Role-playing video game
Typically action RPGs feature each player directly controlling a single character in real time, and feature a strong focus on combat and action with plot and character interaction kept to a minimum. Early action RPGs tended to follow the template set by 1980s Nihon Falcom titles such as the "Dragon Slayer" and "Ys" series, which feature hack and slash combat where the player character's movements and actions are controlled directly, using a keyboard or game controller, rather than using menus. This formula was refined by the action-adventure game, "The Legend of Zelda" (1986), which set the template used by many subsequent action RPGs, including innovations such as an open world, nonlinear gameplay, battery backup saving, and an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. The game was largely responsible for the surge of action-oriented RPGs released since the late 1980s, both in Japan and North America. "The Legend of Zelda" series would continue to exert an influence on the transition of both console and computer RPGs from stat-heavy, turn-based combat towards real-time action combat in the following decades.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
The gameplay of "A Link to the Past" has changed very little from the original 1991 release; only slight modifications have been made. The game is an overhead adventure game, with the primary means of fighting and defending being a sword and shield. The sword can do a variety of things, including a sword spin, an energy projectile, and a secret technique introduced in the Game Boy Advance version called the Hurricane Spin. Link collects a variety of different equipment throughout his adventure, featuring series mainstay items such as bombs, a bow, the boomerang, and a lamp. It also introduces the Hookshot, the Magic Mirror, and the Pegasus Boots. Link's health is measured in heart containers, which can be replenished by collecting smaller hearts from enemies and bushes. Link also has a magic meter from which some of his items derive power; for example, the Lamp uses some magic meter to light torches. There are two kinds of area – the overworld and the dungeons. The overworld has varying locations, including buildings that house these several dungeons. These dungeons have a set of objectives and items. Dungeons feature a number of keys, one single big key, a dungeon item, a compass, and a dungeon map. The overworld changes drastically when players enter the Dark World, a distorted alternate version of the original overworld. Players may go back and forth using both the Magic Mirror, which allows access to the Light World from the Dark World, and portals scattered across both worlds.