Using data from the international flare patrol for 1972–2010, we have formed an electronic database for more than 123 thousand solar flares. We determined the mean brightness rise time (flash phase) for flare area classes and importance. We show that the mean flash phase increased with increasing area class. For brightness classes this trend is less pronounced. We have found that flares with explosive phase and flares with one brilliant point have the shortest flash phases; two-ribbon flares and flares with several intensity maxima, the longest ones. We have separated 572 cases when the brightness rise time was more than 60 min; 80 % of such ultra-long flares have a shorter brightness decay time (main phase). We have established that low-power flares in terms of developmental features do not differ from large flares. Low-power solar flares, as well as large flares, can be followed by filament activation or disappearance, and can have an explosive phase and several intensity maxima. Two-ribbon flares, white-light flares, and flares covering sunspot umbra can also have low power.