The Valis series has been around for over 30 years across both the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 and the Genesis/Mega Drive. The action side-scrolling franchise was an early adopter in terms of offering in-game cinematics. The first three entries are included here, with Yuko herself being an early female protagonist and having a slew of animated cutscenes. The version of Valis 1 included here is the PC Engine version – which was a remake of the MSX original, with more polish than the original.
The first game was also an early example of a sailor uniform-style transformation long before Sailor Moon got into a video game. Starring Yuko Asou, she’s tasked with saving the dream world of Vanity and slicing up enemies to do so.
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Slice and Dice
The sequel added polish to the gameplay while also adding more content. New weapon and armor types were added to allow for a more robust gameplay experience as Ruyo is out to save the dream world after she took out Rogles in the first game. Now she has to deal with a new army out to take the Valis sword while getting help from Reiko Kirishima as a guide in the dream world. The final game included in this collection was the first to debut in the ’90s as a PC Engine release.
The sequel added polish to the gameplay while also adding more content.
This one brought about two new playable characters in Valna and Cham. With three characters available, players can switch between each in real-time and enjoy a different-feeling experience. Now, Yuko and her partners band togetehr to fight King Glames, the ruler of the Dark World who wants to control both Earth and the dream world. All three must use their skills to save every world in their universe.
Explore the Dream World of Vanity
The best value for the collection is to just grab the entirebundleat a discounted price of $27.15 – taking 15% off the total price and including the first three Valis games, soundtrack and artbook. This is essentially the same bundle that has been available on theSwitchfor a while – only with everything being in a launcher with an a la carte buying experience if there’s a game you don’t want to pick up in the collection. There’s no word yet on if the latter-day entries of the series will hit the PC as well. They did take a while to finally come to the Switch, so we’ll see if that winds up happening.
