Super Valis IV

Super Valis IV gets moving quickly: Lena runs through a compact side-scrolling fantasy adventure with the Valis sword in hand, chasing the kind of clean, immediate action that made 16-bit platformers easy to pick up. The faster running speed gives her a nice sense of urgency, and finding special items that strengthen her basic sword attack keeps the focus squarely on getting better at the essentials rather than juggling a large set of resources.

That stripped-down approach is both its strength and its limitation. This version removes the other playable protagonists, stages, and cutscenes from the PCE CD release, leaving a shorter, Lena-only journey that can feel brisk but slight. If you want a direct, old-school action platformer with anime-fantasy flavor, it is worth a look; if you want the fullest Valis IV story, this is clearly the reduced version.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The first stretch of Super Valis IV is refreshingly direct. You are Lena, you have the Valis sword, and the game wants you moving through a side-scrolling fantasy world with purpose. Her faster run is an important part of the feel: it gives the action more momentum than a cautious, stop-start platformer and makes the game feel eager to push you forward.

Its version-specific changes create a much leaner action game. Lena cannot slide, and the magic bar and HP- and MP-increasing items are gone. In their place, special equipment enhances her standard sword strike. That means your attention stays on movement and the reliability of your main attack rather than on maintaining a magic resource or building up separate health and magic capacities. It is a clean system, though it also gives the game less room to develop beyond its basic swordplay.

That simplicity will either be a relief or the point where frustration sets in. If you enjoy mastering a straightforward character and want an action platformer that does not bury its fundamentals under extra systems, Lena’s focused toolkit is easy to appreciate. If you came looking for a broader adventure with multiple heroes and more mechanical variety, this SNES version feels pared back rather than elegantly minimal.

Graphics

The game uses a 2D side view and leans into anime and manga fantasy. Lena’s journey is framed as a classic Valis-style sword-and-sorcery adventure, with the action viewed from the side as she presses through its stages.

Cutscenes are part of the package, but this version has fewer of them than the PCE CD release. The result is a more compressed visual telling of its fantasy premise.

Story

Super Valis IV starts from a suitably melodramatic fantasy setup. Prince Gallagher is corrupted by the power of a magical ring, sealed in crystal, then escapes years later with plans to conquer the Dream World. It is the sort of clean villainous threat that immediately tells you why somebody needs to take up a sacred sword.

That somebody is Lena, a young girl who wants to become a Valis warrior. Yuko, heroine of the earlier Valis games, has become a goddess, and Lena must prove she is worthy to wield the sword of Valis. There is a nice passing-of-the-torch idea here: Lena is not merely handed a legacy, but has to earn her place in it.

The catch is that this edition tells a reduced version of Valis IV. Amu and Asfal, pivotal protagonists in the PCE CD release, are removed from both the plot and the gameplay, alongside some stages and cutscenes. The Lena-only focus makes the story easier to follow, but it also makes the journey feel less complete. Fans invested in the larger Valis IV narrative have a real reason to seek the fuller version instead.

Overall Experience

Super Valis IV is a decent fit for an evening when you want unadorned 16-bit action rather than a sprawling quest. Its best quality is its clarity: run, fight with the sword, and strengthen that sword through special items. Lena is given a focused role, and the game commits to that focus instead of asking you to manage a pile of competing systems.

Still, the omissions are hard to treat as anything but a compromise. Fewer stages, fewer cutscenes, and the removal of two protagonists leave this release with less of Valis IV in it. The tighter scope may suit someone who values a shorter, more immediate run, but it comes at the expense of the wider story and character roster.

Give it a chance if a brisk anime-fantasy platformer centered on sword action sounds satisfying and you are happy with a compact experience. Skip this particular version if your interest is Valis IV as a bigger narrative with its full cast. It is an enjoyable enough slice of the series, but it is not the version that makes the strongest case for the whole game.