The Lost Vikings

"Save Vikings From A Tomato!"

This game fell onto our household and one of my prominent childhoodness memories is watching father play this game. I would even help out with strategic raisining.. Hah. A classic puzzle game, Lost Vikings even tosses in a bit of action play.

Story
Who doesn't love it when Vikings and such people are crossed with technology?! Well, only in the beginning and..well, to say any more would be a spoiler. But the premise is you are helping three Vikings -- Erik the Swift, Baelog the Fierce and Olaf the Stout -- find their way back home. They've been taken from their Viking village by the evil alien Tomator to be part of his zoo. They escape and have got to make their way back.
Story: 9/10

Sound
The sound isn't fantastic, but it isn't horrible either. All in all, not bad, but not memorable either.
Sound: 5/10

Gameplay
As aforementioned, you are in control of Erik, Baelog and Olaf. To steer them around, you have to control them all individually. It's quite creative. For instance, you might have to have a certain switch be pressed down to open a field before a switch, but it's in a position where Baelog can't be on the switch and shoot an arrow at it at the same time. So, you'll have to pull Erik or Olaf down there to stand on the switch while Baelog flicks the switch.
Very interesting and original gameplay here, and helps to add to the addictive-ness of this game.
Gameplay: 8/10

Graphics
The graphics are very nice and colorfully drawn, especially the...uhm...weird candy-land level. Back then, these graphics were most likely very nice. I personally like them even now, so they get a good score.
Graphics: 9/10

Replay
The gameplay is fun, the environments fun, and the whole game, in general, fun. If you have all the passwords at your fingertips, you can go and replay your favorite levels whenever you want without having to worry about getting there. (Lost Vikings doesn't have any memory slots; you have to save and input passwords, I forgot to mention that.)
Replay: 7/10

Buy or Rent?
If you're considering this, also recall that this game was released in 1992, so if you can find it, it should cost next to nothing. In the end, there might be no difference between buying or renting, so go either way, but Lost Vikings is a good investment and a good time.
Buy or Rent?: Buy

Lost Vikings is a puzzle, action and adventure game worthy of any gamers time. If you find it, pick it up; it'll be worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/02, Updated 05/07/02