Topic: The Lost Vikings (SNES)

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_{I haven't done a thoughtbox in awhile, so I might be a bit rusty. Hope it's not the case here.}
There are many games that I cannot believe I missed out on when I was little, and that's mostly because I never heard of them prior to the internet. This is one of those many games. The Lost Vikings is an action-platformer/puzzler developed by Silicon & Synapse (or Blizzard) and published by Interplay in 1992; and it's a very fun one at that.

You take control of the viking trio: Erik the Swift, Baleog the Fierce, and Olaf the Stout; you can change which viking to control by pressing either the L or R shoulder buttons, to reach the exit. But, it won't be that easy: 'cause there are obstacles to overcome, and some puzzles which can only be solved by a certain viking. What may sound complicated at one moment, becomes second nature the next. One wintery night, when everyone was asleep, an evil spaceship appears and steals the vikings away from their homes. To return back home, it is absolutely mandatory to work as a team throughout these thirty-seven stages. This game is divided in to six eras: you can tell when the era you are currently on is almost done if you see a time portal at the end. Erik can run swiftly, jump, and bash certain walls; Baleog can shoot arrows and swing his sword; and Olaf uses his shield as a defense or to slowly float down. This game's got quite an addicting play control. There are also items to collect; i.e. food, bombs, keys, to name a few. There are different locales in this game, like: Space, Prehistoric Era, Mechanical Era, to name a few. The graphics look amazing, in that The Lost Vikings shows a great usage of vibrant colors. The backgrounds and foregrounds are colorful and detailed. Each era has its distinct look and feel, and that's cool. The animation that your vikings, and the enemies, show is really good. If any of your vikings remain idol, you'll see some humorous animation; like Baleog flexing his muscles. There are also different death animations as well. It's amazing how the viking trio walks and climbs the ladder fluidly. Inbetween each era there is a scene where the Mode 7 vortex closes in on the vikings, and that is really cool. The Game Over screen has some of the most amazing reflected water effects I've yet seen from a 16-bit title.
This game's only got eight songs, all composed by Charles Deenen, and what great songs they are for the ears. The songs are very catchy, and they range from hard driven piano tunes, to primordial instruments, to rock, and more. I'm not gonna lie to you when I say one of the songs is currently stuck in my head right now. The sound effects are also good as well; I love the way Baleog's sword and arrows make realistic sound effects, and the way that Erik turns around after running a long time with the skidding sound is cool. The other sound effects are also nice.
Perhaps I should explain the gameplay a little more. Enemies can be slain by Baleog, high places can be reached by Erik, and places that are reached by slowly floating down via the shield is done by Olaf. However, as I said before, it's absolutely imperative to reach the exit with all three vikings; reach it with only one or two live vikings, and you get a Game Over. You can also decide to go to the Game Over screen via the Start button (should you lose a viking). There are many different ways to reach an exit, many different ways to find objects, and many different ways to lose a viking. Some items can easily be seen, others however, are concealed (hidden in walls or ceilings). Sometimes, you'll have to raise Olaf's shield to help Erik reach the highest of places; sometimes you'll have to close up your shield to a projectile-throwing enemy so Baleog can attack him without taking damage; there are also some walls which have to be bashed by Erik (hold Y while running left or right). What's cool about the puzzles is the variety of it all. The game starts out with easy puzzles, but soon after that the puzzles start becoming larger and complicated. I've gotten countless Game Overs while playing the game; some puzzles took me forever to solve (particularly one of the last ones). You can also trade your items with a viking (by pressing Select and choosing the item and giving it to the nearby viking). I have persevered through all these stages, and it is a fun type of challenge. I love challenge from a video game, and this game is no exception. I kept going 'cause I wanted to see what the other puzzles were like, and I kept getting amazed at how the newer puzzles had to be solved. Some puzzles seemed impossible at first, until I finally found a way to get through it. This game is really fun from beginning to end. The final puzzle took me awhile to finish.
This game has a password system, and while I normally do not like to have to continue a game through a password, I did not mind it here, 'cause it only had four characters. Some passwords even spell out some stuff, if you look at it one way [i.e. STRT - start; CVRN - cavern; PHR0 - pharaoh]. This game's also got a crude sense of humor. The dialogue at the beginning of each era and the end of each stage is very humorous. {It's not 100% accurate, but here's one of them} "Think we'll see King Tut's tomb here?" [Erik] "Who's King Tut?" [Olaf] "Some guy Steve Martin wrote about in a song." [Baleog] "Oh." [Olaf] And if you get enough Game Overs on the same stage, the vikings will start a dialogue about how they have to start the stage over again. This is probably the only console video game I've played where, if you don't touch it for several minutes, a screen saver shows up. Cool. The gameplay is very addicting, and this is one of those games where I have nothing bad to say about it. It doesn't have any flaws, imo. I like being challenged by the puzzles, many of which took me countless tries. The ending, without spoiling anything, is very rewarding. It's one of my Top 5 personal favorite games of all time.
Here's some gameplay footage to give those that have not played it an idea of how the game plays [the video is Shiryu's]:
[youtube:ZItppVpUwwc]
_{Man, maybe I am getting rusty with thoughtboxes.}

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I actually wrote a review fairly recently for this game as well...it's a forgotten classic!

These days, just about everyone is familiar with Blizzard Entertainment due to the overwhelming popularity of their World of Warcraft franchise. But, before they became the Goliath of the PC gaming industry that they are today, they were a fairly small-time developer that went by the name of Silicon & Synapse. While working under their previous name, Blizzard released a side-scrolling puzzle/platform game called The Lost Vikings for the Super Nintendo—a game that was somewhat overlooked upon it's initial release in 1992, and continues to receive similar treatment to this day. To put it simply, The Lost Vikings is, hands down, one of the premiere 3rd-party titles in the SNES' library that needs to be discovered by any and all self-respecting classic gamers!

Gameplay:
The core game design is rather simple—you must reach the end of each level with all three vikings (Erik the Swift, Baleog the Fierce, and Olaf the Stout) in order to move on to the next stage. However, if a member of the team falls during battle, you are still given the opportunity to explore the level with the vikings who remain standing, allowing you to better prepare yourself for the next time around. Each of the trio can take up to three hits from the baddies before becoming nothing more than a pile of bones (or four if you are able to locate certain items in the level that give you extra health). There are also a number of obstacles that you will need to avoid (fire, water, electric beams, etc.) that will instantly neutralize the vikings upon contact.
Aside from the fact that there are three characters controlled by either one or two players, this may sound like your typical platforming affair. However, what truly sets this game apart from the pack is the fact that each of the vikings possess a completely unique skill set:

• Erik the Swift is, quite obviously, able to run extremely fast. This allows him to build up a head of steam before smashing into a weakened wall in order to knock it down. He is also the only viking with the ability to jump, which will come in handy on numerous occasions.
• Baleog the Fierce is equipped with an unlimited supply of arrows to fire with his bow, as well as a sword. The sword does more damage than the arrows will (unless you locate the fire arrows), but the arrows will be used for more than just combat. There are often switches located in impossible to reach places that can only be activated by one of Baleog's arrows.
• Olaf the Stout is, undoubtedly, the most useful of the three vikings. He holds nothing but a shield, but you will find Olaf leading the way in almost every level in order to ensure that Erik and Baleog remain unharmed. Besides using the shield to protect himself and the others from enemy attacks, Olaf can also raise it above his head, serving two purposes: 1) it allows Erik to jump on top of the shield, granting him access to otherwise unreachable platforms/items, and 2) it allows Olaf the ability to slowly glide down to the ground after walking off the ledge of a platform. If either of the other two vikings are to fall from a height, they will lose a portion of their health so, needless to say, Olaf's measly shield isn't so measly after all.
  On top of all this, the puzzles in this game are incredibly well thought out, particularly later in the game. The first few worlds will be a bit of a cakewalk for most experienced gamers, but once you get to the final two or three worlds, expect your patience to be tested. Not only will you be taxing your brain in an attempt to solve each of these puzzles, but you will also be asked to perform some of your tasks in a fairly narrow window of timing, testing your reflexes as well.

Audio/Visuals:
The Lost Vikings' visuals are really nothing to write home about. While there are no major complaints in the graphic department, there's just not much there that is begging for your attention, and thus, you get a three sentence paragraph about them from me. They're pretty much exactly what you would expect to see from a game in the 16-bit era.
The soundtrack, on the other hand, despite it's small number of tracks, is outstanding. The only problem is the fact that there is only one song per world, so if you happen to get stuck on a level for an extended period of time, some of the tunes will begin to grow a little tiresome. However, there is not a single dud in the bunch, and you will be left with nothing but fond memories of these hip-hop tinged gems. (The only reason I use "hip-hop" to describe the soundtrack is because there seems to be an emphasis on the drum beats in this game, something that wasn't necessarily all that common in the SNES era).

Conclusion:
The Lost Vikings is a game that has been overlooked for far too long and, if you've never had the chance to play through it before, now is as good a time as any. The good news is that you should be able to pick up a copy for under $10 without any trouble at all. Randy (the other reviewer here at TTG) and I have beaten a pretty good number of games together over the years, and we both agree that beating this game gave us the greatest sense of accomplishment upon completion. If you're in the market for an incredible cooperative gaming experience, look no further than The Lost Vikings.

Overall Score: 8.1/10 (If you're looking for a game that is going to both rack your brain and test the reflexes of your thumbs, you can't go wrong with The Lost Vikings. There are far too few puzzle-platformers out there, let alone 2-player ones, so don't let this one pass you by.

-Kevin