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lead=yes is an action role-playing Platform game video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The name was licensed by computer game developer Falcom and was developed and released in Japan by Hudson Soft for the Famicom in 1987. Nintendo released the game in the United States and Europe as a first-party title under license from Hudson Soft.
Faxanadu is a spin-off or side-story of Xanadu, which is the second installment of Falcom's long-running RPG series, Dragon Slayer. The title Faxanadu is a portmanteau formed from the names Famicom and Xanadu.
The game uses side-scrolling and platforming gameplay, while employing role-playing elements with an expansive story and medieval setting.
As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Elves and Dwarves lived in harmony among the World tree until The Evil One emerged from a fallen meteorite. The Evil One then transformed the Dwarves into monsters against their will and made them hostile towards the Elves. The Dwarf King, Grieve, swallowed his magical sword before he was transformed, hiding it in his own body to prevent The Evil One from acquiring it. It is only with this sword that The Evil One can be destroyed.
His journey takes him to four overworld areas: the tree's buttress, the inside of the trunk, the tree's branches and finally the Dwarves' mountain stronghold.
The limits of physical damage the hero can sustain from enemies is tracked by a life bar, and the magical power he can exert is tracked by a magic point. These are listed on the top of the screen along with total experience, gold amount, time (for items with a timed duration), and the currently held item.
When the hero defeats an enemy, it usually leaves behind gold or life-giving bread. The hero also gains a set amount of experience. Experience points help increase the hero's rank. Occasionally, an enemy will also drop an item; some activate specific effects when touched, while others may be stored for later use.
The game utilizes a password system. Passwords, or "mantras" as they are known in the game, can be obtained from church-dwelling . Gurus also bestow ranks to the hero when he meets certain experience totals; these determine the amounts of experience and gold a player will possess upon resuming a game via password.
Due to its use of statistics, reliance on story, thematic basis upon medieval fantasy, and provision of interactive NPCs, many observers have classified Faxanadu as a role-playing video game.
The game world is featured in two episodes of Season 2 (1990–1991) of the Nintendo-based, Saturday morning cartoon series, . They are "The Feud of Faxanadu" and "Germ Wars". The Elven King is named Melvis and looks and sounds like Elvis Presley for his first appearance; the voice was changed in the latter episode. The Dwarf King is not featured in the series and is replaced by Queen Dwarfine.
The game was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2010 and 2011.
Marcel van Duyn of Nintendo Life gave the game an 8 out of 10, saying it is a surprisingly fun game and an absolutely essential purchase for those who like RPGs, but he criticized the password system for western audiences, and was grateful the Virtual Console release eliminates that feature. Retro Gamer listed the game as the 16th best game for the NES, saying it is a "forgotten gem" of the system's library. IGN listed the game as the 36th best NES game, calling it one of the best and least-known Nintendo-published adventures.
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