Valis II

Valis II

MSX cover art
Developer(s) Laser Soft (PCE)
Reno (PC-88/98, MSX2, TG16)
I.S.C., Laser Soft (MD)
Publisher(s)
Composer(s) Tenpei Sato
Series Valis
Platform(s) PC-8801, MSX, PC-9801, PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 (CD-ROM²/TurboGrafx-CD), X68000, Windows
Release

MSX

  • JP: August 9, 1989

CD-ROM²/TurboGrafx-CD

  • JP: June 23, 1989
  • NA: 1990

X68000

  • JP: November 23, 1989

Mega Drive/Genesis

  • JP: February 14, 1992
  • NA: 1992

PlayStation Network

  • JP: March 17, 2011
Genre(s) Platform game, hack and slash
Mode(s) Single-player

Valis: The Fantasm Soldier II (夢幻戦士 ヴァリスⅡ, Mugen Senshi: Varisu Tsū), also known as just Valis II in the West, is a platform game developed and released by Telenet Japan, originally for PC98, PC88 and MSX2 in Japan. A remake was later released for the TurboGrafx-CD. Is the second title in the Valis video game series. Like its predecessor, it is a platform game.

An SD style remake was released on the Japanese Mega Drive SD Valis (SDヴァリス, Esu Dī Varisu) and on the North American Genesis as Syd of Valis.

Gameplay

Like the other titles of the series, Valis II is a side-scrolling platform game. It requires the player to navigate through two-dimensional levels, battling enemies, jumping from ledge to ledge, and running until the player faces a boss at the end of each level. Despite details of the gameplay vary between the versions, all versions do share several similar features with both Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest, and Castlevania 3 as well.[1] The mobile remake added new stages and alternate costumes and weapons.

Plot

Time passes, and Vecanti is set to rule under its next emperor after Rogles, his brother Megas (めがす, Megasu) (voiced by Hirotaka Suzuoki), who wishes to stamp out any trace of the former tyrant, to the point of murdering any supporters Rogles might have had. Furthermore, his bloodthirsty tendencies recognize Yuko and the Valis sword as viable threats to his claim of the throne, and he orders his minions to eliminate her first before she has the chance to thwart him. Megas, too, falls to her magical blade, and peace once more comes to the dream world, as Yuko again returns home to resume an otherwise ordinary human life.[2]

Release

The original version of Valis II was developed and published by Telenet Japan released on the PC-88, PC-98, MSX, and Sharp X68000 in August 1989, only in Japan. Another version of the game with enhanced graphics and anime-style cutscenes was released in a censored[1] form for the PC Engine CD-ROM² by Telenet in Japan and for the TurboGrafx-CD by NEC in North America.

Another port of the game was released for the Mega Drive in Japan (as SD Valis) by Telenet and for the Genesis in North America by Renovation Products (as Syd of Valis). This title features the same gameplay and plot as the original, but the character design was changed to a super deformed (SD) style. The North American version of the game incorrectly identifies Yūko as "Syd", and also reuses for the front cover the boxart of Naritore the Sugoroku '92.

Project EGG released various emulated versions of the game for Windows,[3][4][5][6] along with the 2011 compilation Complete Plus that came with a soundtrack CD and a figure.[7] The PC Engine was also released by SunSoft on the PlayStation Store in 2011.[8] A 1993 CD Valis Visual Collection contains all the cutscenes from the PC Engine version of Valis II.[9]

Reception

Valis II

Valis II was generally positively received by critics. Review scores for the PC Engine / Turbografx version included 74% from The Games Machine,[10] 76% from Italian edition of Computer & Video Games,[11] 70% from Génération 4,[12] 92% from Joystick,[13] 75% from Tilt,[14] and three out of five stars from TurboPlay whose reviewer was impressed by the game's visuals and music but disappointed by its perceived too low difficulty.[15]

SD Valis

On the other hand, SD Valis / Syd of Valis was rated just 36% by Consoles+,[16][17] 56% by Joystick,[18] and 63% from Joypad.[19][20] Sega Force bashed its "very dull" gameplay despite "great" levels and enemies, predicting that "even platform addicts will only play it for a while."[21] James Scullion from Sega Pro gave SD Valis a mediocre score of 65%, recommending saving money for some other game.[22] Retrospectively, Sebastian Sponsel from Sega-16 scored it only 2 out of 10, stating: "Syd of Valis is a disappointment for fans and non-fans alike (...) It’s like the game was created as a joke, one that the producers didn’t get but released anyway."[23]

References

  1. 1 2 "Valis". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  2. ↑ "MSX Force 1-12". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  3. ↑ "夢幻戦士ヴァリスII / レトロゲーム総合配信サイト、プロジェクトEGG". Amusement-center.com. 2002-11-01. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  4. ↑ "夢幻戦士ヴァリスII / レトロゲーム総合配信サイト、プロジェクトEGG". Amusement-center.com. 2007-07-10. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  5. ↑ "夢幻戦士ヴァリスII / レトロゲーム総合配信サイト、プロジェクトEGG". Amusement-center.com. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  6. ↑ "夢幻戦士ヴァリスII / レトロゲーム総合配信サイト、プロジェクトEGG". Amusement-center.com. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  7. ↑ "夢幻戦士ヴァリスCOMPLETE PLUS / レトロゲーム総合配信サイト、プロジェクトEGG". Amusement-center.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  8. ↑ "ヴァリスII | ソフトウェアカタログ | プレイステーション® オフィシャルサイト". Jp.playstation.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  9. ↑ "Valis Visual Collection - The PC Engine Software Bible". Pcengine.co.uk. 1993-02-19. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  10. ↑ "The Games Machine Issue 26". Archive.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  11. ↑ "Computer+Videogiochi 7". Archive.org. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  12. ↑ "Tests PC Engine : Valis II" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  13. ↑ "Valis II Review image" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  14. ↑ Fredo_L. "Le site des anciennes revues informatiques". Abandonware-magazines.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  15. ↑ "TurboPlay Magazine #03 (October/November 1990) :: TurboPlay Magazine Archives". Archives.tg-16.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  16. ↑ "Megadrive Review" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  17. ↑ "Megadrive Review" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  18. ↑ "Syd of Valis" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  19. ↑ "Megadrive" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  20. ↑ "Review" (JPG). Download.abandonware.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  21. ↑ Sega Force (UK) 4, page 55.
  22. ↑ "Out-of-Print Archive • Mega Drive reviews • SD Valis". Outofprintarchive.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  23. ↑ Sebastian Sponsel (2012-01-30). "Sega-16 – Syd of Valis". Sega-16.com. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
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