The Lost Vikings - World 6 - Level 1 (1993) [MS-DOS]
3The Lost Vikings is a side-scrolling puzzle/platform video game series which was developed by Silicon & Synapse (later Blizzard Entertainment). The first game, The Lost Vikings, was released in 1992 by publisher Interplay Entertainment for DOS, Amiga, Sega Mega Drive and SNES among others.
In the game, the three Vikings get kidnapped by Tomator, emperor of the alien Croutonian empire, for an inter-galactic zoo and become lost in various periods of time. After escaping through the airlock of the spaceship, they must traverse various bizarre locations to find their way home.
The main characters in both games are three Vikings, Erik the Swift, Baleog the Fierce, and Olaf the Stout. The goal is to guide all Vikings safely through each level. A major gameplay feature is due to the fact that the player controls three different characters (although only one at any given time), and must make use of their individual abilities and work as a team to solve puzzles and progress. This also means that the characters who are not controlled at the moment remain open to hazards and must either be protected or left in safety. Some levels require precise timing to control the characters simultaneously - in one early level, the player must jump down a shaft with Olaf, using his shield as a hang glider, and as Olaf slowly descends, must use another Viking to clear his path. Each Viking has a limited amount of health which decreases when attacked by enemies, and several environmental hazards (spikes, electricity, water) are able to kill the characters instantly. The player may continue the level after losing a Viking, but the level cannot be completed without all three Vikings kept alive. After losing a Viking and restarting the level, a small cutscene of a Norse funeral plays, with a lightning strike respawning Viking to his remaining comrades.
In some versions, a second and a third player can join and control the other two characters.
The respective stories of the games unfold in dialogues as the vikings encounter other characters, as well as humorous bicker between the vikings themselves at the end of each level.
All three Vikings (Erik, Baleog and Olaf) have three health points which they can lose by getting hurt by enemies or by falling from great heights, and the ability to carry and use items, mainly keys, bombs, and food (which restore health points). Each of the Vikings has a unique set of abilities:
- Erik can run faster than the other two, can jump, and can bash through some walls (and enemies) with his helmet.
- Baleog can kill enemies with his sword, or from a distance with his bow (and a "life-time supply of arrows"). The bow can also be used to hit switches from a distance.
- Olaf can block enemies and their projectiles with his shield, use his shield as a hang glider, or as a stepping stone for Erik to enable him to reach high grounds which is not possible without the shield.
The sequel, The Lost Vikings II, was developed by Blizzard and released in 1997 by Interplay for the SNES.