Like the other titles of the series, Valis II is a side-scrolling platform game. It requires the player to navigate through two-dimensional levels, battling enemies, jumping from ledge to ledge, and running until the player faces a boss at the end of each level. Despite details of the gameplay varying between the versions, all versions do share several similar features with both ', and ' as well. The mobile remake added new stages and alternate costumes and weapons.
Plot
Time passes, and Vecanti is set to rule under its next emperor after Rogles, his brother Megas, who wishes to stamp out any trace of the former tyrant, to the point of murdering any supporters Rogles might have had. Furthermore, his bloodthirsty tendencies recognize Yuko and the Valis sword as viable threats to his claim of the throne, and he orders his minions to eliminate her first before she has the chance to thwart him. Megas, too, falls to her magical blade, and peace once more comes to the dream world, as Yuko again returns home to resume an otherwise ordinary human life.
Release
developed two main versions of Valis II at around the same time. The PC Engine CD-ROM², which was released first, was later published by NEC in North America. The home computer version, believed to have entered development earlier, was released for the PC-88, PC-98, MSX, and Sharp X68000 in Japan, and featured more graphic cutscenes. Another remake of the game was released for the Mega Drive in Japan by Telenet and for the Genesis in North America by Renovation Products. This title features the same gameplay and plot as the original, but the character design was changed to a super deformed style. The North American version of the game incorrectly identifies Yūko as "Syd" and reuses the box art of Naritore the Sugoroku '92 for the front cover. Project EGG released various emulated versions of the game for Windows, along with the 2011 compilation Complete Plus that came with a soundtrack CD and a figure. The PC Engine was also released by SunSoft on the PlayStation Store in 2011. A 1993 CD Valis Visual Collection contains all the cutscenes from the PC Engine version of Valis II.
Reception
''Valis II''
Valis II was generally positively received by critics. Review scores for the PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 version included 74% from The Games Machine, 76% from Italian edition of Computer & Video Games, 70% from Génération 4, 92% from Joystick, 75% from Tilt, and three out of five stars from TurboPlay whose reviewer was impressed by the game's visuals and music but disappointed by its perceived too low difficulty.
''SD Valis''
On the other hand, SD Valis / Syd of Valis was rated just 36% by Consoles+, 56% by Joystick, and 63% from Joypad. Sega Force bashed its "very dull" gameplay despite "great" levels and enemies, predicting that "even platform addicts will only play it for a while." James Scullion from Sega Pro gave SD Valis a mediocre score of 65%, recommending saving money for some other game. Retrospectively, Sebastian Sponsel from Sega-16 scored it only 2 out of 10, stating: "Syd of Valis is a disappointment for fans and non-fans alike It’s like the game was created as a joke, one that the producers didn’t get but released anyway."
