Matthew Green:

If you pay close enough attention while playing Capcom’s 2D action platformer sidescrollers, eventually you’ll begin to notice a pattern emerge when it comes to level design.  Eventually the protagonist will come to a point on his journey where the path will force him to drop into a room from above, make a quick jog to the right, drop down to the ground, and continue onwards to the right.

He then goes on to show pretty much every example of when this has happened in Capcom’s history. Very nicely done. (via Joel Hunt)