Valis III

Valis III is the third entry in Telenet Japan's action-platform series. It first appeared on the TurboGrafx-CD in 1990; the Mega Drive version followed a year later and is the one that travelled furthest outside Japan.

You play Yuko Asou, a Japanese schoolgirl who carries the mystical Valis sword and is fated to protect three realms. This time the antagonist is King Glames, who is fleeing a dying planet with his people and has decided to take both Vecanti and Earth. The novelty over earlier entries is character switching: alongside Yuko you also control the demon warrior Cham and her sister Valna. Each plays differently — reach, speed and magic all vary — and in some sections choosing the right one is the only way forward.

Mechanically it is a conventional platformer with showy bosses and a heavy investment in presentation. The TurboGrafx-CD version had animated cutscenes and voice acting, a big deal in 1990; the Mega Drive conversion had to replace those with static art and text, losing some of its charm in the process. The sprite work and music remain above average, and the series has earned its reputation as one of the better-looking anime licences of the era.

The weaknesses are period-typical and noticeable: jumps carry momentum, enemies frequently appear right at the screen edge, and death sets you back a long way. The difficulty is higher than the cute presentation suggests.

A note for players: the ROM available here is a Russian fan localisation, so the text will be in neither English nor Japanese. That does not affect how it plays, but it does affect how much of the story you will follow.