Syd of Valis

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SDValis MDTitleScreen.png

Syd of Valis
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Laser Soft (JP), Renovation (US)
Developer:
Genre: Action

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥6,8006,800 T-49103
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$49.9949.99[2] 49126

SD Valis (ＳＤヴァリス) is a remake of Telenet Japan's 1989 MSX/TurboGrafx-16 game Valis II with new "super deformed" graphics released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan; porting was done by Laser Soft, a subsidiary. Renovation brought it to the US as Syd of Valis; while the box and manual call lead character Yuko, the game changes her name to Syd for whatever reason. The title screen is changed from SD Valis to the equally confusing Valis Syd, presumably a localization error.

As if that weren't enough, the cover features a number of characters who not only do not appear in the game, but are not related to the Valis universe at all with the exception of Yuko front and center. The cover is lifted virtually wholesale from Sugoroku '92 Nari Tore Nariagari Trendy, a board game for the PC Engine CD-ROM by LaserSoft that featured a number of characters from various Telenet properties (Guy Kazama from Last Alert, Yu and Rim from the Cosmic Fantasy series, and Tetsuya from Super Albatross among others). Why this particular cover was chosen is anyone's guess.

This would be the last Valis release on a Sega system; Telenet Japan ceased all Sega development in 1993 and released Valis IV as a PC Engine/SNES exclusive.

Story

Megas, the Emperor of darkness, [sic] demands Yuko/Syd come to Vecanti. Syd, realizing Vecanti is in trouble, refuses and turns the ice cream she holds in her hand into the Valis sword to attack, following him to Vecanti anyway... only to find Reiko, who tells Yuko that Megas's forces have rebelled and e

Gameplay

Attacking is somewhat different from other Valis games, as this time Valis can be aimed with the D-pad while hitting B to swing (including swinging straight down in mid-air). You can hold B to repeatedly swing, shooting magic bullets in the process. C jumps; if not swinging the sword, hitting C again double-jumps. Down crouches. A uses screen-clearing bombs, which are limited in quantity but can be restocked by finding rare Sphere icons.

Of note in this game is the weapon/armor system. Hitting  START  opens a menu where you can select weapons and armor acquired from some boss fights. Defeating particular boss-class enemies will give Yuko a sword and/or armor, which she keeps for the rest of the game and can switch at any time. Each weapon has a base attack power (A. Power) which is modified by the armor being used; each Armor has a defense level (D. Power) and a Speed statistic. 10 speed is Yuko's normal speed; it can be raised to 15 (Yellow Armor or Super Armor) or 20 (Speed Suit) at the expense of control especially when jumping, which can be a serious detriment, especially in platforming-intensive areas.

There are four weapons:

  • Normal Beam: a simple ball-shaped projectile is fired straight forward
  • Wide Beam: shoots an arrow-shaped blade; slightly more damage than the Normal Beam
  • Homing Beam: a star-shaped projectile seeks out near by enemies and damages them; it can sometimes become confused and circle enemies infinitely
  • 3-Way Beam: fires a projectile like the Normal Beam but in three directions (forward, up at 45 degrees, and down at 45 degrees)

Each weapon can be powered up to Level 3 over the course of the game.

There are six suits of armor:

  • Normal Suit: a school uniform, and the only armor Yuko has at the beginning of the game
  • China Dress: a pink cheongsam; provides slightly higher defense but very slightly lower attack power
  • Yellow Armor: Yuko's signature yellow armor; provides higher defense and speed
  • Guard Suit: A white suit of armor that improves Yuko's defense substantially at the cost of attack power
  • Speed Suit: Blue bikini armor that provides the highest speed in the game
  • Super Armor: Magical armor with the highest attack and defense in the game plus a speed boost

(Oddly, the Speed Suit shows a D. Power of 20--second highest of all armor--but it seems to provide less defense than the Yellow Armor's 15 D. Power.)

As in Valis III, dialogue occurs throughout the game. A speeds up text and C moves to the next line.

Promotional material

  • US print advert

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
45 №168
36 №8, p80/81
80 №37, p40[2]
40 №44
63 №7, p78/79
56 №26, p120
47 №4, p24/25
65 №6, p38[3]
35 №18, p67
58 №18, p68
Sega Mega Drive
 53
Based on
10 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[4]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
50
[5]
Consoles + (FR)
36
[6]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
65
[7]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
45
[8]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
80
[2]
Games-X (UK)
40
[9]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
40
[10]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-J
63
[11]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
56
[12]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
65
[13]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
47
[14]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
65
[3]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
47
[15]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
40
[16]
Video Games (DE)
79
[17]
Sega Mega Drive
 54
Based on
16 reviews

Syd of Valis

Mega Drive, US
SDValis MD US Box.jpg
Cover
SDValis md us cart.jpg
Cart
Syd of Valis MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, JP
SDValis MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
SydofValis MD JP CartTop.jpg
SDValis MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Sdvalis md jp manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
512kB 1992 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
512kB 1992 Cartridge (JP)

References

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NEC Retro has more information related to Valis II
  1. ↑ File:SegaVisions US 08.pdf, page 58
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 File:GamePro US 037.pdf, page 42 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:GamePro US 037.pdf_p42" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:SegaPro UK 06.pdf, page 38 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 06.pdf_p38" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 233
  5. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1992" (JP; 1992-02-08), page 37
  6. ↑ Consoles +, "Avril 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 80
  7. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 133
  8. ↑ Famitsu, "1992-03-06" (JP; 1992-02-21), page 37
  9. ↑ Games-X, "27th February-4th March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-27), page 26
  10. ↑ Hippon Super, "March 1992" (JP; 1992-02-04), page 83
  11. ↑ Joypad, "Avril 1992" (FR; 1992-03-1x), page 78
  12. ↑ Joystick, "Avril 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 120
  13. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "May 1992" (JP; 1992-04-xx), page 115
  14. ↑ MegaTech, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-20), page 24
  15. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 67
  16. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  17. ↑ Video Games, "6/92" (DE; 1992-05-29), page 46
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