47. Valis II (TurboGrafx CD)
Releasing a plethora of platformers, RPGs, and shmups, Nippon Telenet was one of the more interesting developers to emerge during gaming's heyday. Working one's way through Telenet's backlog is quite the daunting task, as their games were spread across a vast array of home computers, consoles, and handhelds, and were additionally released under various divisions and subsidiaries (Wolf Team, Laser Soft, Riot, Renovation). While Telenet's crowning achievements were undoubtedly the ARPGs Exile and Xak I + II, their "flagship" series was known as Valis. The star of the series is one Yuko Aso, a Japanese schoolgirl turned "magical girl" who's given the mythical Sword of Valis and summoned to an alternate dimension to rid it of an ancient evil. It's a pretty standard idea, though somewhat novel for its time, and serves as a precursor to Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, and so on.
Valis II was released in Japan in 1989 and in North America the year after, making it both a rather early CD-ROM console game and the first Valis title released stateside. The dozens of Americans who must have owned a TurboGrafx were surely stumped about the missing Valis part one, which in 1990 remained marooned in Japan on computers and the Famicom. Note that the Valis that did eventually reach the Genesis is in fact a full-fledged remake of the first game in the series, adhering to the aesthetic and gameplay of Valis II and III. In any event, these don't really need to be played in order. The story of Valis II is wholly uninteresting, and plays out like an episodic anime series. In each stage Yuko is tasked with destroying a "minion" boss monster, before finally confronting the ultimate evil, Emperor Magus.
Though the story text itself may hold little appeal, how it's told is something altogether different. Valis II features an abundance of primitive anime cutscenes. They're similar to those dating back to the likes of Ninja Gaiden, except here they're presented with glorious CD-ROM audio. There's some light animation here and there, but most scenes unfold via a small sequence of stills, presented in a tiny box surrounded by gaudy green borders. The art is actually quite lovely, in all its retro pixelated glory, though the English voice acting is atrocious. The actors sound as if they're reading their lines from paper, without a moment of prior practice or recital. There's even a moment of light "Engrish" -- yes, in the North American version of the game -- where at one point the sword is referred to as the "Varis" Sword. Presumably the actors were working off an earlier translation. The instruction booklet actually takes things a step further, where the sword itself is referred to as "Valis II."
Sandwiched between these "Visual Scenes" is, ya know, the game itself. Valis II is of the "action-platformer" variety. Though projectile weapons are persistently available, this one's not speedy enough to be considered a run and gun. Rather, the pacing is on par with the likes of Castlevania, Magician Lord, and The Revenge of Shinobi. The jump and attacking controls are fairly fluid, this is one of the Valis games to not utilize a clunky "mega-jump" in addition to the regular one. Yuko attacks by swinging her sword, which emits one of four projectile types. There's the default "fireball" attack, a "cutter" weapon which can block enemy projectiles, a homing missile, and a two-way spread shot. Collecting one weapon will automatically overwrite whatever Yuko presently has equipped, and weapons can be upgraded by collecting multiple icons, so it can be advantageous to try to stick with one weapon throughout the duration of a stage. There are additionally some defense boosting items, items that grant special attacks, one-ups, point boosts, and life refills. The gathered "special attacks" (such as the full-screen "crusher" move) are activated simply by pushing the up button, which makes them far too easy to engage accidentally. The clunkiest aspect of the controls, however, is actual act of walking itself. As Yuko moves she presses up rather closely to the screen's edge, and one is required to adapt to a persistent start/stop/attack strategy to clear out enemies. Humorously, the instructions acknowledge this bit of sloppy programming, but rebrand the whole thing as a "tip" of sorts. The occasional miniboss won't emerge until Yuko literally hits the screen's edge, whereupon she must immediately turn tail and run in the opposite direction to avoid getting hit. It's quite strange.
As for the stage designs themselves, the quality is mixed. Stage one, an outdoor cityscape, feels like a tutorial: basically a big flat plane with all items in plain view. It's not bad, but it's way too long for what it is. Stages two, three, and four kick things up a notch with some cooler environments (caves, floating towers, alien landscapes) and more platforming obstacles, but once again they all feel just a touch too lengthy. The final two stages are most clever in design. The penultimate environment eschews enemies in favor of a series of laser and spike obstacles, requiring one master a sequence of tricky jumps and maneuvers. The final stage is an autoscroller, with Yuko riding what looks to be a gigantic jawbone on her way to the final confrontation. Each stage concludes with a boss battle, naturally. Bosses are introduced in dramatic fashion, with their height, weight, and "power" displayed onscreen. There are taunts directed at Yuko, delivered via the atrocious voice acting, and then the battles commence. Bosses typically posses rather simple attacks. It's a matter of learning their individual attack patterns, though some shoddy programming guarantees that Yuko will take at least a few hits.
Surprisingly, the game is very easy overall. Continues are unlimited, one-up items can be found in most every stage, and extra lives are additionally granted whenever certain point thresholds are hit. Checkpoints are plentiful. Moreover, if Yuko falls during a boss battle, she respawns "arcade-style." One of her lives is deducted, but the diminished boss lifebar stays intact. Thus, if one has an extra life to spare then any boss, including Emperor Magus himself, can be defeated via button-mashing. All told, Valis II is the easiest entry in the series by a fairly wide margin.
The level graphics are fairly standard, but pleasant to look at. Nothing looks exemplary by today's standards, but the 16-bit color palette on display here must have wowed quite a few folks back in the day. Remember, this was released before the Super Nintendo even existed. One neat little detail is the evolution of Yuko's "costumes" as the game progresses. She begins the journey clad in her schoolgirl outfit and works her way up to a sort of golden bikini. The enemies look pretty fashionable too. There are lots of creepy little demonic creatures, and the bosses are like hefty beasts straight out of a tokusatsu series. The soundtrack is pretty amazing. It's presented in the glorious redbook format, and is overflowing with all sorts of catchy 1980s synth work. It's a bit like The Ninja Warriors, however, as the best song to be found here is placed right in stage one. Nothing else quite compares. Sound effects are fairly standard. There's the constant sword slashing, though certain weapons (like the homing missiles) add some additional audio. Enemies expire amidst crunchy explosions.
All told, this is a "good" old platformer, albeit one that feels a bit janky and like it could have benefited from a couple of extra months in development. Forget the fact that it's "part two" -- series neophytes should start here. Ignore the Valis on Famicom, as it's utterly abysmal, and just play the upgraded Genesis Valis later on. Gotta love those magical girls.
