If you’ve never heard of Valis, chances are you’re probably not old like some of us. Valis is one of the earliest cinematic platformers for consoles, releasing wayyyyyy back in 1986 from a company called Telenet and developer Wolf Team (of Tales series fame) on the Japanese PC-88. The game spawned three major sequels, an SD remake of the second game and even an erotic visual novel (Japan exclusive, settle down). While successful, the Valis franchise never really took off in the West though, though we had four games in the series release domestically on the Genesis, SNES, and Turbo Duo.
In 2007, Sunsoft bought Telenet and by 2011, Japanese gamers were treated to a re-release of the complete Valis collection (excluding erotica) on the PC. It was never translated to English however and fans here thought they’d never see Valis again. Fortunately, that is no longer the case! Edia Smart Media Company, a mobile software company based in Japan bought the entire Telenet catalog in 2020 and crowdfunded a re-release of Valis for the 25th anniversary of the series. And thanks to Edia, we now have Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection on Switch!
Valis: The Fantasm Solider Collection reissues the first three games in the Valis series – Valis: The Fantasm Soldier, Valis II, and Valis III. Valis 4, Super Valis 4, and Syd of Valis were excluded from this collection, but the core gameplay experience is still intact with the original trilogy. On top of that, rather than release the original PC-88 version of Valis I, Edia chose to release the PC Engine remake from 1992 with significantly upgraded graphics and gameplay.
In Valis, you play Yuko Asou, a teenage girl who is suddenly given a sword and finds out she’s the destined protector of three worlds, our own, the Spirit World, and the Dream World. The plot is actually surprisingly substantial with a lot of drama and a ton of cut scenes, so we won’t be ruining it here, but suffice it to say that Valis feels like a side-scrolling platformer wrapped in an 80s anime and that’s a good thing! The Valis trilogy tells a continuous story from the time Yuko gets the Sword of Valis up until the finale of the third game, and it’s a solid story all the way through.
Regardless of the excellent plot, Valis is centered around platform action. Let’s start with Valis: The Fantasm Soldier, the first game in the series. As Yuko, you must fight the hordes of demons sent after you by Rogles the demon lord. Over multiple levels including caves, ice, forests and more you’ll fight a variety of weird monsters and bosses throughout the Dream World. Boss fights are grinds with little finesse most of the time and simply spamming the attack button can usually win the day. Keep in mind that this is a 1992 remake of a 1986 game and the overall responsiveness of the controls certainly leaves something to be desired. Even so, this is an upgrade from the other versions of Valis.
In addition to a sword attack, you have jump and high jump abilities (hold the button down longer), a power slide, and multiple tiered upgrades for your sword which allow you to launch fireballs in various directions and even throw slime at enemies. Power up your weapons enough and you’ll be walking through enemies like so much chaff. You can even use magic spells which help you trash opponents all over the screen! Sadly though, the level design of Valis has not aged that well and while the fun factor is there, you’ll still find yourself inching bit by bit through certain areas because enemies just pop up and fling themselves at you so fast that running through is not advisable.
The cinemas in Valis have all be subtitled in English, which is absolutely delightful. Some of us imported the Japanese PC Engine version of the game back in the day just to play it, and finally getting to see an official translation in English is outstanding. The original solid Japanese voice work is still intact too for all you purists out there! While it would have been great to have them in full screen, the cinematography in the PC Engine version of Valis is quite good for the time and the effects are very cool. If you’re paying really close attention, there are a few Telenet easter eggs hiding in the cinemas too! Keep an eye out for the Browning poster! There’s no question that Valis: The Fantasm Soldier is a solid release that’s quite fun and well worth your time!
Moving on to the second game in the collection, we have Valis II. As you might surmise, Yuko eventually manages to overcome Rogles and then gets a chance to take a break. But threats to the universe don’t end when you’re a teenage girl! There’s a new threat to Dream World and Yuko must return to deal with it! The first thing you’ll notice about Valis II is that it feels like a significant visual downgrade from Valis I. That’s primarily because while Valis II is a sequel, it’s actually three years older than the remake of Valis! Once you get used to the odd devolution in graphics, the same overall formula applies here. Side-scrolling platforming, anime-style cinematic scenes, solid writing (if a bit hokey) and some cool bosses.
Most of the same powerups are available in Valis II (though there doesn’t seem to be slime) and the magic special attack is present. The level design is very linear and feels like a step backward from Valis I, but that’s not a huge surprise either. Realistically, if it wasn’t for the storyline, Valis wouldn’t be nearly as fun. This is a storyline wrapped in a game, not a game wrapped in a storyline and if you remember that you’ll probably have a lot more fun. Regardless, some of the bosses are neat looking and some of the attacks from minibosses and other creatures are clever. The overall design work in Valis II is excellent and between the story and the rough but fun gameplay, you’re still going to have a great time!
Finally there’s Valis III. The final entry in the collection features Yuko’s third adventure and a thread from the Spirit World has the potential to destroy both our world and the Dream World! Yuko teams up with a demon named Cham and together they set off to neutralize this new enemy. Valis III features the ability to switch between Yuko and Cham on the fly during levels (but not boss fights) and each has different weapons at their disposal. Valis III actually introduced the slide mechanic which also appears in the remake of Valis, but it’s used oddly. Eventually you’ll even unlock a third playable character too! Level design improves in Valis III a bit and it’s obvious the devs were trying to experiment a bit with the design, especially judging by the waterfall level. Unfortunately, jump mechanics are still clunky, but the game is still entirely playable. If you’re paying attention, there are also some fun details thrown in too, like Edia’s name smoothly fit into some of the background signage.
The gameplay in Valis III is much the same as other titles, except for the inconsistent application of the slide mechanic. If you look at the picture below, you’ll see the first area in which this matters. The only way to make this jump is to not jump. For some reason, the Valis III slide move is weirdly non-intuitive and places that you simply cannot make a jump that you visibly should be able to require you to slide instead. This is of course wildly non-intuitive so players may struggle with it. Slide too soon and you fall right off the cliff, implying that it is impossible. Don’t forget the slide! Aside from sliding, there are multiple magical attacks for each character, multiple playable characters, and some fun little twists that make Valis III stand out from its siblings. The devs were noticeably experimenting with level design in Valis III as well. Levels move in multiple directions, jumps are more challenging, and the vertical waterfall level in particular stands out from previous releases. Plot devices surface at unexpected times in the middle of gameplay, and there’s just more of an overall sense of fun here, almost like Telenet suddenly remembered that the gameplay part of gaming was supposed to be fun too.
Because of that shift to a gameplay focus, Valis III is possibly the most enjoyable game in the series. Boss battles finally have a degree of actual strategy in dodging attacks and finding patterns, and the ability to switch between characters and choose who to play some areas with gives players a sense of agency that was missing from the previous games. Level designs are more creative and better laid out as well, making the entire experience easily the best of the series, even if Valis I is the best looking. There’s definitely a better balance between plot and game design here and it’s a shame that Valis III didn’t get the visual upgrades that the original game received because it definitely deserves them! By the time you finish Valis III, you’ll be ready for the final game in the series, Valis IV. Or at least you would be if it were included.
That’s right. There are actually 4 Valis games in the series. For some reason, Edia did not include Valis IV with Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection. This is kind of odd considering Sunsoft’s 2011 release had all four Valis games, Syd of Valis, and the separate SNES game Super Valis IV (now on Nintendo Online). It can’t be due to cartridge size, since there’s plenty of room to run much bigger titles on the Switch. Perhaps it’s due to legal issues with the rights or maybe they just don’t have access to the source anymore or it couldn’t be ported for some reason. Either way it’s a glaring omission that had hardcore fans pretty shocked. For that matter, it’s a shame that multiple versions of Valis I weren’t available either, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers and the three games we did get are all pretty great!
Speaking of which, let’s take a moment to discuss the actual collection. This isn’t a bare bones trilogy you’re getting. There are plenty of quality of life upgrades here too. Each game has its own separate screen which you can load save states from, read the fully translated manuals as well as the originals, check out the original discs the game came on, and even watch all the credits and cinemas. There’s a jukebox to play the music from each game too! It’s important to note that you can watch every cinema from every game without beating the requisite levels too. This is particularly important with the jump issue in Valis III. You don’t miss the story even if you miss the game (or suck at it).
Edia has also put in a rewind feature, allowing you to blunt the difficulty of these rather old games somewhat. It’s a bit different than your standard rewind though, skipping back by a few seconds and requiring a button confirm each time rather than the smooth VHS-style rewinds that other games of this type use. Visuals are set by default to 4:3 with no CRT overlays. Oddly enough, the bottom button menu is on by default and it looks terrible so definitely don’t forget to turn that off! You also have access to full screen and pixel perfect modes, but honestly, 4:3 works great. Some people will malign the lack of CRT overlays, but if your eyes are old, you’re missing nothing. You can remap the buttons as you see fit too, so don’t hesitate to make things more comfortable!
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection manages to deliver a solid overall gameplay experience, reminding us that just because something is old, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. The storyline has held up remarkably well through the years and while it’s unfortunate that the fourth game is not included, the trilogy is still well worth your time. Every aspect of Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection is outstanding from the cinemas to the user interface. The game runs well, controls well (considering its age) and most importantly, is fun to play! Edia has done a remarkable job with this collection and created a smooth, clean experience that really highlights how great the Valis series is! If you’ve been paying attention, Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection was also recently available from Limited Run Games for preorder so there are even going to be physicals of this collection out there. If you love anime and vintage platformers, Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection is a no-brainer at $40. Just don’t forget to slide in Valis III!
This review is based on a digital copy of Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was excellent in both. Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Colletion is also available on Playstation 4.