Valis: The Fantasm Soldier, called Mugen Senshi Valis (夢幻戦士ヴァリス) in Japan, is a 1986 platformer by RIOT, a studio at Telenet Japan, for the NEC and MSX families of computers. It was ported to the Sega Mega Drive and released in late 1991. Despite being the first game in the Valis series, the Mega Drive port is a remake that was released after the port of Valis III was.
Yuko is walking when the weather repeatedly changes from raining to dry. Yuko notes that she dreamed about it the night before, and in that dream, she heard a voice call her. Suddenly, her friend Reiko appears, speaking in a very unusual fashion before leaving "for a while." While Yuko wonders why Reiko was acting weird, a monster appears out of nowhere and attacks. The voice from Yuko's dream calls out again — this time coming from someone in real life — and that person throws Yuko the Valis sword, allowing Yuko to attack not only this monster but all the monsters coming in.
That person turns out to be Valia, a being from a fantasy world that exists in another dimension, but is bound to the dimension Earth is in ("the real world") by the internal "Yin"/"Yang" balance of people's souls — which has come out of balance because of Yin's power "Vecanta," which has caused "people" to "entertain" themselves with war. Rogles, a king of another dimension, is behind this manipulation. To ensure his victory, Rogles took "Yang"'s power, put it in the Phantasm Jewel, and broke it into pieces, scattering them across dimensions and guarding them with his best guards. Yuko most now collect the pieces and use "Yang"'s power to defeat Rogles.
Gameplay
The game is a platformer played as the Japanese schoolgirl Yuko Asou. Yuko moves with and and crouches with . She jumps with , jumps higher with +, and jumps off ledges with +. She can slide along the ground with , which can be used to evade enemies or to move over gaps in the terrain. Yuko attacks using the sword Valis with . She can swing the sword while crouching. Yuko can acquire attack powers that cause the sword to shoot projectiles whenever it is swung, and these attack powers can be upgraded up to three levels by acquiring the same attack power multiple times.
Whenever Yuko defeats a boss, she obtains a new magic power from the collected pieces of the Phantasm Jewel. The magic power can be selected from the pause menu with START . She can cast the magic with +. Magic abilities cost magic points, which can be restored by finding items.
Yuko has a hit point gauge that indicates her health. She loses hit points when she takes damage from enemies, but she can restore her health by finding items. She loses a life when she loses all of her hit points and must restart the stage. The game ends if the player runs out of lives.
Magic
Earthquake
Causes an earthquake that attacks enemies on the ceiling and the ground. Costs 6 MP. Acquired by defeating Gyeda, the Lord of the Earth.
Ice Feather
Shoots two ice balls in each direction, which break into ice feathers for area damage. Costs 8 MP. Acquired by defeating Geeva, the Lord of Water.
Flame Ring
Balls of fire orbit Yuko, which damage nearby enemies and guard her against projectiles. Costs 10 MP. Acquired by defeating Venon, the Lord of Fire.
Tornado
Conjures two tornados, one on each side of Yuko, which damage enemies in their path. Costs 12 MP. Acquired by defeating Izard, the Lord of Wind.
Giga Thunder
Shoots four lightning bolts from the sky, damaging all enemies on the screen and destroying all enemy projectiles. Costs 14 MP. Acquired by defeating Voldes, the Lord of Thunder and Lightning.
Death Flash
Flashes the screen and destroys all enemies (except bosses). Costs 18 MP. Acquired by defeating Reiko.
Items
Item Box
Attack to reveal an item.
S Magic
Restores the MP gauge by 6 points.
B Magic
Restores the MP gauge by 12 points.
Healing
Restores the HP gauge by 6 points.
Recover
Restores the HP gauge by 12 points.
1 Up
Gives the player an extra life.
Bullets
Equips the Bullets attack or upgrades it if already equipped, up to three levels. Bullets shoot rapidly but are not as powerful as other attacks. When fully upgraded, bullets shoot into a conical spread.
Lasers
Equips the Lasers attack or upgrades it if already equipped, up to three levels. Lasers are strong and pierce through targets but cannot be fired continuously. When fully upgraded, lasers are also fired from behind.
Arrows
Equips the Arrows attack or upgrades it if already equipped, up to three levels. Arrows seek out targets automatically but do not pierce. When fully upgraded, arrows are fired in five directions at a time.
Cutters
Equips the Cutters attack or upgrades it if already equipped, up to three levels. Cutters are strong and can travel the full length of the screen but do not pierce. When fully upgraded, they are also fired directly upwards.
Grenades
Equips the Grenades attack or upgrades it if already equipped, up to three levels. Grenades are powerful and fast-firing. They fire part of the length of the screen and then explode. When fully upgraded, they fire faster.
and 
and crouches with 
. She jumps with 
, jumps higher with 
+
, which can be used to evade enemies or to move over gaps in the terrain. Yuko attacks using the sword Valis with 
. She can swing the sword while crouching. Yuko can acquire attack powers that cause the sword to shoot projectiles whenever it is swung, and these attack powers can be upgraded up to three levels by acquiring the same attack power multiple times.
