Faxanadu
Reviewed by Nik Wenck
In the wonderful days of the eight bit wonder "Nintendo" when the graphics
were the best anyone had ever seen, the games that had to do with mythical
characters that bonked brick ruled the gaming world, most RPG's were overlooked.
Faxanadu is a wonderfully made game that mixes RPG with great action, and in
my opinion, was a great deal more fun that Mario Bros. and Kirby games. It took
intelligence, but was not an overly confusing game.(you know, the ones with the
impossibly hard puzzles, that cease to be fun after the millionth time you fail)
It took me a couple of months to beat, and when I got done, I was ready to play
it again to see what secrets I had overlooked.
Graphics 8 out of 10
All Nintendo graphics seem invariably cheesy now, but at the time, Faxanadu
broke new ground. As all you RPG fans know, a good role playing game does not
need to have amazing graphics. Even so, this game went the extra step by mixing
beautiful graphics with excellent game play to make my ultimate RPG experience.
I have played many RPGs over the years, and even Quest 64, but this beat them all.
Music and Sound 10 out of 10
Most Nintendo music at the time, made me want to take a sledge hammer to the
system and were enough to ruin a perfectly good game. Not this. After long hours
of playing, I never found myself getting sick of the catchy music. It compares to
the famous Zelda 1. I never would have thought a game that long could keep your
interest as far as music goes, but with each different area, there is a different
tune. i.e. in a later part of the game, there is a level where it is nite all the time,
and mist is always swirling around you. The eerie music matches the scene
perfectly and I must tell you it gives me the shivers even thinking about it.
Game Challenge 10 out of 10
As I said before, I consider the programer geniuses for making the challenge
factor in this game difficult, yet very enjoyable. This does not mean you will go
through this game in a day, but will enjoy trying to figure out the puzzle for each
new level instead of dreading what you will have to do next, for example, instead
of fighting a near impossible monster to get a ruby for prince stupid, you have to
explore the area and ask around for clues that may help you FIND the ruby(i.e. a
character tells you about a secret passage and in the passage you will find the gem).
Game Play-Fun 10 out of 10
As you may have noticed, I absolutely love this game. It is a tie for my favorite
with the original Zelda. It is an RPG, and I love RPGs, but it has the added adventure
element which up until Faxanadu, had never been heard of. The almost unlimited
number of different weapons, armor, and magic you can obtain makes this game
the ultimate RPG experience, along with the interesting towns and graphics that
are amazing for Nintendo graphics, it is one of the best games of all time, and
when I say all time, I mean not just for Nintendo, I mean for any system. Anyone
who has not played this game, should buy a Nintendo and make one of the best
investments of your gaming career.
Replayability 10 out of 10
After I finally beat the game, I reset it after the credits were over, and started
the game again to find all the secrets that I had missed, and no joke, there were
about 50 things that I found that I had never even guessed would be in the game,
that made the game even better. I have played the whole game through at least 4
times and I am told that there are still many secrets I have not uncovered. This
game is still the best after you beat it 4 times, believe me!!
Game Value 10 out of 10
I got this game for around thirty bucks and for the amount of time i spent playing
it, it was worth about three times that.....no joke. I would pay it again and plan to
(since I got rid of my old Nintendo for about three years and all the games went
with it. I just got a new one, and I plan to buy the game as soon as I find it.)
Overall 10 out of 10
I cant say enough how cool this game is. Buy it.......NOW. Trust me, you wont regret
it a bit. THE BEST GAME EVER MADE!!!!!!