Three years later, it was localized and released in English regions for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Fujisankei Communications International, known as simply Hydlide.

Varalys cast a special magic on Princess Ann, turning her into three fairies, and hid her somewhere in the kingdom.

He was inspired by The Tower of Druaga and The Black Onyx, especially the former, as Hydlide's design leans more towards action than role-playing.

[7] Hydlide essentially took The Tower of Druaga formula to a colorful open world,[4] and added RPG mechanics.

[7] Naito noted that he was completely unaware of Western role-playing games like Ultima and Wizardry when he was developing Hydlide, as he had never used the Apple II before.

He underestimated Dragon Slayer but felt threatened by Courageous Perseus, believing the latter to be more visually impressive; Courageous Perseus turned out to be not as successful, whereas Dragon Slayer went on to become Hydlide's biggest competitor, through subsequent sequels.

[10] PlatinumGames director Hideki Kamiya was inspired by the Hydlide series, which he cited as an influence on Scalebound, a cancelled open world action RPG.

Unlike Dragon Quest, which was improved upon for its US localization, Hydlide was left essentially unaltered beyond minor changes to the title screen and some prompts/messages.

[5] The NES version of Hydlide became notorious in the West for its repetitive background music that bears similarity to John Williams' Indiana Jones theme or Disney's It's a Small World After All.