Faxanadu Brings Long Mantras To Virtual Console

One of the finer action RPGs originally released for the NES is now available as a Virtual Console download. Faxanadu puts players into the winged boots of a nameless hero who climbs (sometimes flies) up the World Tree and fights dwarves that were transformed into monsters.

You can get an edge over the one-eyed hopping creatures if you grind early. The second store in the game sells a Magic Shield (the third best shield in the game) and the powerful Death spell. Farm enough gold and you can defeat that dragon on the right with three shots of slow moving spiked spells.

Once you earn these two powerful items head to a Guru for your mantra, a long alphanumeric string you can use to restore your game. I suppose that makes the 500 Wii Points ($5) game double as a secure password generator. Ah, saved games are convenient.