The Legend of Zelda (video game)
"The Legend of Zelda" is considered a spiritual forerunner of the modern role-playing video game (RPG) genre. Though it is often not considered part of the genre since it lacked key RPG mechanics such as experience points, it had many features in common with RPGs and served as the template for the action role-playing game genre. The game's fantasy setting, musical style and action-adventure gameplay were adopted by many RPGs. Its commercial success helped lay the groundwork for involved, non-linear games in fantasy settings, such as those found in successful RPGs, including "Crystalis", "Soul Blazer", Square's "Seiken Densetsu" series, "Alundra", and "Brave Fencer Musashi". The popularity of the game also spawned several clones trying to emulate the game.
The Legend of Zelda
At the 2006 Game Developers Conference, a trailer for "" for the Nintendo DS was shown. It revealed traditional top-down "Zelda" gameplay optimised for the DS' features, with a cel-shaded 3d graphical style similar to "The Wind Waker". At E3 2006, Nintendo confirmed the game's status as a direct sequel to "The Wind Waker", and released an extensive playable demo, including a multiplayer mode with "capture the flag" elements. "Phantom Hourglass" was released on June 23, 2007, in Japan, October 1, 2007, in North America and October 19, 2007, in Europe.