Action role-playing game
An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure, "The Legend of Zelda", which served as the template for many future action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as "Dragon Slayer" and "Hydlide," which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, "The Legend of Zelda" featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay, and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
The gameplay of "Oracle of Seasons" and "Ages" is similar to that of "", copying basic controls, graphics, and sounds from the Game Boy title. Like most "The Legend of Zelda" titles, exploration and combat take place from an overhead perspective. Link uses a sword for his primary attack, complemented by secondary weapons and items. Basic items, such as bombs and a boomerang, are common to both games. Some new items are exclusive to one game, usually with a counterpart in the other, with similar uses (e.g. the slingshot in "Seasons" and the seed shooter in "Ages" both shoot seeds, while the magnetic gloves in "Seasons" and the switch hook in "Ages" are used to access otherwise unreachable areas via special targets). Unlike most "Zelda" titles, a sword and shield is not always equipped when the player possesses them; they can be assigned like any other item into either of two available slots. Most of each of the games is spent finding the eight Essences (Essences of Nature in "Seasons" and Essences of Time in "Ages"), each hidden in a dungeon—a large, usually underground, area containing enemies and puzzles. Each dungeon culminates with a boss that guards the Essence.