Valis III

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NTSC-U NTSC-J
Valis III
System(s): CD-ROM²
Publisher: Laser Soft (JP) NEC Technologies (US)
Developer: Laser Soft
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1989-09-07 TJCD0009 US 1992-03 TGXCD1024
Non-NEC versions Mega Drive

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Valis III (ヴァリスIII) is an action game and the third main release in the Mugen Senshi Valis series, released for CD-ROM² hardware in Japan and North America.

Story

After the events of Valis II, the Dark World is being destroyed. The fortuneteller Leigh informs the Dark World's king, Glames, that they only have six months before it is destroyed. Hopeless, Glames decides to become king of both the Human World and Dreamland, but he knows that Nizetti, the ruler of Vecanti, is controlling the power level of the Valis sword and that any attempt to invade either world would result in Yuko coming with a full-powered Valis to destroy him. Nevertheless, he takes the risk, knowing his sword Leethus, is just as powerful as Valis and that both swords can be combined for terrible destructive power.

Gameplay

The game is a platformer. It is initially played as Yuko Asou, wielder of the mystical Valis sword, but she is joined by two allies, Char and Valna, after rescuing them. Together, they must prevent the Dark World's king, Glames, who is wielding the sword Leethus, from destroying Vecanti and Earth. Animated and voice-acted cutscenes portray the story as the player progresses through the game. NPCs occasionally appear in the stages and talk to the characters as well.

The characters move with ← and → and crouch with ↓. They jump with Ⅰ, jump higher with ↑+Ⅰ, and jump off ledges with ↓+Ⅰ. They can slide along the ground with ↓+ RUN , which can be used to evade enemies or to move over gaps in the terrain. The player can switch the active character by pressing  RUN  while standing still (the game can be paused by pressing  SELECT ). The active character cannot be switched during boss fights.

The characters attack using their standard weapons with Ⅱ. Attacks neutralize enemy projectiles. Their attacks are stronger when the power gauge is fuller. Attacks expend the power gauge, but it quickly replenishes. Power-ups can be found to lengthen the power gauge to increase the maximum attack strength and to increase the speed at which the gauge replenishes. Characters also have special magical abilities, which are cast with ↑+Ⅱ after finding a magic ability item. The magic ability item gives the characters the ability to cast spells with either the fire, ice, or thunder elements. Magic abilities cost magic points, which can be restored by finding items. In addition to having different standard weapons, Yuko, Char, and Valna have different magic abilities.

Characters have a hit point gauge that indicates their health. They lose hit points when they take damage from enemies, but they can restore health by finding items. The characters share their hit points and magic points. They lose a life when they lose all of their hit points and must restart the stage. Additionally, each stage has a time limit, and the player also loses a life when time runs out. Characters lose their weapon upgrades and magic points when they lose a life. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued from the beginning of the last stage. The game automatically saves the player's progress to the console's internal memory, so it can also be continued after powering the system off.

Characters

	Yuko
	Yuko is the Warrior of Valis and keeper of the Sword of Valis. She is the strongest fighter of the three. Valis shoots a wave-like projectile when it is swung; the distance that it travels is farther when the power gauge is fuller. She has the weakest magic but also the lowest cost magic abilities.
	Char
	Char is a warrior maiden who was born in the Dark World. She fights with a deadly, medium-ranged whip. She steals the Valis sword at the beginning of the game but later joins Yuko and fights alongside her.
	Valna
	Valna (called "Vernal" in the US manual but "Valna" in-game) is Yuko's sister and the Queen of Dreamland. She carries a magical staff. She has a relatively weak projectile attack that attacks forwards as well as upwards. She has strong magical abilities, but her magic consumes more energy.

Magic

Magic abilities are dependent on the currently held magic item and differ for each character.

	Fire
	Yuko's fire ability is the Flame Dagger, which conjures two fiery daggers that fly out to seek enemies. Char's fire ability is the Fire Dragon, which summons a fire dragon that attacks enemies. Valna's fire ability is the Heat Spinner, which surrounds Valna in fireballs that protect her and harm enemies that they touch.
	Ice
	Yuko's ice ability is the Ice Cutter, which discharges an ice wave that temporarily freezes enemies that it hits. Char's ice ability is the Ice Arrow, which shoots penetrating icy arrows in both directions horizontally. The arrows temporarily freeze enemies that they hit. Valna's ice ability is the Death Cube, which shoots ice shards in the four diagonal directions that temporarily freeze enemies that they hit. Frozen enemies can be used as platforms.
	Thunder
	Yuko's thunder ability is the Thunder Flash, a screen flash that damages all enemies on screen. Char's thunder ability is the Lightning Bolt, which fires lightning bullets in a semicircle above her. Valna's thunder ability is the Thunder Bomb, which unleashes electric sparks that bounce around the screen and attack enemies.

Items

	Item Box
	Attack to reveal an item.
	Small Magic Crystal
	Restores the MP gauge by 2 points.
	Large Magic Crystal
	Restores the MP gauge by 8 points.
	Small Life Restorer
	Restores the HP gauge by 4 points.
	Large Life Restorer
	Restores the HP gauge by 16 points.
	1 Up
	Gives the player an extra life.
	Weapon Power Meter
	Lengthens the power gauge, up to three levels.
	Weapon Power Meter Restorer
	Makes the power gauge charge faster.
	Fire
	Equips the characters with fire magic.
	Ice
	Equips the characters with ice magic.
	Thunder
	Equips the characters with thunder magic.

Stages

	Act 1
	Act 2
	Char becomes playable in this act.
	Act 3
	The character that the player chooses for the boat ride will be the only available character for the next act.
	Act 4
	Valna becomes playable in the last part of this act.
	Act 5
	Act 6
	Act 7
	Act 8
	Act 9
	The final boss can only be played as Yuko.

Versions

The later Sega Mega Drive version was significantly cut down to fit on an 8-megabit cartridge. The animated and voice-acted cutscenes are removed and replaced with still images and text. The second, sixth, and seventh stages were removed entirely and the fifth stage was significantly shortened, but a unique stage was added before the ice stage. Many of the boss fights were altered.

Production credits

Visual Staff

• Author: Y. Ohayashi
• Continuity: O. Nabesima
• Character: V. Endou, BOBAN•GRAND
• Picture: Tosiman, V. Endou, Y. Satoh, R. Kawabata, A. Yamazaki, K. Kobayashi, M. Arai, J. Asou, JUNPEH, POCHI
• Assist: S. Urakami

Game Staff

• Game Design: Y. Ohayashi
• Design Assist: H. Nisida
• Character: M. I. Terao, BORBAN•GRAND, A. Yamazaki
• Picture: 金護寺, A. Yamazaki, MANMA, CHINPUI
• Program: M. Hanari
• Composers: H. Inoue, J. Hasebe, S. Murakami
• Effect & Recording: M. Yuasa, S. Murakami

Marketing

• : T. Kinosita, S. Nisida, Y. Higasiura, A. Hirano, S. Nakagawa, M. Aoyama, T. Simizu
• Thanks to: BUSINESS SUP, TABACK
• Manual Writer: S. Kimura, Y. Tokumori, IKE2
• Thanks to: NEC HE, HUDSON, K. Fukusima
• Producer: M. Hanari
• Director: M. Nakamura
• Presented by: TELENET JAPAN Co., Ltd.

Source:

In-game credits

File:ValisIII CDROM2 Credits.pdf

Magazine articles

Main article: Valis III/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

CD-ROM², JP
Cover
File:ValisIII CDROM2 JP Manual.pdf Manual

CD-ROM², US
File:ValisIII CDROM2 US Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1			CD-ROM (JP)
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1			CD-ROM (US)

References

Sega Retro has more information related to Valis III

Valis games for NEC systems
Mugen Senshi Valis (1986) | Valis II (1989) | Mugen Senshi Valis II (1989) | Valis III (1990) | Valis IV (1991)
Mugen Senshi Valis: The Legend of a Fantasm Soldier (1992) | Valis Visual Shuu (1993)