Time Extension Traces Action-Adventures Before Zelda
Time Extension has published a feature examining what Japanese action-adventure games looked like before The Legend of Zelda arrived on 21st February 1986. The piece argues that pinpointing a genre's true origin is difficult, since earlier precedents can usually be found with enough research. It notes that action-adventures developed alongside, and overlapping with, traditional turn-based RPGs in Japan, at a time when the RPG itself was not yet a clearly defined category there. The feature looks at titles from before Zelda's release to trace how the genre took shape. via timeextension.com
