Name:	Valis series (3 titles) Valis Valis 3 Valis Syd (aka SD Valis)
Author/Vendor:	Telenet Japan
Released:	various
Type:	Action
Language:	English
Premise:	Yuko is just your average everyday attractive teenage schoolgirl, with an average life in an average town. Little does she know that she is the chosen one who will wield the legendary Valis sword and save the inhabitants of a parallel dimension from an evil that threatens their existence.
Impressions:	A rather lame and dated platformer featuring (what else?) another one of those teenage sword-wielding Japanese schoolgirls. I just wish the games were half as good as the concept, which can be seen in the occasional anime-style cinema. It's my understanding that a short-lived anime series followed not long after the release of the original games.
Variations:	Surely Japanese originals exist for these games, although I have yet to see them. Valis (1991, the one that sets it all up, and the second worst-playing one of the lot - graphics aren't bad, though, and the anime-style cinemas are first-rate) Valis 2 is not available for the Genesis. It is part of the Turbo Graphix 16/PC Engine game library. According to some, Valis Syd is for the most part a reprise of this game. Valis 3 (1991, this time you get your pick of three girls and have to face fiercer enemies - the best game in the Genesis series.) Valis Syd (aka SD Valis, which is actually the correct title - the SD stands for "superdeformed," so this is actually a cute-looking self-parody of the premise - the stupidest and worst-playing game in the series) There is also a fourth installment in the series, M'aider Maiden, which is available for the SNES.
Recommended Emu:	Genecyst X