VALIS II
THE FANTASM SOLDIER
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ヴァリスII
©1989 Sin-Nihon Laser Soft
©Telenet Japan
Release : 1989-6-23 (¥6780)
CDRom² TJCD9001
Action / Platform game
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Released in America as
VALIS II
( TGXCD1006 )
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Valis II is a side scrolling platform game by Telenet and
was the first PC Engine game ever released by the Japanese company.
After the events of the first Valis and the fall of the evil ruler
Rogles, peace returns to Earth and Vekanti (the Dream World).
Yūko Asao, the series' central heroine and prophesied savior of Vekanti
and mankind, saved the world but lost her best friend Reiko in the struggle. In Valis II,
the evil emperor Megasu (aka Magus), lord of the Spirits, is on a quest
to become the new king of Vekanti. He has ordered his army of demons to
prepare for a wide-scale invasion and the blue haired Yūko is determined
to thwart him and his plans. Armed with the legendary and mystical Valis
sword, Yūko transforms into a Fantasm Soldier and fights the battle
that will seal the fate of the Dream World. The sword only fires small
waves of energy at first and power-ups can be collected along the way to increase
its powers (they range from two-way fire to double wave laser,
homing missiles and so forth...). Yūko can also learn magic spells
over the course of the game such as the rotating shield or the
temporary invincibility. Valis II is vast and features six
varied and long stages periodically interrupted by increasingly elaborate
cutscenes which became the core trademark of the series.
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This PC Engine version of Valis II is probably the weakest
of them all. The game was first released for the MSX, the Sharp X68000
and NEC PC-8800 in 1989. Although it was supposed to feature enhanced graphics
and cinematics, the PC Engine version cutscenes (displayed inside small sub-windows)
don't come anywhere near the ones featured in the excellent Sharp X68000 game
(which was translated in English in 2009 by MIJET). The levels and gameplay
are also totally different and the Sharp X68000 (and MSX) features an
armor and weapon upgrade system. It also seems that the computer and console versions of
Valis II slightly differ in term of story.
Even worse, the American Turbografx-16's manual recounts a conveniently altered story
and modifies notable events from the first Valis game - they
say that Yūko becomes a Valis Warrior for the first time in Valis II,
that Rogles was a kind and mighty king (he is in reality the bad guy from
the first Valis) and that Reiko is a friendly ghost (she was
Yūko's best friend, but she was brainwashed by Rogles and
eventually killed by Yūko).
Interestingly, Valis II received a chibi remake treatment and was
released in 1992 for the Megadrive - the game was called Valis SD
(aka Syd of Valis in the west) and features cute 'super deformed'
versions of the main characters (hence the prefix "SD"). Finally, anyone
interested to experience all the animated cutscenes of Valis II (and other
Valis games) without going through the game's action scenes, Telenet
released the Valis Visual Collection for the PC Engine system in 1993.
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Yūko and Megasu briefly appears as a cameo in Telenet's
overhead racing game Dekoboko Densetsu released for the PC Engine
in 1990. See Dekoboko Densetsu
for more information about this fun cameo.
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Mugen Senshi Valis (aka Valis: The Fantasm soldier) was
Telenet's (and Wolf Team) first successful game series and was
originally released in 1986 for the PC-8800 and MSX computers
(picture on the left). It was later ported to other Japanese systems and also released to home consoles such as the
Famicom (1987), the Megadrive (1991) and finally for the
PC Engine (1992). The Valis series was one of the first to take
advantage of the CD technology and is one of the rare popular Japanese series
to be (relatively) known in the west. The series features mid-level cutscenes and a
appealing cast of characters with complex inter-connected stories.
Mugen Senshi Valis II was released in 1989 for the MSX2
(picture on the right) and was converted for many systems of the time such
as the NEC PC-8800 (1989), Sharp X68000 (1989) and
PC Engine CD (1989). Mugen Senshi Valis III followed in
1990 for the PC Engine CD(1990) and the Megadrive (1991).
Finally, Mugen Senshi Valis IV was released in 1992 for the
PC Engine CD and Super Famicom. Various spin-offs also exist
such as Syd of Valis (Megadrive, 1991), Valis Super Deformed
(Megadrive, 1992) and Valis Visual Collection (PC Engine CD, 1992).
Finally, Mugen Senshi Valis Complete ~The Legend Of A Fantasm Soldier~ was
a box set released in Japan in 2004 for PC Computers - this version also
offers a 3.5" Yukō plastic figure. In the strangest (and most unfortunate) twist
of all, the rights of Valis were resurrected in 2006 for the series 20th
anniversary. But unfortunately, Valis X, as it is called, is not another
epic adventure of Yukō but a series of adult Hentai titles filled with
explicit nudity and erotic content.
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Teaser text from the american version:
From the ashes of your ravaged homeland, the legendary sword
Valis calls out to you. Its power transforms you into a ferocious
warrior against the evil forces of king Magus. Crush Zarooga, the
fearsome red dragon! Battle the unspeakable Death Pod! But
beware! Magus has sworn a blood oath to destroy you and capture
Valis, to posses its power forevermore. Sommon all your fury to
face Magus in an epic struggle over the fate of your countrymen
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Teaser text from the american version documentation:
Long ago, in the ancient Land of Vecanti, a
kind and generous King ruled the countryside.
But alas, one day the mighty King Rogress
died. As the people of Vecanti mourned his
death, the country fell into a state of war
and despair.
An evil army, headed by the Emperor Magus,
has all but defeated the followers of the dead
King Rogress. Rising to the occasion, for the
first time ever a young woman named Yuko
is chosen to become a Valis warrior.
With a keen mind and strong body, Yuko has
something the Evil Emperor Magus fears - the
legendary Sword of the Kingdom, Valis II. With
heroic strength and the power of this magical
weapon, Yuko sets out to destroy Magus and
his savage army. She is aided by a friendly
ghost, Reiko. But beware, Yuko. Magus has
sworn on oath that he will take your life and
become the new King of Vecanti. The fate of
the Kingdom is in your hands!
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Japanese Gachapon
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Add your Pov here !
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Unfortunately, Valis II has not aged particularly well... The graphics
during the animated cutscenes are still superb (yet rather small) and give the game its unique
identity. But the game itself feels a bit monotonous and lacks any sort of
rhythm or flow, and the gameplay suffers the same fate and is often slow and
sluggish. Although the game is very easy (yet uneven), it is not much of a problem
and levels are huge and take a while to complete. Character sprites are average
and some of the animations would have welcomed more inbetween frames, but keep
in mind that Valis II was the first CDRom Telenet ever
developed for the PC Engine system. Thanks to the CD-quality, the soundtrack
is still awesome, even for today's standards. So here you have
it - Valis II is a game you have to learn to appreciate, it has a strong
focus on storytelling but suffers from an unmemorable gameplay and a weak
finish. You might want to give the other episodes a try before tackling this one.
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