My Played Video Games Review: Valis III for the Sega Genesis
Valis III is a platform game made by Telenet Japan and originally released for the PC Engine CD-ROM in 1990 in Japan and its US version, the TurboGrafx-CD, in 1992 in North America. It was also then later ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Valis III is the 3rd game in the Valis series that started in early 1980s home PCs in Japan.
Valis hero character, Yuko, could have started the trend of sexy anime school girls being featured as controllable heroes in video games.
The Story
You are Yuko Ahso, an ordinary schoolgirl in the Human World, called to your destiny in the Dreamland. Your mission is to bear the Sword of Valis to defend Dreamland against the Dark King Glames. The Dark King wants the Dreamland to replace his disappearing Dark Kingdom. His powerful Sword of Lethus is the twin counterpart to Yuko's Sword of Valis. Whoever has the 2 swords gains enormous destructive power.
Yuko's twin sister, Valna, is the new Dreamland kingdom queen monarch and Yuko needs her magic ability but Valna is imprisoned in a crystal block. Only with the aid of the Dark Kingdom girl Cham and her fighting spirit can she free her sister. Can Yuko depend on Cham? Yuko must defeat 2 evil bosses before Cham and Valna can help. You must use Yuko, Valna, and Cham as the fate of Dreamland hangs in the balance!
The Graphics and Sound
The game has good graphics and are among the best for any game released on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in the early 1990's. The levels are quite detailed and have some parallax scrolling. Although the sprites are not as detailed and colorful but the game does compensate by improving the backgrounds and making some of the enemy bosses a bit more detailed and animated. There are cut scenes but lack some of the animations.
The sound here is good for a cartridge. Most of the music are good tunes.
The Gameplay
The game innovation is that you can choose between 3 characters during the game. There are also other ways you can power up your weapon to use different magic attacks. The 3 characters each have their own strengths. Cham is the strongest melee character, Valna the queen is a weakling who jumps shorter distances but has the strongest magic attacks, and Yuko is the balanced one.
The control is weak in this game. It is fairly standard for a side-scrolling platformer, but it feels a bit stiff and lacking. The difficulty level is hard and the control is not suited for it. The diagonal jumping distance of the characters seems a bit short.
This game is fun once you know the quirks and strengths of each character. The game is short so the replay value is mediocre. It is also just linear and exploring in the game is non-existent.
My Verdict
Valis III is an ignored gem for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It has innovative gameplay, good graphics, and great challenge. On the negative side, the control is just mediocre for an action game.
Go play this retro gaming classic on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive or play it on your chosen emulators.