Tip: There's a patch for the MSX2 game that enables the turbo, enhances the drumkit and adds support for a 2nd PSG, so the drums won't stop when the sound effects are played.
There was just something about Telenet/WolfTeam! Their games were not the best, but they were still cool. Hard to explain. Really early in the Japanese home computer scene like Game Arts. I think a special episode dedicated to this developer would be interesting and awesome. Loved Valis!
Wolf Team left Telenet Japan in 87, so this was a Reno (Renovation Game) production (note Reno, Riot and at the time Wolf Team till 87, were all part of Telenet Japan).
Thank you Mark. I appreciate you stopping by to make a comment. Always a pleasure to have you on the Neo-Geo thread, and seeing you in action on your channel doing what you do best bro. 8^) Anthony..
Ah, I guess it was Valis 2 I played on the X68000. I'm going to load it up after this video. I was really unimpressed, considering that it is an X68k game. BTW, the first Valis game on the PCE is a Super CD game and was released after the other games in the series, which were regular CD-ROM games. So the first game was released after Valis 4.
Happy New year, loving these Valis comparison vids and I look forward to Valis III & Valis IV comparable vids. One thing to note on the PCE version of Valis II, it looks inferior to Valis 1 because Valis 1 on PCE was actually made after the ports of Valis II, Valis III & Valis IV. Valis II was the first to appear on the PCE in 1989, then Valis III released in 1990, and Valis IV in 1991, all of which were on PCE-CDRom. then Riot/Telenet released a "remaster" port of Valis: The Phantasm Solider on PCE's Super CD-Rom2 format in 1992. thus why that game looks superior than the others.
I would also add that playing on 8MHz mode make PC-8801 version much smoother. I assume that the game was made with later PC-88s in mind since it came out when they were already available, so there's no reason to play on slower 4MHz setting. I played it on my PC-8801MA2 with 8MHz and it had a pretty decent scrolling and gameplay speed by PC-88 standards.
Valis truly owns its popularity from one youtuber Valis77, whom was notoriously obsessed with this game. It was him made Valis an obscure relic into a front face of retro nostalgia.
Valis II is indeed way better and has the most bizarre ports. You are no longer being pummeled from all sides in the giant mazes and the game is more straightforward. Also, Telenet was not known for good translations. The PC Engine/Turbograpx CD version's mistranslations are hilarious.
If you hadn't mentioned "Syd" I was gonna :) As I understand it, the American localizer apparently didn't understand the concept of SD or "Super-Deformed" and thought SD was supposed to be a name. Have no idea if that's actually the truth, but I recall reading about the screw-up back in the 90s. I've never played that version (only having played Valis and Valis III for the Genesis/Mega Drive, and Super Valis IV for the SNES/Super Famicom). Excellent video as always, and Happy (belated) New Year!
I purchased Valis III for the Sega Genesis solely based on it being in the same magazine ad as Gaiares (which I previously bought and loved). Haha Looking forward to the Valis III video.
@@RetroCore SNES Valis 4 I like quite a bit but it's not a particularly great game. I love the wepon select mechanic and the soundtrack but it's not the same experience as the PCE version which has an actual plot and a lot more depth with it's character switching. Still a good game but not PCE good
I did beat Syd of Valis once. They left the Game Over and Staff Roll texts untranslated. By the music and the font, I think it was developed on a MSX2 computer.
When I first saw that upon beating the game it left me with so much. Questions on why? Were they THAT lazy? Did they not think anyone would beat it in the west? Did they run out of time? Idk but it kinda fits the game's overall feel: a big messy parody
My theory: nobody told the translators what SD stood for, not that they would have known what super deformed was anyway. They could have gone with "Ugly Valis" for how crappy the Genesis game looks :D
This is exactly it. In the USA, only an otaku would know what "super deformed" means. Otherwise, calling a person "deformed" is usually seen as an offensive slur.
Great battle as always Mark! Never really got into this series.. outside of a quick look to get a feel for the games. think the later SNES version was the only one I put any hours into. Looking forward to the next Valis Battle 😄 Happy New Year.
For all the extra colors that X68000 bring to Valis II, I was surprised to see that it's missing some facial expressions in the crucial cutscene midgame when Reiko talks some sense into Yuko. I've always been more partial to the PC-88 for its music and story.
Try the Roland MT-32 from 1988 and on. You may not have had speech in most games, but the music quality was incredible. Yes, earlier IBM PC games sounded terrible, but by 1988-89 PC music took a massive jump. And Adlib released for the IBM PC in 1987 but didn't really see adoption of it for audio until the next year or so. The major issue for IBM PC is that by default the IBM PC did not have a sound standard included aside from the standard PC Speaker. This harkens back to the fact that the IBM PC was predominately designed and created to function as a business computer that eventually made its way into homes. Aside from that, yeah, IBM PC computers had terrible default sound, but the great thing about the design was that you could expand the machine to your tastes.
The Roland MT32 is indeed great but was very expensive. The X68000 can also use the MT32 although most stuff sounds better with the inbuilt FM and PCM audio.
Loving these Valis videos! It's become one of my new favorite series as of late and I'm hopeful they have some good things for the anniversary this year. Really hoping for a compilation of sorts or a new game, like a remake of the computer II or MD/PCE 1! I also still can't get over how SD Valis goes from epic music found in the PCE/computer versions, to awful audio that's intolerable to hear. I have no clue what they did with that one
Well believe it or not the Japanese rights holders DID announce a Valis Collection for Switch. Had to kickstart it and it's just the PCE versions of Valis 1-3 (no 4?!) but it's SOMETHING!
Well done with the Valis games, Yakumo. In my case I own all three Mega Drive games. In case of why Yuko is renamed "Syd" in Syd of Valis, I guess that "Syd" stands for "Super Yuko Deformed" or something like that. It's the only thing I can come up with. I suppose subsequent Valis games are out of the question for more Battle of the Ports since basically there's only the PC Engine CD and Mega Drive versions for Valis III, and the PC Engine CD and SNES versions for Valis IV/Super Valis.
@@RetroCore Oh, that's great to know. I believe it's going to be your first Battle of the Ports with only two versions of the game? Anyway, it's good you are doing it still.
There had to be a better solution to localizing SD Valis than Syd of Valis. What a bizarre situation. Sad to hear that the X68000 version is not so good, especially with the great hardware it had at the time. What a waste as it should have been so much more. Nice to see how the series started to evolve. It sounds like they fixed a lot of problems of the original, and the improvements will continue to the next one as many of us know very well.
That Mega Drive/Genesis port, though. It somehow looks like it's some odd generic parody type game that they'd play in a TV show, say a mainstream sitcom with a family audience. Like it's somehow not a real game and created by someone who has the barest exposure to Japanese animation and manga style.
Somehow I new this was going to be awesome after the last BOTP, great video Mark, can't wait for your next BOTP video in this awesome series, if anything It'll give me a break from watching your SF Alpha 2/3 & UN Squadron BOTP's videos so much lol! :)
Pc-8801 is the best for me. I do own and player this version with the Msx2. If you play the pc-8801 on 8Mhz mode, it is very playable and fast enoght to envoy it. And since it has the best audio, it beat the Msx2 version easy. Please give it a try on 8Mhz, and you might reconsider !
I will also say that it is cool that Valis 4 just got a release on the Switch SNES list of games. Seen a lot of people playing it for the first time. Weird that they started with that one but whatever. It still exposes a lot of people to Wolfteam/Tri Ace. Now if they would only put Megadrive games on the Switch.
I noticed Valis IV on the SNES has the character too close to the right of the screen as well. You really have to wonder why the developers do that, it takes away so much reaction time. Is it just a lazy way to make the game a bit harder and last longer?
PC-8801 surprises me, despite its power limitations the voices and those cinematics are superior to those presented in many 8 and 16 bit versions of this game .... PC-9801 WTF !? It is not supposed that because of its higher number in its name it is not better!? .... MSX2, it is clearly a more superior console why are not the voices? ... SharpX68000, the best version in cinematics and voices, and for the best version since it preserves the original story and narrative why the PCE story changed the game's story for a more friendly and less bloody one; besides that it will be the last time we will see the original character designs that I liked more than the new designs remade for the consoles ... PCE the truth despite being a console with the support of the CD I have mixed feelings since I love the original story but I will not deny the capacity of the turbo CD but if it is a game totally to its version of Valis 1 .... MD I have a great affection for it (◜‿◝) ♡ since it is a unique version even that is not the best It totally stands out from the competition of being the best and chose to be different and unique and that is why it is a mandatory collection regardless of whether you have chosen the best version.
Why there are no voices in the MSX2 version, it's easily explained. To begin with, it's not a console but 'just' a "home computer" (PC). This game was stored on 4 disks that only had 740kB, and most (Japanese) MSX models had like a mere 64kB working RAM, or 128kB at best. So, not much room for that kind of stuff. Only the MSX Turbo R had PCM sample capability. Older MSX models than that, could render very crude (PSG) voice sampling at best, which cost a lot of both RAM (storage as well as working memory) and CPU power. Even "Princess Maker" on the MSX Turbo R had very sparse voice sampling using the PCM.
The second game is a little better. Still kind of clunky but better. I have both the Genesis and Turboduo versions. Was just fooling around with it. Good job with the video Mark. As always it's interesting to compare for historical purpose if nothing else.
Yep, did Snatcher this time last year. Did policenauts too. Here's the Snatcher link - ua-cam.com/video/0Kq_d0TUKS4/v-deo.html And Policenauts - ua-cam.com/video/nSr9ld-KVOo/v-deo.html
Before I actually played the other console games in the series I was almost convinced these were all as good as the Castlevania NES games, sadly their gameplay are not. I was super disappointed to discover that Valis III is pretty much the only excellent game in the series. I'd buy Valis on Turbo CD (or is it PCE only?) if it wasn't so expensive, but it is still very simple compared to III. Valis II on Turbo CD was my first hint of this dull fact and Valis IV on the SNES sealed it. It's sad too, because Telenet was a great developer. I think of them like I think of Technosoft, Sims, Masaya, Ving, Westone and others.
I'm seeing that the Valis remake was Japan only, though the only region issue would be the BIOS, so it would be playable. But if it's as expensive as it sounds, it wouldn't be worth it. I did like Valis IV on PCE quite a bit. It seemed near the level of part three. It wasn't much like the SNES one, though I got some enjoyment out of that too.
My DUO/R is region modded, so that wouldn't be a problem. I just can't justify the price, but at least I can play it in emulation I guess. Valis Super CD does look like the best animated in the series, I've always wanted to see how it plays on real hardware. Valis IV might be more obtainable, I just gave up on it after playing the SNES game. Valis III's level design and story and gameplay just spoiled me. It's not Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi III level, but I'd put Valis III, on Genesis or Turbo CD, on par with Catlevania III or the 16-bit Castlevania games any day. By comparison, Super Valis IV or Valis II play like Pac-Land.
@@gamecomparisons Expensive? All the Valis titles on the PCE go for about $20-$40 each. No CD game for the PCE is region locked, so no region mod is needed (that's for hucards only) I enjoyed all 4 Valis games for the PCE, and I highly recommend picking them all up. If you are lucky you can pick up a full set for around $100.
Hey girls, go dye your hair that nice shade of blue, put on your cutest school outfit and Mary Janes, grab your sword, and fight some bad guys, because Valis has been renewed for another season (game)! Time to get FANTASMIC! PS. Correction, she's fighting the bad guys in her PJs and barefoot? At least get her a pair of slippers and socks before she cuts the bad guys down.
There's a reason Valis II on PC Engine is such a step down from Valis I for PC Engine--Valis II actually was made first, while Valis I was actually at the mid-to-late point of the PC Engine's lifespan.
I want to say I rented Syd of Valis for the Sega Genesis once and didn't know what to make of it, wondering if it was a kid's game, except one where you fight demons? This was a couple of years before I started going to an anime club in 1994 and found out about Superdeformed-type characters. However, I'm a little bit uncertain because there's a small chance I only rented Valis III and am juxtaposing memories of the magazine ad for Syd of Valis over the graphics, just as I also conflate Valis III and Alisia Dragoon in my mind. I think I actually did rent Valis III too and enjoyed it somewhat.
The main thing that needs to be understood with Valis is how bizarre the release schedule was. PCE Valis 2 is so much worse than PCE Valis 1 because Valis 1 was one of the LAST Valis games ever made and is running on System Card 2.0 which is practically a generational leap in power for the PC-Engine. Valis 2, meanwhile, is the first side scroller released on CD-ROM *EVER* and...it shows. What's also interesting is that it appears the PCE version came first with the PC-88 version coming a month later (assuming Wikipedia isn't lying) so the two different versions of the game were developed simultaneously. I can only assume it was so they could add more risque content to the home computer versions as those ones are MUCH more brutal. Both Valis 2s hit the same basic plot points so it doesn't really matter which one you play other than Megas being significantly more evil in the home computer version...arguably too evil. Glames and Ghallager look like jokes compared to him.
I understand what you are saying in regards to the system card but all a System card does is add more memory. It doesn't provide any more processing power. Unlike a Mega CD which added a lot to the Mega Drive in processing power, graphical effects and more sound channels, the PC Engine CD is just a storage medium. This makes the PC Engine even more impressive though. Some of the games on that system can easily compete with a Mega Drive.
@@RetroCore In this case, the Super CD-ROM² (which Valis 1 was on btw), had more buffer RAM than the OG model (256 KB vs 64 KB) as well as updated the BIO’s to 3.0, so to some extent, the Super CD-ROM² was more powerful than its OG counterpart
Well, the PCE CD version looked better, but the Sega 16-bit version played better... However, instead of spending over $400 on a TurboDuo R (Duo RX costs a lot more), I'll be getting the Analogue Duo instead. And the PCE controllers from Polymega. And yes, the American version of the Sega 16-bit port has an ironic title...
Even though they changed the entire game for the PCE release, I enjoyed the game. it being the first Valis game released for the PCE and an early title too, I don't it's a bad entry. Why no mention of the Amazing PCE CD soundtrack? I think it's the best of all 4 games!
Ahh yeah real heartstringer series, shame on a number of Valis II versions Yuko is too far to the right such crazy design. Even I've got to admit this entry is a bit naff but did get some enjoyment from the PCE version.
While none of these versions are particularly great, the PC Engine to me is the best version. It's overall ok, but the first was definitely much better. At the very least the music in Valis II PCE was pretty good. I was honestly thinking that the X68000 version would kill it here, but surprise surprise it was actually worse than the Mega Drive and PC Engine ports. Sad to, all three of those consoles had the ability to put out something so much better than what we got here. Still, I didn't have a terrible time playing this one on my PC Engine so I guess there's that **shrugs**.
Thanks for making this. The series was pretty crappy til the 3rd installment which was just decent. Before that though the games were pretty awful. Would love to see you do an episode on Valis 3 to see how those versions compare.
@@RetroCore To be fair, I myself only recently learned of it (the FM itself through someone else having then myself having the 3rd Valis collection on Switch, the FM cartridge through a recent video talking about the original PC-88 release of Valis 2, which quickly glossed over the other versions when the playthrough was over)
No, I don't think it will and if it does they should not allow certain countries citizens access. Last thing we want is a shit show of Covid19 in the country. Japan is quite fortunate compared to Europe and the States.
Even Castlevania on MS DOS has smoother scrolling than the PC-8801 version. Of course, nothing can beat Megaman on DOS when smooth scrolling is involved, not even Commander Keen...the only good thing about Megaman on DOS being very smooth scrolling even on 286 machines, if DOSBox is to trust. And holy crap, the Megadrive music sounds like lazily done OPL2 music in DOS games or Megadrive music in Genecyst 0.20. Did the composer not even touch the YM2612 and instead make the music in Adlib visual composer and leave the audio engineer to convert the patches for the YM2612?
I'm curious as to why they cut back on the PCM samples in the PC-98 port. I mean, the sound hardware between the PC-88/PC-98 was identical iirc, so it just seems like a weird decision. My guess is that there were complaints about the PC-88 version making you swap through 7 discs, so they wanted to cut down on file size, and scrapping the PCM samples would be the easiest way to do that. Still though, the PC-98 and MSX2 ports are probably the best gameplay-wise, as they run the smoothest. Just a shame the audio was poorly optimized in the MSX2 version. The Sharp X68000, PC Engine CD, and Mega Drive ports are garbage for the systems they are running on. The Sharp X68000 version looks and sounds nice, but has some of the most inconsistent speed I've seen in a platformer, the PC Engine CD version looks like the original Valis on Mega Drive but with better audio, and the Mega Drive version sounds awful compared to every other version. I do think the SD look has a certain charm to it, but that's the most it has going for it.
The PC-9801-86 sound board for the PC-98 lacks the ADPCM RAM and it also didn't come out until 1993. Before that there was the 73 board which would have been capable but it wasn't very popular and very expensive at the time. It also didn't come out until 1991 I believe. And Valis II for PC-98 came out in 1989 so that just leaves the PC-9801-26 board with just the YM2203 FM chip as the option for music and sound. High end models of PC-8801 had the superior soundboard at the time.
It would have been possible for them to add PCM but as Matt Trakker mentioned, the PCM option on the PC9801 was a very expensive extra. So I guess Telenet decided to save the cash on extra discs since not many people would be using them.
The best valis that exists is the sharp x68000, not even those on the pc engine is better, sharp 2 valis is the most obscure and best valis that exists. Melhor Valis do mundo, X68000 até os gráficos e sons são melhores que a concorrência.
Man, the MSX 2 could do better? How? :D The game is very colorful and it does have two background layers, using the classic screen 5 mode. You actually don't see that many MSX 2 games with free scroll to any direction, and the ones which have have a very blocky scroll too. MSX 2 can do smooth vertical scrolling, but not horizontal scrolling, unless you use Screen 4 and a very weird trick that works better on MSX2+ than on MSX2. Konami coders did a freaking miracle with Space Manbow, but most Screen 4 games will actually look very bland like Hydefos. (well, there are some other tricks to do horizontal scroll, but they would NOT work with multi-direction scroll like in Valis 2) Games like Laydock 2 that have smooth horizonal scroll actually requires an MSX2+. But Valis 2 running on a Turbo MSX is very interesting with no slowdowns at all :D This was a very beloved game among the MSX2 users back at the time. - I didn't know SD Valis was a remake of a PC Engine game, as I had never seen Valis 2 on the PCE. Shame they changed the game. But I actually remember having some fun with it.
The NEC PC8801 and 9801 look definitely unplayable in this video. Or would it be because the UA-cam compression or your game capture? And o man, the juggering during the screen scrolling, as well on the MSX2. So actually, every port is lacking something? And we would need a copy and paste smorgasbord collection to create the perfect game?😀 i loved this video and some previous ones, i subscribed to your channel!
And gamers complain about Cyberpunk on base consoles. At least it's the same game, with all the same content. They don't know what is to truly receive a bad port like Valis II on PCE and Mega Drive, just to use them as example.
Those people complaining about Cyberpunk on base consoles are idiots. What did they expect? It was always obvious the game wouldn't run well on those system. Main reason why I got the series X because I knew my One X wasn't going to cut it, let alone a base Xbox One or base PS4.
@@RetroCore Thanks for sharing what you think of the subject. gamers like me, you and your channel’s subscribers who lived in a time when ports 1: They came as the company wanted 2: We had no way to get information in a decent way, we know what a bad port is. The younger ones who badly caught the 6th generation have no idea of what was to have your expectations shattered by inserting the game on the chosen platform. But we know.
Redbook audio with very low quality synthetized instruments, but that cynical level 1 melody is the shet, coming from the darker side of the isekai world Yuko experienced by the end of part 1. (Contrast the heroic theme of the first level of Valis 1 and the melancholy in the theme of Valis 2's first round and you'll see what I mean). It's still a bland game overall, though
I love the graphics of the X68000 version, but the gameplay is a dissapointment and a turn off. And the music on the PC-Engine CD game is a bit better at times than the home computer versions. but yeah,the graphics are not as good. So if you ask me, this game has no definitive version. I wanna like it,but i just can't hehe.
You aren't wrong about the western TG-CD version having atrocious acting. It still amazes me that Ys Book I and II got voicework that was worth half a shit, given the standards of the era. How come you couldn't show the JP version? Need the BIN/CUE? I do think comparing it to the remake of Mugen Senshi Valis is a bit unfair, as that game was released well after this, and took advantage of the extra memory the Super CD format offered.
The dub thing is actually very easy to guess. Ys Book I and II is one of the launch games of the Turbo CD system in North America and clearly NEC went high on expectations with that. But when they realized they were underperforming, they switched to far worse but I'm sure way more cheap dubs to all their subsequent dubbed releases, sadly including Ys III and the Valis games too among others. They are hilarious, especially for those of us who are not English native speakers.
No, I actually own the Japanese game but it seems to have problems plying. I have a feeling the dreaded bit rot has attached that disc. So I downloaded the US release. Couldn't find a Japanese version in the short time window i had.
@@RetroCore Odd, thought that issue had mostly been licked in the mid-80s. Maybe a bad batch, or problems with your PCE? Have you tried ripping the game?
I love it: a parallel world of exotic computers. It’s great to explore and learn about these 80s and early 90s japanese computers.
Tip: There's a patch for the MSX2 game that enables the turbo, enhances the drumkit and adds support for a 2nd PSG, so the drums won't stop when the sound effects are played.
There was just something about Telenet/WolfTeam! Their games were not the best, but they were still cool. Hard to explain. Really early in the Japanese home computer scene like Game Arts. I think a special episode dedicated to this developer would be interesting and awesome. Loved Valis!
I think it was the design of them which made them appealing. Awful games in many cases but with interesting ideas.
Wolf Team left Telenet Japan in 87, so this was a Reno (Renovation Game) production (note Reno, Riot and at the time Wolf Team till 87, were all part of Telenet Japan).
Thank you Mark. I appreciate you stopping by to make a comment. Always a pleasure to have you on the Neo-Geo thread, and seeing you in action on your channel doing what you do best bro. 8^)
Anthony..
The MSX2 port is for me the best. Happy new year to all of you!
The 68000 attack animation is hilarious XD, just moving the sword like crazy
it is also rapid fire believe it or not.
Such clean voice samples, and on floppy discs, once again, really impressive.
7:33 Valis II was actually the first Valis game released on the PC Engine. Oddly enough, Valis I was the last in the series released on the PC Engine.
This is basically the opposite of the first Valis, where the PC-88 version is actually the best version and the other versions are actually worse!
Ah, I guess it was Valis 2 I played on the X68000. I'm going to load it up after this video. I was really unimpressed, considering that it is an X68k game. BTW, the first Valis game on the PCE is a Super CD game and was released after the other games in the series, which were regular CD-ROM games. So the first game was released after Valis 4.
Yeah, that's true. Very odd how they released the first game, last.
@@RetroCore Do you know that Valis is getting a reboot? www.valis-game.com/
Happy New year, loving these Valis comparison vids and I look forward to Valis III & Valis IV comparable vids.
One thing to note on the PCE version of Valis II, it looks inferior to Valis 1 because Valis 1 on PCE was actually made after the ports of Valis II, Valis III & Valis IV. Valis II was the first to appear on the PCE in 1989, then Valis III released in 1990, and Valis IV in 1991, all of which were on PCE-CDRom. then Riot/Telenet released a "remaster" port of Valis: The Phantasm Solider on PCE's Super CD-Rom2 format in 1992. thus why that game looks superior than the others.
Just what I wanted to say! lol
I actually think Valis 2 was a solid title for the PCE CD being such an early release..
con razón rogles se ve mucho mejor en el primer juego xD
I would also add that playing on 8MHz mode make PC-8801 version much smoother. I assume that the game was made with later PC-88s in mind since it came out when they were already available, so there's no reason to play on slower 4MHz setting. I played it on my PC-8801MA2 with 8MHz and it had a pretty decent scrolling and gameplay speed by PC-88 standards.
I guess that would have helped.
Now I understand why Valis III seems to be the most sought after game.
Yep, Valis III is easily the best one
Valis IV is also excellent too.
I played to death the MSX2 version. To me is by far the best version...
Happy New Year Mark
The MSX 2 version probably is the best since it follows the original better than the Sharp X68000. I just wish it had been a little more polished.
@@RetroCore somebody did enhance the msx 2 version it a little www.msx.org/news/en/valis-ii-the-fantasm-soldier-drum-kit-enhancement-patch
So glad to see you doing this series!
Part 3 is next week.
@@RetroCore Are you doing Part 4 as well?
Happy New Year Mark! Great video, as always. Looking forward to many more BOTPs this year.
Love the comparisons
"fucked up an X68000 port"
That must look nice on your résumé
It's like saying "I have no talent" 🤣
Valis truly owns its popularity from one youtuber Valis77, whom was notoriously obsessed with this game. It was him made Valis an obscure relic into a front face of retro nostalgia.
I've never heard of Valis77 but have loved the Valis games since the late 80's so I guess not all Valis fans were influenced by Valis77.
Valis II I haven’t played. And I didn’t know Sid Valis was actually Valis 2 SD based on the Mega Drive port! Thanks for the review!
you're welcome.
Valis II is indeed way better and has the most bizarre ports.
You are no longer being pummeled from all sides in the giant mazes and the game is more straightforward.
Also, Telenet was not known for good translations. The PC Engine/Turbograpx CD version's mistranslations are hilarious.
7:20 “friend”. Makes me wonder how that scene plays out in Japanese.
lol, more than just a friend I'd say :p
Reiko: 私の...初めての...友.......ありがとう。
(My...first...friend...thank you.)
Yuko: 麗子！
(REIKO!)
Insert Gratuitous panty shot...
If you hadn't mentioned "Syd" I was gonna :) As I understand it, the American localizer apparently didn't understand the concept of SD or "Super-Deformed" and thought SD was supposed to be a name. Have no idea if that's actually the truth, but I recall reading about the screw-up back in the 90s. I've never played that version (only having played Valis and Valis III for the Genesis/Mega Drive, and Super Valis IV for the SNES/Super Famicom). Excellent video as always, and Happy (belated) New Year!
I think I remember reading something like that in EGM or Game Fan.
Happy New year to you, too. 👍
I purchased Valis III for the Sega Genesis solely based on it being in the same magazine ad as Gaiares (which I previously bought and loved). Haha
Looking forward to the Valis III video.
Valis III is vastly better than part 2, thankfully.
Great music in this series
I still have the music from the PC Engine version on my MP3 player and phone.
Valis II on PC-88\98\MSX2 is so much better than the Turbografx version. Such a shame it has a quite low fps, though !
Also, whoever owns the rights to this needs to make “Valis Trilogy”. A cleaned up old school trilogy for new consoles (shovel knight style)
There's a website w/a Twitter called "revival project", seems like they're planning to bring the series back which I'm hoping comes
But there are 4 games in the series, not counting the final hentai entry.
this is true. The fourth was only released in Japan on the PC Engine and not widely known for it's US SNES release.
@@RetroCore SNES Valis 4 I like quite a bit but it's not a particularly great game. I love the wepon select mechanic and the soundtrack but it's not the same experience as the PCE version which has an actual plot and a lot more depth with it's character switching. Still a good game but not PCE good
There is a compilation of them for Windows but I don't know very much about It.
Hell yeah MORE VALIS COMPARISONS, I have clearly subbed to the best channel on the ‘tube
👍 More Valis next week too.
I did beat Syd of Valis once. They left the Game Over and Staff Roll texts untranslated. By the music and the font, I think it was developed on a MSX2 computer.
When I first saw that upon beating the game it left me with so much. Questions on why? Were they THAT lazy? Did they not think anyone would beat it in the west? Did they run out of time? Idk but it kinda fits the game's overall feel: a big messy parody
really? So the US version still has Japanese credits? That is very lazy.
The US version of SD Valis has a very "weird" feature: Renovation Products made a cheat code which mutes the entire game soundtrack.
very strange cheap but maybe because the soundtrack on that game isn't too good?
My theory: nobody told the translators what SD stood for, not that they would have known what super deformed was anyway. They could have gone with "Ugly Valis" for how crappy the Genesis game looks :D
This is exactly it. In the USA, only an otaku would know what "super deformed" means. Otherwise, calling a person "deformed" is usually seen as an offensive slur.
Great battle as always Mark! Never really got into this series.. outside of a quick look to get a feel for the games. think the later SNES version was the only one I put any hours into. Looking forward to the next Valis Battle 😄 Happy New Year.
Ah, the SNES game is okay but not a patch on part 3. That has so much atmosphere.
may we just give a toast to that digitised psg ish snare telenet likes using so mutch?
For all the extra colors that X68000 bring to Valis II, I was surprised to see that it's missing some facial expressions in the crucial cutscene midgame when Reiko talks some sense into Yuko.
I've always been more partial to the PC-88 for its music and story.
The PC88 music is really good.
Nice! Another Telenet episode! 😊👍
Happy New Year 2021 and a very belated Merry Christmas to you.
Try the Roland MT-32 from 1988 and on. You may not have had speech in most games, but the music quality was incredible. Yes, earlier IBM PC games sounded terrible, but by 1988-89 PC music took a massive jump. And Adlib released for the IBM PC in 1987 but didn't really see adoption of it for audio until the next year or so. The major issue for IBM PC is that by default the IBM PC did not have a sound standard included aside from the standard PC Speaker. This harkens back to the fact that the IBM PC was predominately designed and created to function as a business computer that eventually made its way into homes. Aside from that, yeah, IBM PC computers had terrible default sound, but the great thing about the design was that you could expand the machine to your tastes.
The Roland MT32 is indeed great but was very expensive. The X68000 can also use the MT32 although most stuff sounds better with the inbuilt FM and PCM audio.
Who cares if DOS couldn't replicate the sounds of the PC-88.... We had SID in 1982 ;-) Happy New Year Mark, great video as always.
The SID was very cool, especially a few years later when people really started to get to grips with it.
Loving these Valis videos! It's become one of my new favorite series as of late and I'm hopeful they have some good things for the anniversary this year. Really hoping for a compilation of sorts or a new game, like a remake of the computer II or MD/PCE 1! I also still can't get over how SD Valis goes from epic music found in the PCE/computer versions, to awful audio that's intolerable to hear. I have no clue what they did with that one
Well believe it or not the Japanese rights holders DID announce a Valis Collection for Switch. Had to kickstart it and it's just the PCE versions of Valis 1-3 (no 4?!) but it's SOMETHING!
Well done with the Valis games, Yakumo. In my case I own all three Mega Drive games. In case of why Yuko is renamed "Syd" in Syd of Valis, I guess that "Syd" stands for "Super Yuko Deformed" or something like that. It's the only thing I can come up with. I suppose subsequent Valis games are out of the question for more Battle of the Ports since basically there's only the PC Engine CD and Mega Drive versions for Valis III, and the PC Engine CD and SNES versions for Valis IV/Super Valis.
Ah, that is right but I will be doing III :) Maybe do something a little special such as comparing the music.
@@RetroCore Oh, that's great to know. I believe it's going to be your first Battle of the Ports with only two versions of the game? Anyway, it's good you are doing it still.
Battle of the ports♥️♥️♥️ The only positive from 2020♥️♥️♥️
@@FloridaEbikes 🤣 okay the second positive from 2020👍
There had to be a better solution to localizing SD Valis than Syd of Valis. What a bizarre situation. Sad to hear that the X68000 version is not so good, especially with the great hardware it had at the time. What a waste as it should have been so much more. Nice to see how the series started to evolve. It sounds like they fixed a lot of problems of the original, and the improvements will continue to the next one as many of us know very well.
That Mega Drive/Genesis port, though. It somehow looks like it's some odd generic parody type game that they'd play in a TV show, say a mainstream sitcom with a family audience. Like it's somehow not a real game and created by someone who has the barest exposure to Japanese animation and manga style.
新年あけましておめでとうございます！
and a Happy new year to you, too.
Somehow I new this was going to be awesome after the last BOTP, great video Mark, can't wait for your next BOTP video in this awesome series, if anything It'll give me a break from watching your SF Alpha 2/3 & UN Squadron BOTP's videos so much lol! :)
I am planning to do part III the following week 👍
@@RetroCore Valis III? With only the PC Engine CD and Mega Drive versions? I'm surprised, but thankful you are actually going to do that.
Hmm. Welp, you got me stumped on another title I'm unfamiliar with Mark. So this will be new for me for sure. Happy New Year bro. 8^)
Anthony..
i kinda like the mega drive version chibi artstyle looks very cute
It is cute but they should have made that as well as a proper part II.
Pc-8801 is the best for me.
I do own and player this version with the Msx2. If you play the pc-8801 on 8Mhz mode, it is very playable and fast enoght to envoy it. And since it has the best audio, it beat the Msx2 version easy. Please give it a try on 8Mhz, and you might reconsider !
There's also a patch to enable the turbo, enhance the drums and add support for a 2nd psg (for the sound effects). 😉
Also Happy New Years to you & your family Mark! :)
Thanks, Happy New Year to you too.
Happy new year!!!
🎉 Happy New Year!
I will also say that it is cool that Valis 4 just got a release on the Switch SNES list of games. Seen a lot of people playing it for the first time. Weird that they started with that one but whatever. It still exposes a lot of people to Wolfteam/Tri Ace. Now if they would only put Megadrive games on the Switch.
Well, they can look forward to part 3 but after that, well..... Part 1 on the PC Engine is worth playing but maybe nothing else.
I've only played the PCE versions of the Valis series. I quite like them.
Try part 3 on the Mega Drive. I think you'll like that one.
@@RetroCore Thanks. I'll give it a try.
I noticed Valis IV on the SNES has the character too close to the right of the screen as well. You really have to wonder why the developers do that, it takes away so much reaction time. Is it just a lazy way to make the game a bit harder and last longer?
PC-8801 surprises me, despite its power limitations the voices and those cinematics are superior to those presented in many 8 and 16 bit versions of this game .... PC-9801 WTF !? It is not supposed that because of its higher number in its name it is not better!? .... MSX2, it is clearly a more superior console why are not the voices? ... SharpX68000, the best version in cinematics and voices, and for the best version since it preserves the original story and narrative why the PCE story changed the game's story for a more friendly and less bloody one; besides that it will be the last time we will see the original character designs that I liked more than the new designs remade for the consoles ... PCE the truth despite being a console with the support of the CD I have mixed feelings since I love the original story but I will not deny the capacity of the turbo CD but if it is a game totally to its version of Valis 1 .... MD I have a great affection for it (◜‿◝) ♡ since it is a unique version even that is not the best It totally stands out from the competition of being the best and chose to be different and unique and that is why it is a mandatory collection regardless of whether you have chosen the best version.
Why there are no voices in the MSX2 version, it's easily explained. To begin with, it's not a console but 'just' a "home computer" (PC). This game was stored on 4 disks that only had 740kB, and most (Japanese) MSX models had like a mere 64kB working RAM, or 128kB at best. So, not much room for that kind of stuff.
Only the MSX Turbo R had PCM sample capability. Older MSX models than that, could render very crude (PSG) voice sampling at best, which cost a lot of both RAM (storage as well as working memory) and CPU power.
Even "Princess Maker" on the MSX Turbo R had very sparse voice sampling using the PCM.
The second game is a little better. Still kind of clunky but better. I have both the Genesis and Turboduo versions. Was just fooling around with it. Good job with the video Mark. As always it's interesting to compare for historical purpose if nothing else.
Liked you channel very much! Kudos!! Had you already done a Snatcher comparison?
Yep, did Snatcher this time last year. Did policenauts too. Here's the Snatcher link - ua-cam.com/video/0Kq_d0TUKS4/v-deo.html
And Policenauts - ua-cam.com/video/nSr9ld-KVOo/v-deo.html
@@RetroCore Nice!! Watching them right now. Thanks!
Before I actually played the other console games in the series I was almost convinced these were all as good as the Castlevania NES games, sadly their gameplay are not. I was super disappointed to discover that Valis III is pretty much the only excellent game in the series. I'd buy Valis on Turbo CD (or is it PCE only?) if it wasn't so expensive, but it is still very simple compared to III. Valis II on Turbo CD was my first hint of this dull fact and Valis IV on the SNES sealed it. It's sad too, because Telenet was a great developer. I think of them like I think of Technosoft, Sims, Masaya, Ving, Westone and others.
I'm seeing that the Valis remake was Japan only, though the only region issue would be the BIOS, so it would be playable. But if it's as expensive as it sounds, it wouldn't be worth it. I did like Valis IV on PCE quite a bit. It seemed near the level of part three. It wasn't much like the SNES one, though I got some enjoyment out of that too.
My DUO/R is region modded, so that wouldn't be a problem. I just can't justify the price, but at least I can play it in emulation I guess. Valis Super CD does look like the best animated in the series, I've always wanted to see how it plays on real hardware. Valis IV might be more obtainable, I just gave up on it after playing the SNES game.
Valis III's level design and story and gameplay just spoiled me. It's not Revenge of Shinobi or Shinobi III level, but I'd put Valis III, on Genesis or Turbo CD, on par with Catlevania III or the 16-bit Castlevania games any day. By comparison, Super Valis IV or Valis II play like Pac-Land.
@@gamecomparisons Expensive? All the Valis titles on the PCE go for about $20-$40 each.
No CD game for the PCE is region locked, so no region mod is needed (that's for hucards only)
I enjoyed all 4 Valis games for the PCE, and I highly recommend picking them all up. If you are lucky you can pick up a full set for around $100.
Hey girls, go dye your hair that nice shade of blue, put on your cutest school outfit and Mary Janes, grab your sword, and fight some bad guys, because Valis has been renewed for another season (game)! Time to get FANTASMIC!
PS. Correction, she's fighting the bad guys in her PJs and barefoot? At least get her a pair of slippers and socks before she cuts the bad guys down.
One ponders if the PC-88 and 98 machines had options for, turbo cards or such. And whether or not some extra MHz might make them more playable.
This is Valis II running at 8MHz on a PC-8801MC. ua-cam.com/video/JvLdq_ZYALE/v-deo.html
The later PC-88 systems could run in 8Mhz mode rather than 4Mhz. That would help.
I wonder what kind of sake the guys who did the Mega Drive version were drinking to think that was a good idea. xD
Plus it breaks the continuity in the Mega Drive series of Valis games pretty bad.
Lol, probably not very good sake for them to come up with that silly idea.
Excellent video, Mark, but you and I both know the only good description of Syd of Valis is "Sack of cack" ;).
lo, indeed. Massive sack of cack that game is.
There's a reason Valis II on PC Engine is such a step down from Valis I for PC Engine--Valis II actually was made first, while Valis I was actually at the mid-to-late point of the PC Engine's lifespan.
It was made in 89 (6 months after the PC-Engine CD came out in Japan), while Valis 1, was made in 92 (when the Super CD was a thing)
Nice
I stick with the
Sharp X68000 . Music is awesome.
I want to say I rented Syd of Valis for the Sega Genesis once and didn't know what to make of it, wondering if it was a kid's game, except one where you fight demons? This was a couple of years before I started going to an anime club in 1994 and found out about Superdeformed-type characters.
However, I'm a little bit uncertain because there's a small chance I only rented Valis III and am juxtaposing memories of the magazine ad for Syd of Valis over the graphics, just as I also conflate Valis III and Alisia Dragoon in my mind. I think I actually did rent Valis III too and enjoyed it somewhat.
Alisia Dragoon is the better game right there.
@@RetroCore I know but I still like the 1980s style anime presentation of the Valis series.
The main thing that needs to be understood with Valis is how bizarre the release schedule was. PCE Valis 2 is so much worse than PCE Valis 1 because Valis 1 was one of the LAST Valis games ever made and is running on System Card 2.0 which is practically a generational leap in power for the PC-Engine. Valis 2, meanwhile, is the first side scroller released on CD-ROM *EVER* and...it shows. What's also interesting is that it appears the PCE version came first with the PC-88 version coming a month later (assuming Wikipedia isn't lying) so the two different versions of the game were developed simultaneously. I can only assume it was so they could add more risque content to the home computer versions as those ones are MUCH more brutal. Both Valis 2s hit the same basic plot points so it doesn't really matter which one you play other than Megas being significantly more evil in the home computer version...arguably too evil. Glames and Ghallager look like jokes compared to him.
I understand what you are saying in regards to the system card but all a System card does is add more memory. It doesn't provide any more processing power. Unlike a Mega CD which added a lot to the Mega Drive in processing power, graphical effects and more sound channels, the PC Engine CD is just a storage medium. This makes the PC Engine even more impressive though. Some of the games on that system can easily compete with a Mega Drive.
@@RetroCore In this case, the Super CD-ROM² (which Valis 1 was on btw), had more buffer RAM than the OG model (256 KB vs 64 KB) as well as updated the BIO’s to 3.0, so to some extent, the Super CD-ROM² was more powerful than its OG counterpart
Well, the PCE CD version looked better, but the Sega 16-bit version played better... However, instead of spending over $400 on a TurboDuo R (Duo RX costs a lot more), I'll be getting the Analogue Duo instead. And the PCE controllers from Polymega.
And yes, the American version of the Sega 16-bit port has an ironic title...
Even though they changed the entire game for the PCE release, I enjoyed the game.
it being the first Valis game released for the PCE and an early title too, I don't it's a bad entry.
Why no mention of the Amazing PCE CD soundtrack? I think it's the best of all 4 games!
I don't think the soundtrack on PcE Valis 2 is very good. That's why I used the PC88 music for the opening and ending.
PC Engine Valis II Yuko looks like she has a hunchback
that she does.
7:26 Heloooo, old anime dubbing quality.
Ahh yeah real heartstringer series, shame on a number of Valis II versions Yuko is too far to the right such crazy design. Even I've got to admit this entry is a bit naff but did get some enjoyment from the PCE version.
yep, part 2 is the worst for consoles, at least
While none of these versions are particularly great, the PC Engine to me is the best version. It's overall ok, but the first was definitely much better. At the very least the music in Valis II PCE was pretty good. I was honestly thinking that the X68000 version would kill it here, but surprise surprise it was actually worse than the Mega Drive and PC Engine ports. Sad to, all three of those consoles had the ability to put out something so much better than what we got here. Still, I didn't have a terrible time playing this one on my PC Engine so I guess there's that **shrugs**.
Thanks for making this. The series was pretty crappy til the 3rd installment which was just decent. Before that though the games were pretty awful. Would love to see you do an episode on Valis 3 to see how those versions compare.
Valis 3 only has two versions but I'll be covering it 👍
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the MSX2 version of the game has support for FM sounds (via Panasonic’s Pana
Amusement Cartridge)
I probably doesn't know at the time.
@@RetroCore To be fair, I myself only recently learned of it (the FM itself through someone else having then myself having the 3rd Valis collection on Switch, the FM cartridge through a recent video talking about the original PC-88 release of Valis 2, which quickly glossed over the other versions when the playthrough was over)
Do you think the Olympics will actually go ahead in Japan this year ?
No, I don't think it will and if it does they should not allow certain countries citizens access. Last thing we want is a shit show of Covid19 in the country. Japan is quite fortunate compared to Europe and the States.
MSX2 버전이 제일 나은 듯... PC엔진 버전은 모션이 좀 아쉽고, MD 버전은 SD라서 논외.
It's a shame the Mega Drive version was SD.
Even Castlevania on MS DOS has smoother scrolling than the PC-8801 version. Of course, nothing can beat Megaman on DOS when smooth scrolling is involved, not even Commander Keen...the only good thing about Megaman on DOS being very smooth scrolling even on 286 machines, if DOSBox is to trust.
And holy crap, the Megadrive music sounds like lazily done OPL2 music in DOS games or Megadrive music in Genecyst 0.20. Did the composer not even touch the YM2612 and instead make the music in Adlib visual composer and leave the audio engineer to convert the patches for the YM2612?
I'm curious as to why they cut back on the PCM samples in the PC-98 port. I mean, the sound hardware between the PC-88/PC-98 was identical iirc, so it just seems like a weird decision. My guess is that there were complaints about the PC-88 version making you swap through 7 discs, so they wanted to cut down on file size, and scrapping the PCM samples would be the easiest way to do that. Still though, the PC-98 and MSX2 ports are probably the best gameplay-wise, as they run the smoothest. Just a shame the audio was poorly optimized in the MSX2 version. The Sharp X68000, PC Engine CD, and Mega Drive ports are garbage for the systems they are running on. The Sharp X68000 version looks and sounds nice, but has some of the most inconsistent speed I've seen in a platformer, the PC Engine CD version looks like the original Valis on Mega Drive but with better audio, and the Mega Drive version sounds awful compared to every other version. I do think the SD look has a certain charm to it, but that's the most it has going for it.
The PC-9801-86 sound board for the PC-98 lacks the ADPCM RAM and it also didn't come out until 1993. Before that there was the 73 board which would have been capable but it wasn't very popular and very expensive at the time. It also didn't come out until 1991 I believe. And Valis II for PC-98 came out in 1989 so that just leaves the PC-9801-26 board with just the YM2203 FM chip as the option for music and sound. High end models of PC-8801 had the superior soundboard at the time.
It would have been possible for them to add PCM but as Matt Trakker mentioned, the PCM option on the PC9801 was a very expensive extra. So I guess Telenet decided to save the cash on extra discs since not many people would be using them.
Wow it looks like Zeliard!!
The best valis that exists is the sharp x68000, not even those on the pc engine is better, sharp 2 valis is the most obscure and best valis that exists. Melhor Valis do mundo, X68000 até os gráficos e sons são melhores que a concorrência.
Man, the MSX 2 could do better? How? :D
The game is very colorful and it does have two background layers, using the classic screen 5 mode.
You actually don't see that many MSX 2 games with free scroll to any direction, and the ones which have have a very blocky scroll too. MSX 2 can do smooth vertical scrolling, but not horizontal scrolling, unless you use Screen 4 and a very weird trick that works better on MSX2+ than on MSX2. Konami coders did a freaking miracle with Space Manbow, but most Screen 4 games will actually look very bland like Hydefos. (well, there are some other tricks to do horizontal scroll, but they would NOT work with multi-direction scroll like in Valis 2)
Games like Laydock 2 that have smooth horizonal scroll actually requires an MSX2+.
But Valis 2 running on a Turbo MSX is very interesting with no slowdowns at all :D This was a very beloved game among the MSX2 users back at the time.
-
I didn't know SD Valis was a remake of a PC Engine game, as I had never seen Valis 2 on the PCE. Shame they changed the game. But I actually remember having some fun with it.
How the MSX2 could have done better? Take a look at this video:
ua-cam.com/video/NK68rKW7Wmk/v-deo.html
The NEC PC8801 and 9801 look definitely unplayable in this video. Or would it be because the UA-cam compression or your game capture? And o man, the juggering during the screen scrolling, as well on the MSX2. So actually, every port is lacking something? And we would need a copy and paste smorgasbord collection to create the perfect game?😀 i loved this video and some previous ones, i subscribed to your channel!
They look bad but aren't too bad to control.
Still can't look at the first view versions, that scrolling is just eye murder.
And gamers complain about Cyberpunk on base consoles. At least it's the same game, with all the same content. They don't know what is to truly receive a bad port like Valis II on PCE and Mega Drive, just to use them as example.
Those people complaining about Cyberpunk on base consoles are idiots. What did they expect? It was always obvious the game wouldn't run well on those system. Main reason why I got the series X because I knew my One X wasn't going to cut it, let alone a base Xbox One or base PS4.
@@RetroCore Thanks for sharing what you think of the subject. gamers like me, you and your channel’s subscribers who lived in a time when ports 1: They came as the company wanted 2: We had no way to get information in a decent way, we know what a bad port is. The younger ones who badly caught the 6th generation have no idea of what was to have your expectations shattered by inserting the game on the chosen platform. But we know.
Why of all places is she at Shin-Koiwa station in the MD version?? 🤣
It's a mystery 😅. Maybe that's a favourite name of the developer.
At least the PCECD Version sounds like it has a decent soundtrack. Redbook audio?
Redbook audio with very low quality synthetized instruments, but that cynical level 1 melody is the shet, coming from the darker side of the isekai world Yuko experienced by the end of part 1. (Contrast the heroic theme of the first level of Valis 1 and the melancholy in the theme of Valis 2's first round and you'll see what I mean).
It's still a bland game overall, though
The real question, Mark. Are you going to finish the entire series and do Valis X? Lol. Kidding. Don't do that...
I would prefer never to think of Valis X again. As a fan of the series, that pissed me off.
lol, nope, no Valis X I'm afraid. I probably won't do 4 either since it is only on the PC Engine CD and SFC.
@@RetroCore And the SFC version has practically no story. SUCH a disappointment after the Megadrive I and III.
Actually the msx2 can only natively scroll verticly not horizontally.
If the same criteria is applied, neither can the C64... 😏
wrong its until tandy 1000 release, MS DOS game with tandy sound pretty much the best of MSDOS until soundblaster show up in market.
which valis games are actually good? it seems like people are more into the presentation than the gameplay
Part 3 is the best. That's actually a very solid game.
Isn't there a Sega CD port of this game as well?
Nope, just mega Drive.
I think the only thing going for these games is a cute heroine.
You have got a point for parts 1 and 2. Part 3 is a decent game though.
@@RetroCore Can't wait for that one.
So, the best port is... skipping this to play Valis 3?
Valis III coming next week :)
They crashed and burned in the sequel
Yep, they sure did.
I love the graphics of the X68000 version, but the gameplay is a dissapointment and a turn off. And the music on the PC-Engine CD game is a bit better at times than the home computer versions. but yeah,the graphics are not as good. So if you ask me, this game has no definitive version. I wanna like it,but i just can't hehe.
Agreed. The X68000 looks nice but it just moves and plays like a mess.
You should do Pac-Attack at some point
It's on the ever growing list.
You aren't wrong about the western TG-CD version having atrocious acting. It still amazes me that Ys Book I and II got voicework that was worth half a shit, given the standards of the era. How come you couldn't show the JP version? Need the BIN/CUE?
I do think comparing it to the remake of Mugen Senshi Valis is a bit unfair, as that game was released well after this, and took advantage of the extra memory the Super CD format offered.
The dub thing is actually very easy to guess. Ys Book I and II is one of the launch games of the Turbo CD system in North America and clearly NEC went high on expectations with that. But when they realized they were underperforming, they switched to far worse but I'm sure way more cheap dubs to all their subsequent dubbed releases, sadly including Ys III and the Valis games too among others. They are hilarious, especially for those of us who are not English native speakers.
No, I actually own the Japanese game but it seems to have problems plying. I have a feeling the dreaded bit rot has attached that disc. So I downloaded the US release. Couldn't find a Japanese version in the short time window i had.
@@RetroCore Odd, thought that issue had mostly been licked in the mid-80s. Maybe a bad batch, or problems with your PCE? Have you tried ripping the game?
The x68000 port sounds amazing and at least the shooter section looks pretty nice but the main gameplay is horrible.
Yep👍
VALIS I is better than VALIS II on PCE bacause it was the last release in the séries and benefects from Super CD format.