Faxanadu (1987)

Faxanadu (ファザナドゥ, Fazanadu) is an action role-playing platform-adventure video game for the Family Computer (Famicom) and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The name was licensed by computer game developer Nihon Falcom ("Falcom") and was developed and released in Japan by Hudson Soft in 1987. In 1989, Nintendo of America released the game in the United States as a first-party title under license from Hudson Soft. Nintendo also released the game to the European market in 1990.
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 follows the story of an unnamed traveler who returns to his home town, which is part of a massive inhabited tree, only to find it ruined and abandoned because the tree's water source has stopped and is tasked with finding out the cause and saving the tree.
The game uses typical sidecrolling and platforming gameplay. However, the game also employs various elements that classify it as a role-playing video game including its expansive story and medieval setting. Along with that, the game has graphics that were unique compared to other games at the time. The game was relatively unknown and fell below the radar of many gamers at the time of its release. In spite of this, Faxanadu received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with reviewers calling it better than The Legend of Zelda and Castlevania and was eventually released on Wii virtual console in 2010 and 2011.