Backlog Game Reviews 5: The Legend of Valkyrie / Valkyrie No Densetsu (Turbo Grafx 16 / PC Engine)

   Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews. Today I'll be knocking The Legend of Valkyrie for the PC Engine off of the backlog. The Legend of Valkyrie was originally an arcade game only released in Japan on April 4th in 1989. It was then later released for the PC Engine on August 9th in 1990. The arcade version has better graphics and sound, but the PC Engine version has more stages and an extra boss. Let's take a look at this game and see if it's worth playing today or not.

 

Part of the opening cinematic.

   This game's story is pretty simple. Long ago in Marvel Land the Mythical Golden Seed was given to the humans from their Goddess. When this seed is planted in the mystical spring it'll be able to grant any wish when it matures. Humans raised the seed hoping to use it to usher in an era of peace. But monsters appeared and took the seed for their selves. The leader of the monsters Kamooze plans to use the seed to rule the world. You play as Valkyrie. A shield maiden sent to Marvel Land by the goddess. Your mission is the retrieve the Mythical Golden Seed and defeat Kamooze.

The Goddess sending Valkyrie on her quest.

    It's a very simple story, but a game like this doesn't need that complicated of a story. It tells you who the bad guy is and why you need to stop him. For a game like this, that's all you really need. There's not much to say about the story so let's move on to the gameplay.

Saving a girl from the first mini-boss.

A recurring mini-boss in the game.

   This game is a shooter with very light RPG elements. Your goal is to fight off enemies, make it the end of the stage, and defeat the boss. You attack enemies by firing beams from your sword. Your default weapon is a weak short range attack. You'll find or buy other weapons to use on your quest. There are six different weapons in the game. All of the weapons are very different from each other, so you'll be able to find one to fit your play style. Just don't get too attached to a weapon because you'll lose it when you run out of ammo. The game is very generous with the amount of ammo you get, so it will be a while before you run out. You're able to store weapons in your inventory so you won't have to worry about returning to your default weapon.

Your default weapon.

 

A powered up version of your default weapon. The first special weapon you get in the game.

    In addition to her normal attacks, Valkyrie is able to use magic. In every stage, you'll find an old woman hidden somewhere. When you find her she'll teach you a spell. Sometimes you'll have to answer a question after you find her. If you answer the question correctly then she'll teach you the spell.
 

 

Answering a question to get a spell.

    There are five spells in the game. All of the spells are useful, but I didn't use them very much. I only used the BIG spell. This spell will turn you into a giant. In this state, you're able to move around freely. Jumping will cause an earthquake and deal damage to all enemies on or off screen. This spell is good for clearing out enemies and completely destroys bosses.  

 

Becoming a giant with the BIG spell.

   At the start of a boss fight get as far away from the boss as you can cast the big spell and spam jump. You'll be able to beat any boss with very little effort.
 

    

   Just be mindful of your MP. Your Mp meter is next to your health. The weaker spells will use 1 MP point. Stronger spells like the BIG spell will use 2 points. Your MP doesn't refill after clearing a stage. And the game doesn't give you that many chances to restore your MP so it's best to save it for bosses.

 

Preparing to use the BIG spell. Your MP points are represented by the blue orbs in the top right corner.

     When you pause the game you'll notice that you have experience points. You get these points from defeating enemies. You don't level up or get stronger in this game though, so you might be wondering what do these points do? Well, experience points are just normal points. You get an extra life when you get enough points. You get your first extra life at 10,000 points, the next at 60,000, the next one at 120,000, and the next one at 200,000 points. The game starts you out with 0 lives and because of how steep the point requirements are you won't get very many lives to work with. This game gets pretty hard so you should try to stock up on as many lives as possible.

The pause screen close to the start of the game. You start the game with zero lives.

   While you'll spend most of your time walking but there are some platforming sections in this game, and they are not easy. The platforms are always too small, and most of the time they're moving. It's really hard to make pinpoint jumps. This is a hard game, but it's not frustrating. The platforming sections, on the other hand, are hard in a frustrating way. This game would have been a lot better off with no platforming.

 

Platforming section on the first stage.

    As for this game's presentation, it's not bad. The graphics look good for its time, but sometimes NPCs look kinda strange.

Talking to a girl inside her house.The girl's sprite looks off to me.

    Valkyrie herself looks really good. She has a lot of different damage animations. If you fall down on a bed of spikes she'll fly up in the air holding on to her butt. Most normal attacks will cause her to spin and fall down with a surprised look on her face. Getting hit by a boulder will flatten her for a couple of seconds. These animations help flesh her out as a character and gives her a personality even though she never speaks. 

Getting burned by fire.

Getting knocked down.

Getting flattened by a boulder.

Dying.

   The music isn't bad. The title screen theme while short is pretty good. And the theme for the first stage is a catchy song. But other then those two songs the music doesn't really stand out. There isn't much to say about the music, it's pretty average.

 

   Overall this is a pretty average game. As a shooter, it's not bad. It's difficult but in a fun way. The platforming though is just frustrating and doesn't belong in a game like this. The graphics are good but the music is just okay. If you're bored and want to try this game out then check it out. This game isn't a must play but it's worth an hour or two of your time if you can spare it.


That's all I have to say about this game. If this seems like an interesting game to you then try it out. You might like it more then I did. Thanks for reading! Next time I'll be taking a look at a game on the Famicom. I hope to see you again at Backlog Game Reviews.