History of Xanadu (1985-2017) - Video Game History
306Evolution of all Xanadu games from 1985-2017!
Xanadu (ザナドゥ? Zanadu), also known as Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II, is an action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom and released in 1985 for the PC-8801, X1, PC-8001, PC-9801, FM-7 and MSX computers. Enhanced remakes were later released for the Sega Saturn, PC-9801 and Windows platforms. It is the second in the Dragon Slayer series, preceded by Dragon Slayer and followed by Dragon Slayer Jr: Romancia, which, as most games in the Dragon Slayer series, have very little relation with each other.
Xanadu is notable for several reasons, including its sales record for computer games in Japan with over 400,000 copies sold there in 1985. It was also one of the foundations of the RPG genre, particularly the action RPG subgenre, featuring real-time action combat combined with full-fledged character statistics, innovative gameplay systems such as the Karma meter and individual experience for equipped items, and platform game elements combined with the dungeon crawl gameplay of its predecessor. It also had towns to explore and introduced equipment that change the player character's visible appearance, food that is consumed slowly over time and essential for keeping the player character alive, and magic used to attack enemies from a distance. The following year saw the release of Xanadu Scenario II, an early example of an expansion pack.
Xanadu has a large set of followups, despite it being technically a sequel itself to Dragon Slayer.
Games included in video:
Xanadu
Xanadu Scenario II
Faxanadu
Revival Xanadu
Revival Xanadu II Remix
Falcom Classics
Xanadu Next
Tokyo Xanadu
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
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