Shadow Land/Yokai Dochuki (ARC/NES, 1987)

Weapon upgrades (rate of fire and strength) and movement upgrades (faster movement and longer jumps, faster swimming),
Some hidden areas
Interesting map feature (shows a nice bird's eye view of the entire area but no topographic specifics)
A "food" item lets you regain 6 HP at death (similar to fairies in Zelda 3)
Five different endings (not a big difference but still - your behaviour in the game determines if you'll end up in heaven or hell or somewhere "in-between", the less points (not shown until the end?) you get in the final level the better and you mustn't collect or kill anything in lvl 5 to go to heaven)
One sequence break possible (lvl 4 tree part?)
Password save (PC Engine)

Influenced by: Possibly Genpei Tōma Den (ARC), Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Kid Icarus, Welcome to Heaven