Valis IV

Gameplay

Valis IV is a side-scrolling action platformer. Picking one of three varied characters (Asfal, Amu and Lena, each of them having different weapons, moves, and spells), the player fights through a 2D level, jumping from platform to platform and battling enemies, before confronting a boss at the end of each of the nine levels, further divided into several stages. As in the previous entries in the Valis series, animated cutscenes and in-game dialogue help move the story along periodically throughout the game.

Plot

Following on the events of Valis III, Yuko has become the goddess of the world of Vecanti and has watched over the world in peace since the defeat of Glames. Trouble brews when the Dark World prince named Galgear (がるぎあ, Garugia) (voiced by Kaneto Shiozawa) begins to search for a magical ring. This ring increases his powers, but to the loss of control he could have maintained under its effects, and the gods of Vecanti recognize this and imprison Galgear inside a crystal sunk into the ocean.

Fifteen years pass, and Galgear manages to break out of his prison, kidnapping the former heroine Valna and being pursued by troops led by Cham as a result. A member of her band, named Lena Brande ('ぶらんど' れな, Burando Rena) (voiced by Hiromi Tsuru), requests permission to infiltrate Galgear's stronghold and free Valna on her own; Cham initially disagrees, but a disembodied voice convinces her to allow this, and Lena brings her twin sister Amu Brande (ぶらんど あむ, Burando Amu) (voiced by Yumi Touma) with her. They both succeed in reaching Galgear's inner sanctum, but are stopped by the prince and his ring, who is about to obliterate them when they are teleported away by a magic force—that of Asfal (あすふぁる, Asufaru) (voiced by Tessho Genda), the prince's father, who tells them that only the Valis sword, no longer in this world, can stop him. Both girls journey day and night to reach the heavens of Vecanti and claim the sword, which is bequeathed onto them by Yuko herself, sent with her blessings in stopping the power-hungry prince. They return to Vecanti and use the mystic blade to defeat Galgear.

Release

Valis IV was originally released for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² on August 23, 1991 by Telenet Japan. Project EGG released an emulated version for Windows in 2007, along with the 2011 compilation Complete Plus that came with a soundtrack CD and a figure. A 1993 CD Valis Visual Collection contains all the cutscenes from Valis IV.

Reception

Valis IV received highly positive reviews from French video game magazines at the time of its Japanese release, including being scored 87% from Consoles+, 90% from Génération 4, 92% from Joypad, and 90% from Joystick. According to Sam Derboo from Hardcore Gaming 101, "as a whole, Valis IV is not quite as good as its immediate predecessor, but still one of the better games in the series."

Super Valis IV

Extensive changes were made to Valis IV when it was ported to the Super NES as Super Valis IV, released in Japan on March 27, 1992 and in North America in February 1993. The playable characters from the original were left to just one (only Rena), the magic system was replaced by special weapons, and the animated sequences from the original version also were removed. Though several levels were removed, a new level (Castle Vanity is actually based on the second half of the first stage from the original Valis IV) was designed for this version.

Hardcore Gaming 101's Derboo opined the Super Valis IV version is "just kind of bland and boring, and very disappointing in comparison to the CD-ROM powered version." French magazines awarded it positive review scores but slightly lower scores than the original version, including 72% from Consoles+, 81% from Joypad, and 84% from Joystick, while SNES Force gave Super Valis an 80%. In a retrospective review in 1998, German magazine TOTAL! rated it a 3 out of 5.