Valis: Mega Drive - Longplay
9The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis remake of Valis: The Fantasm Soldier carried the same average sentiments as the original release from Japanese and Western gaming publications, some of which also reviewed it as an import title. It also received scores of 19.22 out of 30 and 4.909 out of 10 in public polls taken by Mega Drive Fan and the Japanese Sega Saturn Magazine respectively. Famitsu's four reviewers felt that this port more closely followed the Family Computer version. Consoles +' Kaneda Kun found it to be a competent conversion, commending the overall presentation, graphics, animations, music and longevity, but felt mixed regarding its slow playability. Joystick's Olivier Prézeau gave it a more mixed outlook, citing its slow action and short length. Video Games' Andreas Knauf expressed mixed feelings regaring the game's graphical quality and criticized the sound effects, but highlighted its soundtrack in a positive manner. Sega Force's Adrian Pitt bashed its "dull and repetitive" gameplay and declared the following: "High graphical content, low playability level. That's Valis in a nutshell."
Sega Visions regarded it as a fun game, citing its large bosses and cinematics. They also praised the audiovisual presentation, but felt it lacked the depth and challenge compared to other action games, and noted that the slow movement of both Yuko and her enemies may alienate experienced players. Aktueller Software Markt's Heinrich Stiller gave positive remarks to the colorful visuals and audio, but criticized its jerky scrolling, slow pacing and low difficulty. GamePro's Abby Normal gave high remarks to the Genesis release for its graphics, sound, controls and fun. Sega Pro wrote that "it's not worth bothering with this cart (...). If you must, dig it out for a laugh." An editor for the Japanese gaming book Mega Drive Taizen gave an overall negative retrospective outlook to the Mega Drive version for its slow pacing, the character's short attack range, graphics and drastically different characteristics compared to the original release, but the music was positively commended. Sam Derboo of Hardcore Gaming 101 opined that "Valis on the Genesis isn't a bad game, definitely leagues above the original, but still not particularly enjoyable. It's just so slow and boring.