The Lost Vikings

• Release Date: 1992
• Genre: Puzzle
• Style: Adventure Puzzle

Game Description

After slaughtering the competition in the village hunting tournament, the rugged Vikings Olaf the Stout, Baelog the Fierce, and Eric the Swift are celebrating their glorious victory. Little do they realize their heroics have captured the attention of the evil intergalactic zookeeper, Tomator. Hovering above our heroes' humble dwelling, Tomator teleports Olaf and company aboard his spacecraft. Thanks to a transporter malfunction, the Vikings materialize in the zookeeper's ship rather than in his specimen laboratory. Cruising through the galaxy towards Tomator's home planet, the three Vikings are lost in space. Their only hope is to find their way, using various hunting skills, through time and space back to Earth.

Each Viking has unique weapons and abilities, and you must strategically guide all three Vikings to the end of each stage in order to progress through the game. One Viking unaccompanied cannot finish any of the levels; they must collaborate. You can alternate between the Vikings, or you and a friend can work together. As you play the game you will find helpful items such as bombs, keys, flaming arrows, targets, gravity boots, and steaks, which renew your energy. Areas to explore include Preshistoria, Egypt, and The Great Factory. There are 43 levels in all.

Review: Overall

The Lost Vikings for the Sega Genesis is an intelligently designed and methodically paced game. Instead of just running through each level, dismantling everything in sight (like a real Viking might do), this game forces you to slow down, converse with people, and work through a variety of strategies. Several games (such as Marsupilami) require you to cooperate with another on-screen character to get through a level, but The Lost Vikings requires you to guide three characters individually through each level. This is an interesting concept and it works quite well, especially in the one-player mode. The two- and three-player modes (although kind of cool) tend to get a little confusing at times.

From the introductory screen to the last level, this is an attractive game. The backgrounds are strange, and the various alien worlds are nicely rendered and unique in the extreme, just like the game itself. The handsome graphics combined with the humorous (and sometimes helpful) dialogue gives The Lost Vikings more individuality than most other video games. Also, the controls are finely honed, and the level of challenge is high without being frustrating.

The Lost Vikings is one of the more satisfying and pithy gaming experiences available for the Sega Genesis. Like a good song you hear on the radio, even the soundtrack will stay with you for a couple of days. This game offers everything a thoughtful, yet fun-loving gamer could want. With loads of inventive puzzles to solve mixed with plenty of action, this game will keep you busy for quite a while. If you can find a copy of The Lost Vikings, go for it.

Review: Enjoyment

Most gamers will find The Lost Vikings challenging and fun.

Review: Graphics

The graphics are sharp and do a good job of taking you to other worlds.

Review: Sound

The music is very good, and the sound effects are realistic.

Review: Replay Value

A password feature, plenty of puzzles to solve, and a screen saver will all but force you to keep this game plugged into your Genesis for hours and hours.

Review: Documentation

The instruction booklet is chock-full of information, including humorous biographies of the Vikings.

Production Credits

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