​The Lone Ranger (NES, 1991)

• No ability/tool gating (you gain a horse after the first area but it doesn't change how you travel and the horseback FP view segments might as well have been on a train or something in terms of gameplay since you don't control the horse, dynamite isn’t used to break obstacles)

• Can exit side view levels where you entered them, Can escape from boss rooms

• Linear overarching structure (can visit a few towns at once in each area but there seems to be only one correct path that lets you progress to the next one in most of them (area 3 might be an exception at the part where you seek out three bosses), )

• Password save only (not that long) and you can only save in-between areas, Can buy healing in towns

• Get info on where to go next from your native american sidekick

• Blurs the line between friendly and hostile areas with some enemies in towns

• Two different ammo types that you can switch between on the fly (silver bullets do more damage and pass through enemies)

• Can get attacked from either cardinal direction in the FP view segments (later used in Panzer Dragoon; press A while the cursor is in the direction that is flashing red in the HUD)

• Fast travel by train in some areas (costs some money, in the first area it's kinda pointless though)

• Can speed up or skip dialogue

• Diagonal movement and attacks

• Shoot in 7 directions in side view segments (Contra)

• Memorable chapter/area 4 - get captured via a scripted event and then impersonated in chapter/area 4 (makes it so you can't buy anything for a period of time however you can backtrack to area 3 via the train and buy stuff there). Also get to visit a town of crooks (brownsville) and everyone there thinks you're the impersonator

• Can stand still while aiming in TD view but no strafing or dodging

• Resource management (ammo is fairly expensive early on, can use a password to start with max money and ammo, can grind for money)

• Reloading mechanic in all segments - one of the first examples outside of light gun games?

• Can shoot NPCs (you lose 4 HP as a penalty, can't punch them however)

• Off screen enemy respawning if you move a couple of screens away

• Overworld enemy encounters in an area disappear if you beat the side view level in that area (can still grind on town enemies)

• During overworld battle encounters you just need to get to the other side - not kill anyone

• No puzzles

• No health bar or movement speed upgrades

Some notable cons:

• No checkpoints - since you can only save in-between areas and an area/chapter can get pretty long this can make the game pretty frustrating (could've added them or let you carry a couple of healing items)

• Some control/interface issues (no run move in TD view segments and there's some dead space, can't buy in bulk, somewhat loose scrolling when moving south in TD view segments, no jump height control, can't shoot straight down even if jumping, etc.)

• Need to grind a bit before the final side view level (long level and you meet two bosses in succession at the end)

• Some difficulty spikes and dips (some safe spots vs bosses and can stun lock some)

• Some other FP view maze issues (overly frequent random encounters, no maps - thankfully you don't need to backtrack out of them after finding what you came for, and you do also have a compass), however there aren't that many of them in the game

• No HP refill after beating a boss

• The two additional guns you can buy (medium barrel in area 3 and long barrel in area 4) don't add anything besides more range to your attacks and those are the only new weapons you can get after the initial two bullet types and dynamite.

• Some trial & error (some cheap enemy and hazard placements later on, quest progression in the third area, in area 4 you shouldn't buy anything in brownsville before liberating it from the outlaws - you'll pay 2x for the long barrel, etc)

• Some tedious parts (some pointless ghost town areas in area 3, falling down and having to get back up in the mine area levels)