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Game » consists of 6 releases. Released Nov 03, 1985
The third game in the Ys series developed by Nihon Falcom that introduced a new side-scrolling perspective and allowed the player to directly control Adol's ability to attack and jump for the first time.
The Scheme is an action RPG released by Bothtec (later known as Quest) for the PC-88 in 1988. It features Metroidvania-style open-world exploration, side-scrolling run & gun shooter combat, and chiptune music by Yuzo Koshiro.
Side-scrolling, Metroidvania-style, action RPG, released by System Sacom in 1987.
Action-adventure-RPG released in 1987 by Konami only in Japan. It features both side-scrolling and "3D" (third-person, behind-the-shoulder) segments, open-world exploration, and hack & slash combat, including the earliest third-person hack & slash combat.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the second entry in the ground-breaking Zelda franchise. This controversial follow-up ditches the original's top-down perspective for 2D side-scrolling exploration and combat. The 2D towns, dungeons and combat arenas are tied together by a top-down overworld.
Wonder Boy is back and trouble has brewed in Monster Land. This is the second in the Wonder Boy series, developed by Westone and published for many consoles and home computers, occasionally with whole new graphics.
Woody Poco is a side-scrolling adventure platformer by dB-soft, originally for home computers and later adapted for the Famicom. It was never released outside of Japan.
An early role-playing shooter released by Arsys Software for the PC-88, PC-98 and FM-7 computers in 1986 and ported to MS-DOS by Brøderbund. An early RPG-shooter hybrid, it was one of the first computer games with polygonal 3D environments, along with full 360-degree third-person exploration for indoor environments.
Don the Power Suit of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran as she recaptures the dangerous Metroid species from the evil Space Pirates. Released by Nintendo in 1986, this game introduced the "Metroidvania" style of open-world gameplay on consoles.
Brain Breaker is an epic open-world platform-adventure for the Sharp X1 Japanese home computer. It was an early Metroidvania-style game, predating both Metroid and Castlevania. It was designed by Hiroshi Ishikawa and published by Enix in 1985.
Tritorn is an action RPG developed by Sein Soft and released in 1985. It was one of the first action RPGs, improving on Dragon Slayer and Hydlide with the use of an action button to attack enemies, and one of the first Metroidvania-style games.
An early 3D, first-person, role-playing shooter, released by Bullet-Proof Software in 1985. Ahead of its time, it was an early example of both the Action-RPG and FPS genres.
The Screamer is a 1985 cyberpunk-horror action RPG taking place in a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi setting. It was released by Magical Zoo, for the PC-8801 in 1985 and for the PC-9801 and X1 in 1986. An English fan translation was released in January 2015.
Released in 1984, Hydlide was the first open-world action RPG. It was the first on-foot, fully-scaled, open-world game, and introduced innovations such as a health-regeneration mechanic. It influenced the action RPG genre as well as The Legend of Zelda franchise.
One of the first action RPGs, released in 1984. It was also the first fully-scaled open-world video game.
Players climb the tower, defeat Druaga and rescue Princess Ki in this maze-style, action role-playing game. Originally released by Namco for arcades in 1984, its combination of hack & slash combat and RPG elements laid the foundations for the action RPG genre.
Designed by Yoshio Kiya and released by Nihon Falcom in 1983, this was possibly the first action RPG. It introduced real-time combat, sci-fi elements, a persistent open world with day-night cycle, and survival mechanics. This was a precursor to Falcom's seminal action RPG franchise, Dragon Slayer.
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