Valis III

~ VALIS III ~

Laser Soft / Telenet / NEC

CD-ROM

1992

Valis III is a legitimately great action-platformer in the vein of 8-bit Castlevania. It features the best set of playable characters in the series, heroines superior to the stars of IV due to both their usefulness and their intangible "cool" factor. It also boasts great music; good graphics; controls that are a huge step up from II's and give the game a familiar old-school-Castlevania feel; and sophisticated, ingenious level design. While Valis II prides itself on its soundtrack and story and IV impresses players with its visuals and high level of challenge, III finds a way to succeed in just about every area, making it the strongest chapter in the series.

It's clear right from the get-go that this is a high-quality hack-and-slash title with appealing visuals.

Some of the later boards, especially the water stage (which requires that you freeze enemies and make difficult jumps in order to proceed) and the ice cavern (with its tricky platforming), are extremely challenging; you'll feel great when you finally beat them. They're tough-but-rewarding levels that you'll always remember.

Between those dreaded stretches are "breathers" in the forms of graveyard and wasteland jaunts. The desert-stage tune is very catchy and evokes fond memories of Valis II's legendary soundtrack.

Yep, the red book is good, and so are the cinemas. No more of that "tiny windows" bullshit here... at least, not much of it.

There are plenty of interesting boss battles though; you'll go from serpent slaying to bell battering.

Climb the final tower and take on the skilled combatant that awaits you...

...and then witness Yuko's heroic fate.