing her sing Xaaanaduuuuu so often, it just seemed natural to me that the Xanadu part of Faxanadu would be the same.
By the way, the SF live action movie and the US made cartoon series both mispronounce Ryu so you're not to blame there (they also make the mistake of having Ryu be a bit player, in favour of the 'all-american' Guile). However the classic Street Fighter 2 anime movie pronounced it correctly even in the (excellent, particularly the music) english dub released in 1995.
Love the og Street Fighter anime
I believe the characters on the Japanese box art says it’s spelled in Romaji as FaZaNaDou. It would be interesting if there were videos of Japanese speakers reading out how video game names should be pronounced compared to American mispronunciations for futon, karaoke, emoji, etc.
Since the game was developed and released first in Japan, ファザナドゥ(visible at 1:59), pronounced fah-ZAH-nah-du, is the _actually_ correct pronunciation, much to the apparent incredible irritation of a few average “facks-anne-uh-due” enjoyers.
Glad to have you back. Words for the Algorism. All Hail TH-cam.
Thanks bud!
Faxanadu, my first intro to the action RPG. loved it, even though i got literally nowhere in the game.
Took me years to make a real dent in it
@@BigOleWords ill have to see how my adult thumbs handle it now. great video James!
Great review as always. One of my top games along with bionic commando, Zanac, gun.smoke, mm2 and guardian legend. I remember playing this a ton with friends in 89/90.
My FAVOURITE Game as a Kid on the NES.... I even wrote a manual for it back in the Day with paintings
Whoa neat! Do you still have it?
@@BigOleWords Yes in TOP Condition 👌
When this game came out I remember not being able to beat it. This was one of my all time favorite NES games. Thanks for the video. Brought back a lot or memories
Hey glad you liked it!
Hi, first time viewer on your channel here. I really, really enjoyed the video. I have always heard of Faxanadu but never had the chance to give it a try. I have to say, the graphics are pretty darn good for a NES game ( the foggy level in particular), and seemed to incorporate some textures I didn’t see until Genesis games came around. Great job keeping the humor lively and understated, and keeping the video to a digestible length. I am looking forward to your next ones and am glad the TH-cam algorithm threw this one my way! Take care!
That’s kind of you to say, glad you liked it!
Thank you for playing.
It's you! Celebrity sighting y'all!
I love this game! I wish it was a bit longer and more polished, then I would rate it over Zelda 2, but it's easily in my top 5 NES games.
Oh man over Zelda 2? That’s a tough one
A game that I never played, but remember seeing the ads for it back in the day. I would give it a try for nostalgia sake, just because im a sucker for these realmy-adventure type 8 bit games.
You should, it’s very very good
This was one of the games my grandpa rented, liked, bought, and beat. Still fun to this day.
In my head I'm thinking of my super old grandpa, but man there are definitely 50 year old grandpas out there!
The original Elden Ring
I bought this game from a kid I knew and loved it to death.
I remember seeing this as a kid but never played it. Great video, thanks
I've been a fan of Solstice from back in the day, but I never played Faxanadu until my wife showed it to me. I'm so glad she did! It's a great game. Anyone on the fence - try it out!
That’s a good wife!
One of the best games ever. I rented this game so many times as a kid.
Someone told my brother and I about this game in the 80’s. My brother wasn’t into it, so we never rented it. I remembered, purchased it when I was older, and I loved my decision.
You chose wisely!
This is definitely one I wish I played as a kid! Always loved these sort of explanation games even if I might not get too far. With all the praise it gets from NES lovers I am surprised I never came across it until later. For what I have played, I can see those complaints too. I just chalk it up to it being a NES game. All the difficulty and backtracking was just par for the course! I mean just try getting through Legacy of the Wizard for the first time without any guide. I use to rent it and play for hours without actually getting anywhere 😅
Anyways, absolutely love the channel! Always fun seeing what you come up with every week 😊
Legacy is on a whole other level of frustration!
I like whistling the mist music now and then
Obviously to spook small children ;)
@@BigOleWordsoh yeah
This is a very underrated game. I wish it got a remake/re release
This game has some interesting things in it and in my opinion, it's 'almost very good.' but maybe someday I'll try again and like it more, who knows?
Almost very good is pretty right on
And omg Fazanahdoo I guess it makes sense … that’s gonna stick in my head with the whole Teetus or Tyduss.
When I first tried Faxanadu as a kid, it was something I just couldn't really get into. Going back to it a couple years later though, man what a great game it turned out to be!
Glad you stuck with it!
My brother and I saved our paper route and caddying money to buy a new Nintendo game back in the day. For some reason, we wanted to buy Robocop, but it was sold out. So I bought Faxanadu instead. Turned out to be a good purchase.
Whoever bought those Robocops did y'all a favor!
Your sister has great taste. I had both of these classic gems in my library as a kid and loved them both.
Sounds like you too had great taste!
Faxanadu is one of my favorite nes games. The music alone... Songs still randomly pop into my head and I haven't played the game in 5+ years.
And that’s a good thing!
i wish i saw it the same way you did as a kid when i was a kid
It definitely shapes my perspective on it now. Would I be so enthusiastic if I didn't play it as a kid...probably!
@BigOleWords its a great game for sure but your experience just sounds funner, mine was more frustration and struggle but i think thats why i like the game
A longtime favorite of mine! I could never resist action/adventure games that mix in RPG elements with a great atmosphere. There are certain particular things it does better than most games, like the feeling of each town being an oasis from a dangerous road, or feeling lost & confused in trunk/mist, and your character sprite changing and becoming more badass with better equipment. Amazing stuff overall, warts and all (bugs, translation issues, etc).
Also, about the magic shield & death early on, you weren't really intended to grind for it. Instead, there's a town in Mist where a guy in a bar tells you to head back to Eolis, which brings you to that shop, where you should be able to buy the magic shield (and death magic, although you can buy it later too). When you come back and update your rank with the Guru, the NPC in the bar will give you free armor to compensate for giving the run-around. I did this on my last run, and it all worked out, with my rank & golds lining up with this sequence so well that it must've been intended. It's also nice to take a detour through Roots after being in the mists awhile.
That’s right, in one of those stores you can buy the mattock which lets you backtrack. I just never had it in me to make the journey!
Excellent taste! I recently completed Faxanadu for the first time myself.
No easy task!
I've only played this a little bit but I've always wanted to go back to it. I bought it on my Wii, I miss the Virtual Console.
I feel like it’s still an affordable title these days. I hope so at least!
I love the mic drop on pronunciation 👏🏻
What a historical source I cited! :)
🤓 Confidently wrong, lol
The game was developed in Japan, so ファザナドゥ, visible at 1:59, is pronounced “fah-ZAH-nah-du”, is _actually_ correct. He dropped that mic onto his own head lol 🤓
Some of the best music and artwork to appear on NES. That password system, though ooph.
Agreed on all fronts
Gosh, that label though. Nostalgia just from the style of it. Classy and simplistic... yet evocative.
Same here about the pronunciation. As a kid I thought it was "Fax-a-nadoo". I didn't play Faxanadu as a kid but I've played it as an adult. I suck at it but Faxanadu is a good game.
It definitely takes some patience and persistence
Fax-AN-uh-doo is definitely correct in English. (You were probably saying Ryu and Gaiden wrong though)
As the game was developed in Japan, the correct English pronunciation of the game’s name “ファザナドゥ” (visible at 1:59) is “fah-ZAH-nah-du”. Happy to help! 😉
I missed this one on release, but stumbled on it much later in my late 20s and was very impressed with it. Def enjoyed my second NES era, revisiting all those older titles and seeing how deep and well designed some of them were even in the face of a decades-long changed landscape,
This is exactly the kind of stuff I want YT’s algorithm sending my way. What a pleasant video; an easy subscribe. 🤙🏻
Glad you dig it!
Just wanted to say great video as always. Looking forward to more.
Hey thanks!
I came here to see if you actually did your research on what series this game was connected to and i'm glad to see you did. Also.Did you know that series that it's connected to the dragon's Slayer series.
From what I read on the internet anyway said it was the first action rpg that Zelda would later make popular.
I was actually surprised when I did my research and found Out this game had ties to another series that was mainly released in japan. But we did get a few here like legacy of the wizard is one of the games in that series. And I believe the NES had one or 2 others from it as well but I forget what they are at the moment.
The Famicom did get a few but the NES only got Legacy and Fax. I’d love to try some of the other entries though!
@BigOleWords It's sad we're gonna get more on this series Because what most people don't know about dragon slayer series.
It is in vintage the action r p g that became popular in zelda. From what I've read, it's truly an iconic series.That woman came out of japan except for the two games we got here. Someone should do a deep dive in the series. Hint someone hint
@3:23 LOL I did the same thing. I love this game and talk about it to people from time to time. I also will mention the blinking eyes for every letter they typed too.
Getting the shield early is a better deal than getting that magic early
I havent played this game just abit familiar with it. But man good job on capturing the vibe with how you described it.
Hey thanks so much!
Looks like a fun game. I also like the way you did the voiceover.
Hey thanks so much!
Really enjoyed all of the member berries man. Thank u
I got both Faxanadu and Zelda 2 for the same christmas. I too have a type.
Throw in some Battle of Olympus and you’ve really got a type!
YES! This has to be my favorite NES game. And yes I grinded for an hour to buy the magic shield and death spell, AND IT WAS WORTH IT haha
Gotta do it at least once!
I'd be interested in seeing a remake with quality of life fixes and enhanced pixel art...
Easily in my top 10 games of all time. No question. I still play this game to this day. Great video.
0:42
I had no idea Faxanadu was a fantasy expiration game.
Is that what I said or what the subtitles said?
This game was so difficult as a kid, but I eventually did complete it.
Glad to see this game getting some love. One of my all-time NES faves. Still have it in the original box!
I thought I was the only one who likes this game. I really enjoy it! Even though I think the enemies are a bit unfair, but which NES game back then didn't have them?
Too true!