This is the last of the SNES games of the December 2020 update. I got three more games from the February 2021 update after this. BACKGROUND:
Never heard of the Valis series prior to seeing this game in the Switch Online emulator's library. Go figure. SUMMARY: Super Valis IV is 2D platformer in the style of Castlevania: fight your way to the end of a level, fight a boss, repeat. It's standard linear platforming action for the most part, but it does do a few things to set itself apart. The story itself is nothing revolutionary, either: Gallagher, the ruler of the Dark World, is here to fuck shit up, and the only one who can end the terror is a young woman named Lena. Lena is the only one who can wield the legendary Valis Sword, so it falls upon her to save the world. Nothing about the plot really did anything for me, but I didn't mind that much. In terms of the gameplay, the basics are straightforward. Lena has a basic attack with her sword, she can jump, and she can dash (which allows you to jump farther). The level design isn't particularly demanding in terms of precise movement, but it's made up for with some occasionally challenging enemy placement. This game has a similar mechanic to Castlevania where you can pick up sub-weapons, which can be used by pressing up-attack. By default, you have a standard fireball that you can use freely, but you can also pick up other weapons with limited uses, like a homing shot or an upwards projectile. You can also pick up an item that allows you to heal, as well as armor that negates damage for a couple of hits. While the power-ups themselves aren't anything new, I do like how you have a sort of inventory that allows you to keep a stock of six sub-weapons, and you can activate them on command. It's a different approach to other games, which usually have you commit to one power-up, and picking up another one replaces what you already have. Regular enemies mostly serve to make traversing the levels a little bit tricky with their placement or their projectiles, so don't expect any compelling combat out of them. If you're looking for a fight, you'll get them when you reach the boss at the end of each level. I didn't find most of the bosses particularly tough, as they only really had a handful of attack patterns, but some of them do take a while to defeat, and they often are immune to a lot of your sub-weapons. Perhaps the game's most interesting mechanic involves a bit of speedrunning. The boss at the end of each level actually gets stronger the longer you take to get to them, so there's incentive to blaze through a level. In my experience, I only encountered a few sections where I felt like I was slowed down significantly, so you may have to actively stall to get the harder boss fights. Visually, the game has some nice-looking pixel art, with the art that serves as the "cutscenes" looking the most impressive. I like some of the level music as well. VERDICT: It's not the most revolutionary 2D platformer out there, but I enjoyed my brief time with Super Valis IV. I liked the alternative take on the sub-weapon mechanic, and I thought the idea that boss strength being tied to how quickly you reached the end of the level was interesting. Other than that, I found it to be a standard experience. I think this game is worth trying out once if you like platformers, but you might not find it as engaging if you've played more iconic games from this era, or are more accustomed to modern platformers with a lot of neat mechanics. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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