I'm surprised I've never written a review for this game on here considering I've played it like I don't know...maybe 34 times? It's one of those games like the Mega Drive Sailor Moon game where I'm just very biased towards it. Valis as a series is such a weird one, I wouldn't really say it has any amazing games but it always felt like it had an identity. One where it felt of passion but maybe not in the right areas. Valis has a very odd history as it started off on the MSX and would die in a horrible death of being in such awful hentai games not even hentai enthusiast enjoy it. But what about the first game on the Mega Drive? (which isn't even the first Valis game on the Mega Drive funnily enough)
Valis 1 on this system uses the same engine as Valis 3, so sadly it is a very slow game. Honestly I never got why Yuko was so slow in this or in 3. I'm guessing it's because the belmont's also went pretty slow but at least in those games the levels are well designed for it. You can slide but you can't use it as an attack or even cancel out of it. Which means you'll basically need memorization of the levels if you want the most use out of it. It's weird because the slide was an attack in Valis 3 so I have no clue why they changed that. Still though Yuko why are you so slow? Like she better not try to have an athletic career that involves running.
When it comes to the Sword of Valis it's weird because its more like a projectile weapon then a physical sword I always thought that was strange. You can get different ones as you progress through the game but I never really experimented if they get better as you move on, I just grab them since they get the job done. There's also magic but unlike Valis 3 it's not very good. Half of them are screen clearing moves and its all just underwhelming. I really only use it for bosses because you get i-frames for using them.
The stages themselves are nothing too special but they aren't too hard in fact I'd argue the game is pretty easy. It's odd how little damage you take from anything. Like you think lava would be really bad to step in but nope you take like 1 hit point from it. None of it is really all that amazing but it's playable.
Bosses are also pretty easy but if there's one boss I can't stand is Reiko. Now maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong but after she's taken enough damage she will use the Death Flash spell and this takes over half your health and honestly I still don't fully get how to kill her before she does it. Sometimes it works fine but other times I die and I'm like what did I do wrong? Sadly the rest are all pretty easy even the final boss isn't too hard.
The graphics are your typical Telenet kind of game where it's not bad but it won't blow you away. I was never a fan of how Yuko's face on her sprite had no detail. Cutscenes are shockingly unimpressive for 16-bit. This might be a limitation of the game originally being on computers but a lot of reused shots are done here. The artstyle is also more in line with Valis 3 meaning all of the 80s style from some of the computer versions is gone. The music on the other hand is outstanding. It's one of Telenet's best works ever. I love stuff like Flash of Sword, Ogre Battle, Lonely Soldier and The Wilderness. This version is my favorite for the OST even more then the PC Engine version.
The game overall is just alright but it's become a fun game for me with how much I've replayed it. I think Valis is such an oddity to me. I really can't explain why I like it a lot. Valis always felt like a wannabe star series. One that wanted to be on the top pillar, the A tier of action platformers. You know stuff like Castlevania but it just could never get there matter how many games they made. While I wouldn't call this franchise good, I can't help but love the attempt and it's been one of my more favorite series of the retro era. I can understand why someone would play these and just hate them but I guess I'm just not one of those people.
Wow I really wrote all that for no one to probably see this but if you did um thanks for reading this bad review.
Valis 1 on this system uses the same engine as Valis 3, so sadly it is a very slow game. Honestly I never got why Yuko was so slow in this or in 3. I'm guessing it's because the belmont's also went pretty slow but at least in those games the levels are well designed for it. You can slide but you can't use it as an attack or even cancel out of it. Which means you'll basically need memorization of the levels if you want the most use out of it. It's weird because the slide was an attack in Valis 3 so I have no clue why they changed that. Still though Yuko why are you so slow? Like she better not try to have an athletic career that involves running.
When it comes to the Sword of Valis it's weird because its more like a projectile weapon then a physical sword I always thought that was strange. You can get different ones as you progress through the game but I never really experimented if they get better as you move on, I just grab them since they get the job done. There's also magic but unlike Valis 3 it's not very good. Half of them are screen clearing moves and its all just underwhelming. I really only use it for bosses because you get i-frames for using them.
The stages themselves are nothing too special but they aren't too hard in fact I'd argue the game is pretty easy. It's odd how little damage you take from anything. Like you think lava would be really bad to step in but nope you take like 1 hit point from it. None of it is really all that amazing but it's playable.
Bosses are also pretty easy but if there's one boss I can't stand is Reiko. Now maybe someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong but after she's taken enough damage she will use the Death Flash spell and this takes over half your health and honestly I still don't fully get how to kill her before she does it. Sometimes it works fine but other times I die and I'm like what did I do wrong? Sadly the rest are all pretty easy even the final boss isn't too hard.
The graphics are your typical Telenet kind of game where it's not bad but it won't blow you away. I was never a fan of how Yuko's face on her sprite had no detail. Cutscenes are shockingly unimpressive for 16-bit. This might be a limitation of the game originally being on computers but a lot of reused shots are done here. The artstyle is also more in line with Valis 3 meaning all of the 80s style from some of the computer versions is gone. The music on the other hand is outstanding. It's one of Telenet's best works ever. I love stuff like Flash of Sword, Ogre Battle, Lonely Soldier and The Wilderness. This version is my favorite for the OST even more then the PC Engine version.
The game overall is just alright but it's become a fun game for me with how much I've replayed it. I think Valis is such an oddity to me. I really can't explain why I like it a lot. Valis always felt like a wannabe star series. One that wanted to be on the top pillar, the A tier of action platformers. You know stuff like Castlevania but it just could never get there matter how many games they made. While I wouldn't call this franchise good, I can't help but love the attempt and it's been one of my more favorite series of the retro era. I can understand why someone would play these and just hate them but I guess I'm just not one of those people.
Wow I really wrote all that for no one to probably see this but if you did um thanks for reading this bad review.