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: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
"Four Swords" is the multiplayer portion of the cartridge. "Four Swords" features gameplay similar to "A Link to the Past", with a focus on multi-player; in it, two to four players must cooperatively work through a series of puzzle-laden dungeons, while competing to collect rupees. The player with the most rupees at the end of a level wins a special prize, though all rupees are shared together in the long run. All players are given respective colors – player one is green, player two is red, player three is blue, and player four is purple. Once all players are connected, player one chooses one of the four stages available to play on. All dungeons are randomized before play. The dungeons have three levels to them, with a portal at the end of each level; the first to reach it will be rewarded with a Heart Container, an item that increases the player's health meter. The third level is not a traditional dungeon, but rather a boss battle. Once defeated, they will return to the hub area.