History Main / DisconnectedSideArea

** In Space Station 1 (the very first level), there's a series of rooms at the end where you can only reach the top half of each room, even though you can see the bottom halves. Later, the Space Station 2 level goes through the bottom halves of those rooms, many of which have harder versions of obstacles from their respective top halves.
** One of the computer terminals you come across throughout the game mentions a sealed-away secret laboratory, which gets marked on your world map. Another room in the overworld (along the path to the Warp Zone level's entrance) has a side path which leads to a little alcove on the side of the Secret Lab, which lets you see one room of the lab but doesn't actually let you in. But if you get OneHundredPercentCompletion [[spoiler:by collecting all 20 Shiny Trinkets, the trinkets combine to form a teleporter which grants access the Secret Lab, which contains some of the postgame content.]]

* The Swamp of Evil in ''LegendOfZelda: A Link to the Past'' is walled off from the rest of the map, and can only be reached via a warp tile in the Light World on a cliff that you need the WarpWhistle to get to.

* The only way to get to the library area in ''ResidentEvil'' is to take the elevator from the basement, unless you get the passcode from Barry as Jill.

** And again in ''OracleOfSeasons''...three times. Part of Hero's Cave can only be accessed from an alternate entrance, and then the Snake's Remains level has one area walled off from the rest, which has to be accessed by exiting the dungeon through a separate entrance and re-entering through yet another one. Finally, the Tower of Spring is walled off from the rest of the Temple of Seasons and must be accessed through an underground passage.

* In {{Pokemon}} Red/Blue (And, naturally, [=FireRed/LeafGreen=]), Once you get to Route 2 you may notice an inaccessible area on the other side of the line of trees. This area is first accessible only as an extension of the Diglett Cave dungeon until you learn the Cut HM and get the corresponding badge.
** There's several of these, especially in the early games. West of Viridian City is the path to the Pokemon League, but until you reach the end of the game it's just one of these. And in Gold and Silver, you can surf east of the starter town to cross the Kanto border, but without Waterfall you can go no further.

* In ''{{Halo}} 2'''s Delta Halo, you can see the buildings from the next level, Regret, fairly early on, but unless you [[SequenceBreaking find a hard-to-reach shortcut]], you'll be going the long way around. Similarly, at the beginning of Uprising, you can see the area where The Great Journey takes place, but the only way down is through a long SpaceFillingPath, and there are no shortcuts this time.

* In {{Pokemon}} Red/Blue (And, naturally, FireRed/Leafgreen), Once you get to Route 2 you may notice an inaccessible area on the other side of the line of trees. This area is first accessible only as an extension of the Diglett Cave dungeon until you learn the Cut HM and get the corresponding badge.

* The Color Computer {{platform game}} ''Downland'' had alot of these.

** Tails can see parts of Windy Vally that can only be accessed by using Light Dash - a move that only Sonic can use (and he can only use that move once he has the Light speed shoes, which you find on the way to the level that Sonic goes to after this).
** Knuckles can see the doors to the slot/pinball and card/pinball games in Casinopolis, but only Sonic can go inside those doors.

But sometimes, you just can't get there from here (or here from there). You've found a side area that is ostensibly part of the level, perhaps even can be seen from other parts of the level, and in fact playable (not just for show), but you have to go around (often a long way around) to get between. The more infuriating of these are located behind an InsurmountableWaistHighFence. On the other hand, you may find an area early on in the game that gives you a sneak preview of a much later level.

But sometimes, you just can't get there from here (or here from there). You've found a side area that is ostensibly part of the level, perhaps even can be seen from other parts of the level, and in fact playable (not just for show), but you have to go around (often a long way around) to get between. On the other hand, you may find an area early on in the game that gives you a sneak preview of a much later level.

* {{Runescape}} had a small island only a couple squares from the beach of Catherby. To get there, you have to travel across some mountains and then through a long and difficult underground dungeon.