My thought is that Zelda 2 is probably one of the best representations of olde skool, wandering-the-earth style, 80s fantasy anime captured in videogame format.
Distinct enough to be recognizable by name to those in the know, but still semi-generic and not as heavily fleshed out as ALttP and OoT would make the series. Flow is entirely roving from region to region with Towns as breathers, Palaces as conflicts, and locations like Death Mountain and the Valley of Death being the mid-season throwdowns that usually either start with, or end on a midseason upgrade, major character death, a faction's final battle or some combination thereof, and the Golden Palace being the stage of the final conflict where nothing is sacred, and everything is being thrown to the fire as the hero enters into an isolated realm far beyond any point of no return to face down the big bad and whatever faction leaders remained with nothing but what remains in his inventory.
As far as it being an RPG, I'd say its about as much of an RPG as the first two Kid Icarus games.
