classicamiga.com - Lost Vikings, The

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A cult classic!

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I love Asterix, and the look and concept of this game reminded me of the classic comic, with the only difference being that the heroes aren't Gauls but Nordic, but of a similar time period (there's even a scene at their village, and it looks just like the well known Armorican village that refuses to succumb to the PAF! Roman rule).

Anyway, the three friends (can't remember their names, but I am sure the two are called Erik and Olaf) live a peaceful and happy life in their village, with their wives and kids, and they usually spend their days by going hunting. All is well, until one night an Alien spaceship abducts all three of them while they are sleeping. It seems that the Alien leader is a collector of "alien" (to the aliens) life forms, and it just happened that the three Vikings are his human species addition to his collection. Now it's up to Erik, Olaf and someguy to find a way out, and go back to their village and their happy (and maybe a little dull) lifestyle.

So, as you may guessed, it's yet another platform game, which also came out on the 16-bit consoles and the PC. However, the "twist" here is that you control three different sprites, each with his own abilities, and you often have to use a different way in the levels for each one. So, it's part platform game (mostly, actually) and part puzzle game in the sense that first you must *think* and then you must take action.

The graphics are a bit simple, even by the standards of the time it came out, but nice and pleasant to the eye. Many of the animations are quite funny as well, and there's a bit of variety in the levels. It's not one of the games you'll use to show how good hand-drawn graphics were, of course, but it satisfies you.

It has some funny music. It's too bad that there's not a little speech because some of the comments they make (through text) are pretty funny, but overall the sound is quite satisfactory.

For the gameplay I'd have given it a 10 if it were not for the fact that some of the later levels become insanely difficult requiring very fast reflexes. Anyway, as I said, the three Vikings have unique abilities that make them suitable for specific situations. The red-haired is fast and can jump, so it makes him ideal for reaching higher platforms to pull levers etc, the moustached carries a sword and a bow, which makes him ideal for killing enemies and hitting switches from a distance, and the fat one carries a shield so it is ideal to place him in front of static hazards (e.g. lasers, flame-throwing rocks etc) so the rest can pass undisturbed. It's more entertaining than it sounds, quite engrossing I might say, and the only bad thing is that after some levels the game loses control of itself and puts insane demands on a player.

It will take you ages to finish it (if you manage to do so), and you might like to revisit it from time to time.

A cult classic IMO. It is largely forgotten maybe because it didn't have any modern day descendants, but it's a great retro experience. Only one sequel came out, Norse by Norsewest (for PSX, Saturn and PCCD), but it failed to come even close to the original's spirit, due to poorly realised "rendered" graphic elements (think of a failed Donkey Kong Country imitation), unnecessarily complex gameplay, and flat humour. But this one here is highly recommended.

Review originally submitted by the classicamiga member one-second.

Overall rating:		7.3
Graphics:		7.0
Sound:		6.0
Gameplay:		8.0
Lifespan:		8.0

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Lost Vikings, The

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A cult classic!

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