Publisher:
Renovation
Developer: Telenet
Size: 8 megs
No. of players: 1
Official Ad: Yes
Got it for: $3, cart only. Got this one from the awesome
Max's Game Corner.
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What's it all about?
Take a little bit from MegaMan, mix some shoot'em up in there, add a cute anime chick, connect it all with Ninja Gaiden-like cut scenes and you've got Valis. For the most part, it's a sidescroller where you mainly attack with a sword that shoots out projectiles. Like in MegaMan, when you defeat a boss you receive one of their special abilities. This can then be used from that point on, and recharged with magic points. The action is broken up between certain levels with ultra-slick anime cut scenes, which move the story along and look great in the process.
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Graphics - Great! The levels all have a generous amount of parallax scrolling and are covered in gorgeous detail and color. Yuko herself has a decent amount of animation, as do most of the enemies. Bosses, on the other hand, are large and very well animated with the high points definitely being the dragons and Rogles himself. Finally, the anime cut scenes are graphically very pretty, with a good amount of color, and high on style. | |
| Sound - Excellent! It goes from the pounding in-level themes, to high energy mixes for the bosses. The cut-scene pieces are ambient, and add to the overall mood of the story. In-game sound effects are pretty standard, with your typical slashes, explosions and screams. |
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Control - Smooth. Though Yuko moves incredibly slow, the pace of the game really matches that, so once you get used to it all, it's not bad. Everything you do comes off really nicely, and with little or no hesitation. | |
| AI - Just kinda there. It's not really cheap, it's not really intelligent...enemies just kinda walk, slowly, after you until you either out run or kill them. Bosses can be tough at first, until their patterns are learned. About the only piece of AI in the game that's truly questionable comes from one bosses' use of a spell that takes off almost half your life. Past that, it's not bad... |
 "Wow, I'm hot!" |
Tips
for better gaming experiences: The game itself is full of odd quirks, and almost every single one of them can be used to your advantage: 1. When Yuko slides, she does so strictly in a straight ahead-horizontal motion(unless on a slope). What's amusing, and helpful, about this is the fact that if you slide off the side of a ledge or something, she won't begin to fall until the slide has finished. This comes in great for jumps you don't want to take the chance of messing up. 2. Yuko cannot attack again until her first attack animation has finished. This can be used to deal out double damage if timed right. Jump in the air, attack just a small bit before you hit the ground. What will happen is Yuko will swing once, then hit the ground, interrupting her current attack animation. This will cause the game to continue that animation when she hits the ground(thus, attacking again). This is a great trick to use on bosses. |
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| 3.
Once you receive the Fire Swirl magic, don't bother with any of the
others. Using it will not only harm any enemy that touches it, but
block a lot of attacks that come at you. Combine this with the double
attack(as stated above) and you can tear through *any* enemy easily.
This is also extremely helpful for the bosses: Use this magic, get
close to them and just start swinging... 4. Finally, if you find you are having a bit of trouble still, you can use the life/magic refill code as many times as you need: While playing, pause the game with controller 1, then, on controller 2 press Right, A and B at the same time. This will fill up your health and magic to the max. Quick Note: If you don't have 2 controllers, after pausing the game, just plug controller 1 into port 2, perform the code then plug it back into port 1. |
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My rating: 80(out of 100) - A solid, but short, action title with loads of style and a fairly entertaining storyline. |
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| GamePro
gave it: 4.5(graphics), 4.0(sound), 5.0(control), 5.0(funfactor)
(out of 5) Sega Visions gave it: 73(graphics), 69(sound & music), 61(play controls & gameplay), 50(depth & challenge), 65(overall fun)(out of 100) |
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I wonder what JD dreams about during his naps?
Cat's lazy review: Slow, repetitive, boring. Time to head back to my kitty nap...stop messing with me...
Yes
mam, you can bring swords into school...just not guns.
The
always-present ice level...
Electric
Monkey!
One
of the ultra-slick anime cut scenes...
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A
hole in MD Valis?: Believe it or not, Valis 2 just never came out for the MD/Genesis...kinda leaves a huge, gaping hole between Valis 1 and 3... |