The Lost Vikings

• Release Date: 1993
• Genre: Puzzle
• Style: Adventure Puzzle
• Similar Games: Mickey's Ultimate Challenge (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), The Adventures of Mighty Max (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)

Game Description

Fresh from winning the village hunting contest, the mighty Vikings Olaf the Stout, Baelog the Fierce, and Eric the Swift wallow in their hard-fought victory. Little do they realize their heroics have caught the attention of the vile and despicable intergalactic zookeeper, Tomator. Hovering above our heroes' abode, Tomator teleports Olaf and company aboard his spaceship. Thanks to a transporter malfunction, the Vikings materialize in the main hall of the zookeeper's craft rather than in his specimen laboratory. Speeding through the galaxy towards Tomator's home planet, the three Vikings are truly 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 different abilities and weapons, and you must strategically guide all three of them to the end of each stage in order to progress through the game. Once Viking alone cannot finish any of the levels; they must cooperate. 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 shields, bombs, keys, flaming arrows, gravity boots, and food. Areas to explore include Preshistoria, Egypt, and Wacky World. There are 37 levels in all.

Review: Overall

The Lost Vikings is methodically paced and intelligently designed. Instead of just running through each level, destroying everything in sight (like a real Viking might do), this game forces you to slow down, talk to few people, and work out some strategies. Several games (such as Marsupilami) require you to work with another on-screen character to get through a level, but this game requires you to guide three characters individually through each level. This is an interesting concept, and when you play the game, you will find that it works quite well, especially in the one-player mode. The two-player mode (although a welcome feature) can get a little confusing at times.

From the introductory screen to the last level, this is a good-looking game. The backgrounds are interesting, and the various alien worlds are nicely rendered and unique in the extreme, just like the game itself. The nice graphics combined with the funny (and sometimes helpful) dialogue gives The Lost Vikings more personality than most other video games. To top it off, the controls are sharp, and the level of challenge is high without being frustrating.

If you had to sum up The Lost Vikings in two words, you could say it is uniquely excellent. 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 tons of clever puzzles to solve and plenty of action mixed in throughout, you'll want to find a copy of The Lost Vikings.

Review: Enjoyment

This game will strain your brain and challenge your thumbs.

Review: Graphics

Give the designers of this game credit for creative visuals.

Review: Sound

The music rocks, and the sound effects are very realistic.

Review: Replay Value

With so many levels and puzzles, you'll be at this one for some time before you beat it.

Review: Documentation

The instruction booklet provides humorous biographies of the characters and is very informative.

Production Credits

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