Lost Vikings

Ah, the Lost Vikings.  One of my all-time favorite games.  It is a puzzle platformer, released in 1992.  I recently found out that an officially emulated version has been available for download on Battle.net for some time.  Needless to say, I got it in a hurry, and have been playing it since.  Many of you might only know the Lost Vikings from Heroes of the Storm, but they actually hail from an old SNES game, one of Blizzard's first.  (I believe they were called something different then.)  Here's a retro-review.

The overall design of the game is absolutely fantastic.  For those of you who have never played, here's a quick rundown:  You control 3 vikings, Olaf, Eric and Baleog who are (you guessed it) lost after being abducted by aliens and thrown in a timewarp.  You can switch control between any of the vikings at any time.  Each character has a couple of unique abilities and personalities.

Olaf - The roundest viking, Olaf is observant and honest.  He wields a shield, which can block attacks when held forward, or, when held above his head, serve as a platform or parachute.

Eric - A slimmer viking, Eric is focused and straightforward.  He runs faster than the rest and is the only one able to jump.  He can also headbutt certain walls to break them down.

Baleog - This muscular viking is cynical and a bit aloof.  With his bow and unlimited arrows, he can shoot enemies, hit switches, and interact with distant objects (cut chains, knock down coconuts, etc).  He also has a sword for close-range combat.

Every level requires unique combinations of these abilities to complete.  This evolves the game from a simple platformer to a puzzle platformer, that will challenge your brain and your skills.  If any viking dies (and they will), you have to restart the level.

Graphically, the game is interesting.  The character animations are great.  There are a ton of different death animations, from being squashed or spiked to drowning in quicksand.  This at least takes a bit of sting out of the constant dying you will be doing in this game.  Each viking has its own personality, and their animations reflect this.  The way the walk and act speaks to their unique character.  The distant background is always black.  A fairly common technique back in '92, this really makes the foreground stand out, but is a bit strange.  I would have preferred at least something.  The levels, however, are beautiful, dotted with unique props to really sell the time period you're in.  The ancient Egyptian tomb has random sarcophagi and treasure chests scattered about, for example.  Overall, good, but not great graphics.

Story-wise, Lost Vikings is simple but hilarious.  The plot is intentionally predictable and cliche.  The game begins with the 3 vikings mentioning how much they love their village and never want to leave.  Cue alien abduction.  The plot never really evolves past there, and it doesn't need to.  The real shining moments are the dialogue.  At the beginning and end of every level, the vikings discuss their predicament with witty banter, full of pop references and 4-wall-obliterating self-reference.  Occasionally laugh-out-loud, these lost warriors' discussions range in topic from the Wizard of Oz (which they admit they shouldn't know of) to explicitly referring to the stage they're on as "a difficult level."  When you die repeatedly, they will berate the player and/or bemoan their incompetence, adding a chuckle to lessen the frustration of constant death.

The lost vikings has great music.  Nothing you'd want to play on your headphones while jogging, but fits the levels nicely.  Most importantly, the tracks never grate on you, as you retry a level for the umpteenth time.

If you haven't noticed, I've mentioned several times how often you can expect to die and be forced to replay a level.  This is where my only gripe with the game arises.  I prefer puzzle and puzzle-like games to primarily challenge my critical thinking skills.  Lost vikings does challenge them, but after about half way through, the difficulty of surviving dangers far outstrips the difficulty of solving puzzles.  Meanwhile, the puzzles never really get more intense than what you're introduced to in the first few levels.  This is what I dislike about many modern puzzle games, like Angry Birds.  Once I have figured out how to beat a puzzle, I quickly lose interest if I have to retry it many times because the solution is difficult to perform.  I would much prefer more puzzle, less platformer.

But overall, Lost Vikings is a gem, and I'm really enjoying going through it again.  Perhaps when I'm done, I'll find a way to play the sequel, Norse by Norsewest.