Game:

Flying Warriors (1990)

Duration: 1:49:21

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1

Flying Warriors (Culture Brain USA NES 1991)

Run Time: 1h48m43s. Last input on final boss: 1h46m54s
Run Skill Level: Dark Souls NES

I believe this game failed commercially for the sole reason that the game is simply too difficult on Expert mode for the translation to be as juvenile as it is.
Expert mode treats the game as one giant fetch quest. The items that you're collecting aren't side items that boost your power or teach you a secret technique. Instead, they're required to search for them just to finish the game. And if you miss one item, you can't complete the game until you figure out a way to go back and retrieve it. Most of the items aren't easy to find either. Some of them require finishing off an enemy with a very specific move to even get the opportunity to retrieve the item.
In a game with a linear story like this, it really doesn't translate well into good game design.
There are ways to eliminate the concept of the fetch quest though. If you're playing the game on a lower difficulty setting, the game becomes a lot more relaxed on the concept of item searching and just allows you to progress like any other action adventure title.
However, playing on Expert is the only way to get the true final boss and true ending (even though the ending is exactly the same, the only difference is that you defeated the real boss) and you can see how the game takes subpar game design and brings it into troll territory.

I believe that Dark/Demon Souls was heavily influenced by this game. There are quite a few similarities. Such as RPG Elements, combat based on dodging and striking at the opportune moment, the game being revolved around looking for things to seal off a demon, and being punishingly difficult.

Made using BizHawk 2.2.2 with a 4xBRZ Shader.

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