Franchises are an important key to survival for many video game companies. The right idea at the right time can keep a company prosperous for years to come. Despite this, many genres come in and out of vogue, thanks to the ever-changing tastes of the gaming audience, and many once successful franchises can fade off into nothing more than a distant memory. However, game developers, in their quest to keep their intellectual properties relevant, can take them on an interesting journey into areas you don’t quite expect.
One such franchise is Telenet Japan’s Mugen Senshi Valis, or Valis: The Fantasm Soldier.
Watch the Valis Promotional Video
I was first introduced to the Valis franchise when I was a young pre-teen in the early 90’s with Renovation’s release of Valis III on the Sega Genesis, and was instantly hooked by what I saw; A game that, for its time, had a unique premise. A regular Japanese school-girl named Yuko, through the aid of the magic Valis sword, transforms into a bikini-clad warrior, and using her magical powers, fought evil in a fantasy world. Her journey was that of a 2D action platformer in the vain of the early Castlevania titles. Also, between each level the story would unfold in cinematics featuring beautiful, glassy-eyed girls and colorful villans with intricate armor, reminding me of the NES franchise Ninja Gaiden, but even more visually attractive. At the time this game was released, I was just discovering this new exotic thing called “Japanimation” that was beginning to spread, and it was like I was actually PLAYING one of those Japanese cartoons! Having never heard of the Valis franchise before, I had a lot of questions that have never been fully answered until now.
Valis made its debut in 1986 on the MSX, the Japanese home computer (also home to the original Metal Gear) and saw remakes on the Famicom (1988), Sega Mega Drive (1991), and PC-Engine CD (1992). Each version starred Yuko and the titular sword, but all had different visuals, levels design, and even in one case, gameplay. The Famicom version was maze based, making the player find their way through a city to reach their goal rather than the more typical level-based side scrolling action of the other versions. The only console to receive a US release was the Sega Genesis port, published by Renovation, Telenet’s US subsidiary. Incidentally, its US release was within the same year as Valis III.
Watch Valis for the PC Engine!
Valis II was first released on the MSX in 1989, and also received the remake treatment in 1992 for the PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2/TurboGrafx 16-CD and the Sega Genesis. The gameplay was now level-based action platforming across all versions, dropping the experimental maze gameplay of the Famicom version entirely. The disc-based version took advantage of its format and feature full voice acting to its cinematic sequences and a CD-quality soundtrack However, when ported to the Mega Drive, Telenet decided to go with a much cuter look. Enter SD Valis.
SD Valis took the story and characters of Valis II, but overhauled the graphics into the SD (Super Deformed) style. The gameplay stuck closer to the original MSX version, including an armor and weapon upgrade system that was dropped from the TG16-CD port. When Renovation released the game in the US, Yuko’s name was changed to Syd and the game was retitled Syd of Valis. In the early 90’s, the US was still weary of art that looked “too Japanese” and was still in the practice of hiding it whenever they could. Renovation most likely assumed no one in the US would know what SD was actually referring too. Despite being based Valis II, the game was released a year after Valis III in the US.
Witness Syd of Valis for the Sega Genesis!
Valis III debuted on the PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2 in 1990, and was released in the US on the Sega Genesis in 1991 and Turbografx-16 CD in 1992. Valis III was a big step forward for the series, as it was the first to have three playable characters that could be switched between on the fly, each with their own weapons and magic attacks. -- Yuko with the Valis sword, Cham with her whip, and Valna with her sphere-shooting sceptre. The CD-based version of the game once again took advantage of its format by not only adding CD-quality audio and voice acting, but extra levels as well.
Watch Valis III for the Sega Genesis!
Valis IV was the first game in the series to not receive a Sega Genesis port, as it was released in 1992 on the PC-Engine Super CD-ROM2, and for the first time, the Super NES, published by Atlus, who’s USA branch was new the gaming scene. Valis IV introduced the world to new series star Rena. While the PC-Engine version continued the multi-character system of the previous installment, the SNES port limited the player to Rena only. Many other changes were made to the SNES release, including a drastic reduction to the amount of the franchise’s well-known cinema sequences, the addition of a new level, while other levels were removed entirely.
Watch Super Valis 4 for the SNES!
At this point in the series, its stability as a franchise, especially in the US, was faltering. The awkward release schedule on the Sega Genesis, with the first and third game being released within the same year and an SD variation of the second game coming a full year later, it made it difficult for Sega fans to enjoy the entire experience. Meanwhile, the complete lack of a US release for the original title on the TurboGrafx-16 wasn’t doing that audience any favors either. The fourth title was released on a console that many of the franchises’ fans did not own at the time made it difficult to support. Renovation, Telenet’s subsidiary responsible for the US releases, went on to be acquired by Sega in 1993. The US presence of the Valis franchise began to fade away into obscurity.
Things weren’t going well for Telenet Japan on their own shores, either. Poor game sales led to financial troubles. One of their major development studios, Wolf Team, the creators of the Genesis cult-hit El Viento, began work on an RPG in an agreement with Namco. Disagreements with the direction of the title caused an exodus of staff, who formed their own studio, tri-Ace, who would later go on to create games such as the Star Ocean franchise, Valkyrie Profile, and the recent Infinite Undiscovery. The staffers that remained finished the title, 1995’s Tales of Phantasia, unleashing a hit new RPG series and would eventually be absorbed into Namco and rechristened Namco Tales Studio in 2003.
Telenet’s existence was in trouble, and in turn, so was the existence of Valis.
Telenet didn’t give up on the franchise, however, as in 2005 they released yet another remake of the original Valis title, this time on Japanese cellphones. But as Telenet’s financial woes got worse, they got desperate, and Valis took an interesting and unexpected new turn. Telenet licensed the rights to the franchise to a lesser known developer by the name of eants, with intentions of relaunching the franchise with a new entry in the series -- Valis X for the PC.
Valis was a franchise born from classic anime concepts and archetypes. The classic anime story of an ordinary girl who, though the power of magic, becomes a warrior, is central to the series. It features the fantasy adventures against evil overlords that the early 90’s anime fan was virtually guaranteed to love. Though there was one anime cliché, the most infamous one of all, that Valis avoided. Until now, that is.
Tentacle porn.
Valis X -- NSFW Link for interested parties…
In what proved to be not only Telenet’s final Valis title, but their final game as a company, Valis X was released to celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary in 2006, and it was a radical departure to say the least. No longer a side scrolling action title, Valis X was a five-part series of hentai games, retelling the franchise’s story, but with added scenes of, among other things, lesbian sex, urination, and tentacle rape. The game was not a success for Telenet and alienated many longtime series fans. It wasn’t long after that Telenet finally succumbed to its financial woes and closed up shop on October 25, 2007. It seemed as if Valis was finally through as a franchise.
Or is it?
There has been recent positive development in the long storied history of the Valis franchise. Sunsoft, the classic developer responsible for the NES classic Blaster Master, has recently returned to the video game scene with the help of Victor Ireland, formerly of Working Designs (US publishers of the classic Lunar franchise), currently of Gaijinworks. Their current course of action is to rerelease classic games on the Wii’s Virtual Console service, starting with the legendary Blaster Master, and to eventually move on to remakes and relaunches of classic titles. As part of this plan, Sunsoft has purchased the rights to the entire gaming library of Telenet Japan, including the Valis franchise.
If all is right with the world, we may finally see Yuko and her enchanted Valis sword again.
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I love games. I want to share my love of games with all of you. I worked on the gaming webcomic Entertain Dome with Razlo for 5 years and now I'm back at gameyayfun.com to help spread the joy I get from video games on the internet once again. I love to draw and you can see my work at http://gil-ed.deviantart.com/ 
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Since I only owned Nintendo systems up until N64, I never got the chance to play Valis. I actually didn’t really hear much about it until Valis X ironically. I’ve tried Valis since and would like to play more soon. I actually think now is a great time for a comeback since the only comparable game on the market currently is Castlevania.
Valis X seems more like my type of game.
It’s the peeing isn’t it?