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.
Platform game
"Knight Lore", an isometric sequel to "Sabre Wulf", helped to establish the conventions of early isometric platformers. This formula would be repeated in later games like "Head Over Heels", and "Monster Max". These games were generally heavily focused on exploring indoor environments, usually a series of small rooms connected by doors, and have distinct adventure and puzzle elements. Japanese developers blended this gameplay style with that of Japanese action-adventure games like "The Legend of Zelda" to create games like "Land Stalker" and "Light Crusader". While these games are more generally classified as action adventures, they are also isometric platformers and an evolution of earlier conventions in the genre. This influence would later travel to Europe with Adeline Software's sprawling epic "Little Big Adventure", which blended RPG, adventure, and isometric platforming elements.