Valis

Also known as: Mugen Senshi Valis (Japan)

Developer: Riot

The Genesis version of Valis is basically a port of a game that came out about five years prior on various other systems, and it came out on the Genesis, specifically, a few months after Valis III hit the system. Anyway, if you've never played a Valis game, here's the plot - a female Japanese high school student named Yuko has a perfectly balanced heart, which means that she's automatically the greatest warrior that ever existed in the history of history. As a reward for being so great, she's given the sword of Valis and is instructed to use it against the evil General Rogles. The gameplay itself is okay…so-so hack 'n' slash gameplay with mild platforming aspects. The part that makes it stand out a little is that Yuko can power up her sword so that she can shoot projectiles, and she can also obtain magic spells after defeating bosses, to further increase her arsenal before heading into the final battle. I feel like if the gameplay got a little more polish, then Valis would be a must-play game of the 16-bit era….but still, for what it is, it has managed to get enough of a cult following that the Valis games have managed to all be re-released on modern consoles for a new generation of players to enjoy.

Review added: 11/21/2023

Valis III

Also known as: N/A

Developer: Nippon Telenet

Valis III basically has the same basic gameplay as the first Valis, but with a few extra aspects tossed into the mechanics of it all - the biggest one being that Yuko isn't the only playable character this time around. Joining the sword-wielding, high school student warrior is her staff-wielding sister Valua and a whip-wielding maiden warrior from the Dark World, Cham. Each character plays differently, and with their own strengths and weaknesses, so to survive in Valis III, you'll need to swap characters for the appropriate situation. Outside of the gameplay, the story of the game has the trio of heroines try to save Dreamland from a vile king named Glames, who is the ruler of the Dark World that I mentioned earlier. If you've played the previous games, you'll know that Yuko carries the legendary sword, Valis. In this game, Glames carries an evil sword named Leethus. Anyway, Valis III does improve on the formula of the original Valis here, which makes it even more confusing as to why the decision was made to release this game BEFORE the original on the Genesis. But anyway, if you liked the original Valis, you'll likely enjoy this game as well.

Review added: 11/21/2023