I remember when NES Metal Gear came out. No kids were able to play it or be patient with it enough to get past Card 2. Most had no idea at all that this was a stealth game and were always dying because they played it like a action game. The game quickly wound up in storage attics and basements. If it would have come out on TG-16, it would still flop.
Great game for the time and especially great game for late teens or adults. Most gamers in that era were kids, another reason it flopped.