The Lost Vikings

Release Date: 1993

Published By: Interplay

Developed By: Silicon & Synapse, Inc.



Blizzard Entertainment was not always the game developing monolith that it is today, back in 1993 they were busy churning out quality third-party games for the PC, Macintosh, Super Nintendo, and Genesis platforms. One of those games came in the form of a platform/puzzle title called The Lost Vikings, wherein you’d control three different Vikings, using their unique abilities to overcome obstacles and progress through level after sidescrolling level. The Lost Vikings was cited as one of the most original puzzle games of its time, though saw only mediocre success in terms of sales.

As the title suggests, The Lost Vikings is a game featuring three protagonists – Erik, Olaf, and Baleog – all of whom are, you guessed it, Vikings. The reason they are “lost” is because some wacky aliens abducted the hat-horned trio and dropped them off in the future where they are forced to make their way through numerous obstacle courses before reclaiming their freedom. Each Viking has their own unique ability that must be utilized in a number of different ways; Erik ‘The Swift’ is able to run and jump across pitfalls and can smash through certain walls. Olaf’s unique ability is his multi-purpose shield, which can be used to block enemy fire or, when tilted upwards, can be used as a platform so that Erik can reach higher areas, and it can also be used as a glider allowing Olaf to gently float down to the ground. Baleog’s strengths lie in his sword and bow, which are used to destroy enemies and activate faraway switches. In order to progress in The Lost Vikings you’ll need to make good use of each character’s abilities, sometimes utilizing two Viking’s abilities in tandem. It’s all very strategic and clever, but the answer is never so subtle as to keep you scratching your head for too long before the solution becomes clear.

The goal in each level is to reach the exit with all three characters, which is easier said than done. You can switch between characters on the fly and when a Viking is idle he will remain in the exact position that you left him in. This type of gameplay lends itself nicely to the evolving scenarios that you’ll find yourself in, which often require a certain degree of planning ahead. For example, in one stage you’ll need to place Olaf in front of an auto-firing enemy turret, blocking its blasts with his oversized shield so that Baleog can safely climb up a ladder that is located behind Olaf and dispose of the wandering enemy above, which in turn allows Erik to safely traverse that area and jump over the gap leading to the switch which activates an elevator, giving Baleog and Olaf a way to reach the exit. There are many obstacles outside of platforming tasks that you’ll come across, including varied enemies, power-ups, and special items like health-replenishing food and wall-destroying bombs. It is not hard to lose sight of your objective due to the assorted dynamics that are constantly introduced, but once you’ve been acclimated with the game’s sense of style and progression you’ll learn to enjoy the new objects and items thrown into the mix.

The Lost Vikings is a challenging game which takes a while to finish. Some traps are impossible to avoid until you've experienced them at least once, and you'll often find yourself in split-second situations where you need to organize the Vikings in a specific order that you can discover only through trial and error. This sort of challenge may seem tedious to some people, especially since you spend a great deal of time in the game just catching the characters up to one another.

Each environment is designed with a different atmosphere in mind, including jungle, Egyptian, candy land, factory, and alien locales. The backgrounds are primarily composed of solid, drab colors, and much of the movement you'll see comes from the Vikings themselves or from the various enemies scattered throughout each environment. You'll also see a few waterfalls and lava flows here and there, but nothing in the way of transparency or scaling effects. As for the audio, it's mainly a few so-so sound effects played over the top of a humorous disco-style soundtrack that really suits the game's attitude.

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