This looks like a "real" side view (not a RPG perspective), so you should look specificaly into 2D platform shooters. At this resolution / level of detail, I'd say you can look at videos / screenshots of games like:
- Blackthorne
- the "Contra" series. "Hard corps", on the Sega console, may be closest to your target size.
- Abuse (PC DOS)
It may also be a good idea to look at well-defined realistic running and acrobatics animations : Impossible mission II (atari), or The 5th Axis (amstrad). The latter is my all-time favorite, with an incredible 14-frame run sequence.
Games like Flashback and prince of persia (the original) may have some excellent animation, but it's rotoscoped (based on filmed movement), so it's much harder to study the result and determine how or why "it works".