Valis III is one of those Genesis action-platformers that nails the "anime sword girl vs. dark fantasy armies" vibe perfectly. You play as Yuko, who swings her magic blade through hordes of shadow creatures, with these little screen-filling special moves that feel way cooler than they should for a 16-bit game.

The first level throws you right into it—jumping between floating platforms while these creepy flying skull things dive at you. The controls are tight, but some of the enemy patterns will catch you off guard at first. And that soundtrack? Absolute banger, especially the boss theme.

What I love is how it mixes up gameplay—later you get two more characters with totally different attacks, like Reiko’s whip or Cham’s... whatever those orb things are. The sprite work still holds up too, especially Yuko’s hair animation when she runs. Just don’t expect the story to make much sense unless you’re deep into the Valis lore. It’s pure 90s anime chaos, and I’m here for it.