One of the biggest mysteries of the 16-bit era is just why the distribution of Valis games was handled in such an awful way. The original was only released on the Genesis in North America, but rather than also releasing the second title the publisher instead opted for a ‘chibi’ version of the sequel. It’s a very unusual choice, and to make matters worse they even renamed the title to ‘Syd of Valis.’ I guess the fans of the franchise had to guess that this was actually Valis II, because there’s absolutely no indication in the name or even cover. The first sequel managed to fix a lot of problems from which the original game suffered, but this Genesis re-vision is absolutely terrible. For every fixed problem Syd of Valis introduces two new issues of its own. I cannot imagine how terrible someone would have felt paying full price for this release.
The story here picks up where the original left off. The magical world of Vecanti has a new emperor after the defeat of Rogles in the last game, and this new guy is named Megas. The game begins as our former hero Yuko (who for some bizarre reason is called ‘Syd’ here) is walking down the street eating an ice cream cone. Megas appears before her, and realizing that Vecanti is in danger she transforms her frozen treat into the prestigious Valis sword and sets out to defeat this new threat. Yeah, it’s pretty weird. On the positive side Syd often exchanges dialogue with boss characters before each encounter which is nicer than the drawn out animated sequences in the original release on this system. Syd of Valis plays in a very similar fashion to the other classic Valis titles. This is an action side scroller where you shoot energy beams from your sword to damage opponents. There’s some light platforming, but it’s far from the focus. As a matter of fact you don’t even lose a life when you fall down a cliff. Here you instead simply take normal damage.
The first issue I have is with the size of the character and enemy sprites. They’re absolutely huge on-screen and take up far too much estate. This also means that Syd is a big target, and it makes dodging many attacks quite difficult. To make matters worse the hit detection is horrendous here. Projectiles in particular seem to always make contact even if you obviously cleared them. Unfortunately Syd is also knocked back with each attack she takes. This means that every time you’re hit she falls backwards a few steps. Though they’re few this makes the platforming sequences all the more difficult because the enemies seem to just push you around. What really adds insult to injury is the fact that there’s a small window of time with every bit of damage that you take wherein Syd cannot attack at all. This means you’re helpless and being knocked backwards at the same time. This is especially frustrating during the boss fights.
The level design isn’t interesting in the least. Most of the time you’re walking straight, defeating enemies, and then progressing. Occasionally something will block your direct path, and you’re forced to jump. That’s just about all this game has to offer. The whole affair is quite boring and it’s one saving grace is the fact that it’s very short. Well, I guess that the weapon and armor system isn’t terrible. At key points in the game you’re given various protective clothing which increases your defense, speed, and attack power. Syd’s physical appearance also changes depending on your selection which is a nice touch even though the whole bikini armor theme is far too prevalent across her entire wardrobe. Your weapons are pretty basic fare for this type of game. You have standard energy shots, bigger energy shots, homing projectiles, and tri-directional beams. As you progress in the game these are upgraded to be stronger, but some are much more useful than others. For the life of me I couldn’t stand the homing shot simply because it’s so weak.
Syd of Valis is one ugly game. Syd herself is horrendously ugly with her short stocky frame and oddly detailed face. The chibi style does not translate particularly well to this game, and even the original Valis looked better in my opinion. What’s also unfortunate is the fact that this game animates so poorly that the screen doesn’t even scroll smoothly. Syd also suffers from Sonic the Hedgehog syndrome where she can run super fast, but the graphic engine simply cannot keep up with it. The soundtrack is equally offensive. Each stage has its own theme, but all of the music suffers from the Genesis’ trademark screeching notes that made me cringe throughout this adventure. There’s only like one decent song in the entire game, and it only plays briefly during dialogue sequences before each boss fight. This is just plain sad.
There was little hope for this title. Valis II is a genuinely decent game, but this chibi version is not. It’s offensively bad, and easily one of the worst installments in the entire series. The publishers couldn’t even be bothered to translate Yuko’s name and instead referred to her as Syd. What does that tell you about the amount of effort that went into this release? Play Valis II on the Turbografx CD instead.
