Xanadu (video game)

Xanadu
MSX cover art
Developer(s)Nihon Falcom
Publisher(s)Nihon Falcom
Designer(s)Yoshio Kiya[2]
Composer(s)Toshiya Takahashi (PC‑8801)
Yuzo Koshiro (Scenario II)
Takahito Abe (Scenario II)
SeriesDragon Slayer
Platform(s)PC-8801, X1, PC-8001, PC-9801, MSX2, MSX, FM-7, FM-77, Sega Saturn, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePC-8801
  • JP: 1986 (Scenario II)
X1
  • JP: November 3, 1985
PC-8001
  • JP: November 21, 1985
  • JP: 1986 (Scenario II)
PC-9801
  • JP: November 21, 1985
FM-7
  • JP: January 7, 1986
FM-77
  • JP: January 7, 1986
MSX2
  • JP: April 1987
MSX
  • JP: November 6, 1987
Microsoft Windows
  • JP: December 4, 1998
  • JP: August 30, 2002
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

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 entry 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 little relation with each other.

Xanadu set a sales record for computer games in Japan, with over 400,000 copies sold there in 1985.[3] It was one of the foundations of the role-playing genre, particularly the action role-playing 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,[3] and platform game elements combined with the dungeon crawl gameplay of its predecessor.[4][5] 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 is essential for keeping the player character alive, and magic used to attack enemies from a distance.[5]

The following year saw the release of Xanadu Scenario II,[6] an early example of an expansion pack.[4][6] The game spawned the Xanadu series, a spin-off from the Dragon Slayer franchise.

  1. ^ 既存のヌルいRPGなんてやってらんねー, ITmedia +D Games, 2005/10/25: "「XANADU」. 今や、“パソコン”といえばPC ... そんな偉大なるタイトル「XANADU」のPC-8801mkIISR版が発売されたのが、1985年の10月27日。"
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference gamasutra_ds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "Xanadu Next home page". Retrieved 2008-09-08. (Translation)
  4. ^ a b Kalata, Kurt. "Xanadu". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  5. ^ a b Falcom Classics Archived 2015-03-26 at the Wayback Machine, GameSetWatch, July 12, 2006
  6. ^ a b Kevin Gifford (June 3, 2010). "Xanadu Scenario II". MagWeasel.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2011-03-25.