78. Valis II (Laser Soft, PC Engine CD (PS3), 1989)

Valis II is a pretty generic 16-bit platformer mechanically speaking. You have a shoot button and a jump button, and while the jump is not terribly fun, it is precise, which is more important. The game has a level based structure and the levels are fairly long. The pace of the game is Castlevania-like: you typically want to move through levels slowly lest enemies group up on you. Enemies are not super fun to fight, so there's also a bit of Mega Man in there in that you are constantly shooting just in case an enemy appears.

There are a variety of powerups: you can have different main shot types and power levels, and you have a secondary item. Definitely my favorite item was a satellite that rotates around you acting as a shield. The game has a decent difficulty to it, but once I was almost out of lives and tried actually learning a boss, I found a way to bea tthe boss without taking damage, so the game definitely seems fair if you're willing to learn its systems, I just don't find enough joy into the mechanics to want to stick it out and master it.

That said, the presentation of the game is great, it has an anime theme and because it was a CD game, there are actual voice acted cutscenes. The story is basically Doom, but with a sword-welding outfit-transforming anime schoolgirl who has to fight through various demon lords of hell. The primitive graphics make the wired body horror look really pop in bright pinks and reds, and the CD quality music at least occasionally slaps.

4/5, average platforming lifted up by great presentation