Valis was a pretty big series in Japan but it never really made a big splash in North America. I for one never heard of it until I started collecting retro games. Today we’re here to take a look at Mugen Senshi Valis for the PC-Engine CD. This is one of the many versions of the original game that was never released in English. The thing is it’s a full overhaul and remake. In Japan it was even released after even the second title in the franchise. This was a cash in attempted to make the franchise more approachable for those new to it. Today we’re going to take a look at this remake of Mugen Senshi Valis. Join us as we find out if it’s still worth playing.
In Mugen Senshi Valis you play as a young blue haired anime style girl named Yuko. Living in Japan she leads a pretty standard life for a teenager. That is, until one day monsters invade the city and she’s given a magical sword called Valis with which to fend them off. She comes to learn that the dream world of Vecanti has been taken over by a powerful demon named Rogles and it’s up to her to save it. The story is told via numerous fully animated sequences which also happen to be voiced. It’s all in Japanese which is unfortunate but it’s pretty easy to get the gist of what’s going on. It also helps that I’ve already played the Sega Genesis version which was localized.
So what is Mugen Senshi Valis? That’s the easy part. Valis is a side scrolling platform action game wherein you guide Yuko from the left part of the stage to the right. She can walk, slide, swing her sword, and jump by default. There’s a power-up system in place and it resembles that of your typical shooter. There are several different pick-ups that add a projectile attack to Yuko’s sword swing. These offer a variety of different effects and are identified by the letter which represents them. You have multi-shots, tracking energy balls, and more. My personal favorite were these green balls that shoot off of Yuko’s sword and bounce around until they hit an enemy. Normally something like this wouldn’t be particularly useful, but because enemies approach from off-screen it helps a great deal. When you collect multiple upgrades of the same kind their power is increased.
The power-up system is great. I really like how Mugen Senshi Valis sort of steers you toward specific attacks which counter incoming enemy patterns better. You’re given ultimate choice which is nice but I did like this mechanic. I found myself second guessing passing on items because of this. On top of the in depth power-up system Yuko also has magic. This is learned as you defeat major boss characters, and is performed by pressing the attack button while holding up. Yuko has an MP meter on the bottom of the screen (next to her life) and this depletes as you use these spells. Your magic can be restored by collecting star icons. The hearts you’ll find replenish your health, and these two items are encountered frequently enough to keep you going.
What I really liked about Valis was the level designs. They aren’t restricted to moving you simply from the left side of a stage to the right. There’s a big focus on verticality in this game with a lot of moving platforms, falling ledges, and even multiple tiers. Enemies generally move in distinct patterns from one another, and some shoot projectiles with different paths as well. There’s enough diversity in just these elements to make each stage feel fresh from one another. When you add in the environmental hazards you have quite the variety of obstacles to contend with. Mugen Senshi Valis is also pretty big on secrets. Each stage has lots of hidden items, but unfortunately these are mostly just weapon powerups and additional health. None of the secrets are juicy enough to spend a lot time trying to find.
If there’s one complaint I have it’s that Mugen Senshi Valis is a bit cheap. Enemies come in from off-screen really fast sometimes. To make matters worse the game likes to throw a lot of these your way at once making these segments difficult to navigate without getting beat up. Then we have the old knockback issue that so many of these older side scroller games suffer from. It’s present here, and it messes with the platforming on many occasions. When you’re hit by an enemy it’s rough enough that you take damage, but to also be knocked backwards adds insult to injury. Often times you’ll be knocked into a pit of enemies, or down to an earlier section of the level. It’s not as frustrating as in something like Castlevania, but it’s still plenty irritating here too.
Mugen Senshi Valis is an absolutely beautiful game. It’s one of the best looking side scrolling platformers on the PC-Engine regardless of being a CD game or not. The backgrounds are colorful and offer a nice amount of vartiety. Mugen Senshi Valis doesn’t try anything new or daring in this regard though. What I mean is you have your typical cityscapes, lava areas, ice stages, etc. Still, it all looks fantastic. The characters are the highlight however. I love the way Yuko and the enemies animate in this version of the game. It looks fabulous in motion and better than most Sega Genesis titles at that. The soundtrack is pretty good and makes great use of the redbook audio capabilities. The voice overs also sound really good, but again, I can’t understand a lick of what’s going on so I didn’t really care about this aspect.
It’s a bit of a product of its time, but Mugen Senshi Valis is still a lot of fun to play. The language barrier isn’t as problematic as you might suspect; the story is about a magical schoolgirl fighting off an evil wizard. It’s not exactly Emmy material. The gameplay is fun and that’s what matters. The first few stages are a bit bland but things get kicked up several notches once Yuko transforms into the Fantasm Soldier. It may look and sound a bit goofy, but if you own a Turbografx CD it’s best not to sleep on Mugen Senshi Valis. Despite the weird themes it’s one of the best games for the platform.
