Battle of Olympus

A side-scrolling action-adventure game with rpg elements in the same style as Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and similar style to Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. Based on Greek mythology and set in ancient Greece.

NES

Faxanadu

Another side-scrolling action-adventure-rpg with solid gameplay and a memorable soundtrack. As a side adventure of Falcom's famous Legend of Xanadu series, this puts you in the role of a hero whose quest is to explore the depths of the World Tree and rid the demons within.

Magic of Scheherazade

An overhead action-adventure-rpg set in an Arabian style fantasy world. One of the interesting features of this one was the ability to choose different classes that affected the play style of your character.

Willow

An overhead action-adventure-rpg based on Lucasarts' Willow comic and film. The events are a bit different as Willow is the main character doing the fighting in place of Madmartigan.

 

 

Star Tropics I & II

An overhead-view sword action-adventure that is very similar to Zelda in respect to battles and puzzle solving dungeons. These were excellent and very challenging games that most Zelda fans would enjoy.

 

Neutopia I & II

Most people refer to the Neutopia series as a Zelda clone and rightly so as the gameplay, puzzle solving, and item usage is pretty much exactlly the same as the original Legend of Zelda. However, with that being said, these were very fun and extremely challenging games.

A fan project that is currently designing a third Neutopia game to finish off the trilogy the series was originally intended to be is currently being developed at the Frozen Utopia online community.

Turbo Grafx 16

Golden Axe Warrior

Another very heavily influcenced Zelda clone that is loosly based on Sega's Golden Axe series. This title while containing many Zelda gameplay elements offered a nice array of weapons at the hero's disposal.

Crusader of Centy/Soleil/Ragnacënty

An overhead action-adventure game similar in style to Zelda III: A Link to the Past.

 

Soul Blazer

The first of three highly praised action-adventure games developed by Enix for the Super Nintendo. Often thought of as a trilogy, however these games did not have any character or plot connection between them. Each of these games was very similar to the Zelda franchise, but a bit more creative in themes.

Illusion of Gaia

The second game in this Enix action-adventure trilogy focusing on the theme of unlocking the secrets of the "Wonders of the Ancient World". This game in particular had a very similar layout and puzzle structure to that of the Zelda series.

Terranigma

The third and final game in the Enix action-adventure trilogy that was only released in Japan and Europe because the theme of the game, "Reincarnation and the Restoration/Creation of Human Life on World Continents" were considered too controversal for the American game industry to handle. Which was a shame because it was an incredible game and it probably would have sold well. Fortunately for us, in this day and age gamers can play it using an emulator just fine.

Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu series)

An excellent action-adventure-rpg series with wonderful gameplay, beautiful visuals and music.

Gamers in America and Europe probably got into the "Mana" series with this title for the SNES, but it was actually the second game in the series which was titled, Seiken Densetsu II, in Japan. The first Seiken Densetsu game was originally a Gameboy game that was released in America under the cart name, "Final Fantasy Adventure", which had a title screen featuring the name "Mystic Quest". Seiken Densetsu III or The sequel to Secret of Mana, commonly referrenced as "Secret of Mana 2" was never released officially outside of Japan but due to the emulation scene was finally translated for English-speaking gamers to enjoy. The fourth game was called Legend of Mana and had a worldwide release and Sword of Mana, which was a remake of the first Seiken Densetsu game for the GBA was released also worldwide.

Since then there have been two more mana games, Children of Mana (currently only in Japanese) and a new Mana game being developed for the next gen consoles titled "Dawn of Mana".

Secret of Evermore

This game was not part of the mana series at all, even though the gameplay was virtually the same as the mana series. Secret of Evermore was actually created by an American branch of Squaresoft and did an excellent job of confusing the heck out of everyone who thought that they were getting a sequal to Secret of Mana. Unfortunately for Square, this game was not recieved well most likey due to the name they chose to release it under. But confusion aside, those who actually gave this game a chance were more than likely pretty impressed with the originality of the combat system dealing with alchemy magic, the different themed worlds visted, and having a cool dog sidekick that was helpful in battle and in sniffing out the Alchemy Magic recipe ingredients. Personally I thought this was an incredible game that was highly original and worthy of any one's time that enjoys this type of genre.

Lagoon

Another overhead action-adventure title in a similar design to Zelda. Unfortunately I never really got into it simply because I could not get used to the length of the sword when battling enemies. Perhaps I'll try it again one of these days.

King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table

This overhead action-adventure title was based on an early '90's cartoon by the same name. This cartoon was a silly concept in that in order to defeat their foe, Queen Morgana, the REAL King Arthur and his knights were replaced by members of a modern day football team. The football team members fall into their roles as knights of the round table and do battle with Morgana's rediculously cheesy army in time to come back to Castle Camelot and toss the old football around. Sounds like a pretty lame story? Well it most assuredly was, but kids will watch anything... and well I um, was one of those kids. Anyhow, the game put all joking aside and made for an incredibly serious and challenging Zelda style game that led to a conclusion of the tv series plotline.

Legend of Xanadu/ Xanadu Next

The Xanadu series is another revered title from Falcom, the developers of the Ys series. While part of a much larger series known as "Dragon Slayer" and "Legend of Heroes", the Xanadu games are the only Action-Adventure-RPG from that particular series. A spinoff of the Xanadu series for the NES titled Faxanadu is also part of this series. (Fa (Famicom) xanadu).

Alundra

Regarded as one of the best action-adventure titles to grace the Playstation, Alundra was a very interesting and challenging game that had gameplay and puzzle structures very similar to Zelda. Given these elements and the ability that Alundra could enter the dreams and nightmares of the townsfolk that are being terrorized by demons, this made for an incredibly original adventure. The puzzles and battles in the game were amazingly hard and the game's story itself was extremely dark. If you enjoy Zelda, but have never heard about this game, you really ought to try and find it.

There was a sequel to Alundra, named Alundra 2, however it was not the same kind of gameplay as the original and had no bearing on the any of the characters or storyline of the original Alundra.

Gunman's Proof

This title was a bit of a cross between a Zelda game meets Fray In Magical Adventure with comedy elements similar to that of the Mother series (Earthbound).

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

The first of the Legacy of Kain series games, which happened to be the only one that had a overhead style sword-slashing gameplay similar to that of the Zelda series and later Xak series. Full of puzzles, challenge and wonderful dialogue from voice actor Simon Templeman (Kain).

Popful Mail

A fun side-scrolling action-adventure title from Famcom, the developers of the Ys series.

PC-Engine, Sega-CD

Legend of Valkyrie

An overhead action-adventure title that is very similar to Fray in Magical Adventure.

Magic Knights Rayearth

A very fun Zelda-ish overhead view action adventure game featuring the three heroines from the popular anime/manga series by the same name.

Shining Wisdom

A spinoff of Sega's long running Shining Force series in the style of an overhead action-adventure-rpg in a style similar to Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Gauntlet Series

One might say that this is the grandfather of various dungeon crawler style action-adventure-rpg game series. Gauntlet allowed the player to choose multiple character classes and take them through many different dungeon levels fighting monsters and unlocking doors and solving puzzles similar to the Zelda series style. Over time newer versions and titles of this series have been created and this has become quite a popular multi-player arcade/console game franchise.

Dungeon Explorer / Crystal Beans

A very fun overhead action-adventure-rpg dungeon crawler series that was similar to the style of the later Gauntlet series and that of Zelda. "Crystal Beans from Dungeon Explorer" was a spinoff of the Dungeon Explorer series for the Super Famicom.

Brandish Series

An overhead action-adventure-rpg that was also a dungeon crawler like Gauntlet and Dungeon Explorer, but with a bit of a wizardry four directional camera-pivoting style that I personally found rather frustrating. However, this those who like this series really enjoy it. The first two games were released for the SNES as well as the PC-9801. The third and final game in the series was released only on the PC-9801.

The Granstream Saga

An overhead Zelda style action-adventure for the Playstation. Honestly the game was very repetative and just when you think the story was getting somewhere, some random yahoo jumps out at the end of the game for the classic, "Hi! I'll be your last boss of the evening."

Robin Hood: Prince of Theives

An overhead Zelda style action-adventure game based on the the film by the same name.

NES

Chronicle of Radia War

An overhead action-adventure-rpg that allows you to have multiple party members and a base of operations where you can recruit more members and choose from a character bank. At the time of battle, you and your party members fight on the spot in a battle system similar to both Zelda and Star Ocean.

Exile I & II

A side-scrolling action-adventure-rpg series that takes place in a Middle-Eastern fantasy setting.

E.V.O. The Search for Eden

A fun side-scrolling action-adventure developed by Enix with rpg elements where you start off as a fish and through Darwin's theory of evolution, expend experience points to evolve into other types of creatures as you move from one time period to the next.

Gargoyle's Quest I & II/ Demon Crest

An interesting side-scrolling action-adventure series with rpg elements where you played as Firebrand, a chosen gargoyle whose quest is to save the realm of darkness.

Wizards and Warriors I - III, X

A very fun side-scrolling action-adventure series that was had plenty of room for exploration and treasures to be found. Unfortunately the series was never fully finished as Wizards and Warriors IV was never released.

Kingdom Hearts Series

Quite honestly one of the finest Action-Adventure-RPG series to come out in years. With tons of budget coming in from Disney and Square-Enix for the licensing of several Final Fantasy and Disney characters as well as many, many famous voice actors, it makes for a very visually impressive and complelling experience. In addition the gameplay was rather solid offering many different interface customizations. I personally found that each of the three Kingdom Hearts games released so far were of near-masterpiece quality.

Brave Fencer Musashi

A fun 3-D action-adventure with rpg elements in a similar gameplay style to Zelda: Ocarina of time.

 

Dual Hearts

A 3-D action-adventure with rpg elements in a similar gameplay style to Zelda: Ocarina of time. Honestly I've never had an opportunity to play it.

 

Dark Cloud Series

A fun 3-D action-adventure series with rpg elements in a similar style to Zelda: Ocarina of time.

 

Shining Force Neo

A 3-D action-adventure-rpg for the PS2 that is part of Sega's famous Shining Force series.

Okami

A 3-D action-adventure game with rpg elements that was recently released by Clover Studios, the makers of Viewtiful Joe. In this very creative Japanese style and extremely artistic game you play as the spirit of a lone wolf that protected a village from an eight-headed Japanese folklore monster, the Orochi, was terrorizing the villagers. Events are set in motion that release the Orochi once again upon the world and the wolf's spirit is awakened to defeat it and the darkness it has brought into the world. Quite honestly after playing a bit of it, I would have to say that the cell shaded visuals in the game are the best I've ever seen in any game and are worthy of mention.

Maximo Series

A fun 3-D action-adventure that has some rpg elements to it, though the game is pretty much a platformer. The gameplay is similar to Zelda Ocarina of Time and the game offers much exploration and treasure collecting in the style of Gauntlet Legends.

Titles that may be included at a later time:

Hydlide

Astonisha Story

Wonderboy in Monster Land

Dragon's Curse/Adventure Island/Wonderboy III

Ruin

River City Ransom/DOWNTOWN NEKKETSU KOSHINKYOKU

Beyond Shadowgate

Gotzendiener

Iron Feather

Magicoal

Ruin