Adventure games were always an interest of mine during the retro days.
The thrill of exploration was always fun, jamming to great music and laughing hard at things.
Lost Vikings for the Super Nintendo was one of those great adventure games, also blended in with the puzzle genre perfectly.
The game was the first I saw to have those modified Super Nintendo cartridges, where the bottom half was shaved off a bit differently.
In this game, you play as three different vikings: Erik the Swift (who my brother and I always called Speedy), Baleog the Fierce (Sword Man as my brother and I called him), and Olaf the Stout (the Blocking Man, named by my brother and me).
Each viking has his own unique abilities.
Erik (Speedy) can run, jump, and bash in some walls with his head.
He can attack enemies to an extent, but he isn't primarily used for that.
Baleog (Sword Man) can attack using his sword and his arrows (which you have an infinite supply of).
And Olaf (Blocking Man) can block enemy attacks with his shield, use it as a makeshift hangglider, or give Erik (Speedy) an extra platform to jump from when he can't reach a certain spot.
You will be using all three Vikings for any given situation throughout the game, having them work together to get past all the obstacles in the game.
All three Vikings must survive when you get to the exit of a stage in order for you to move onto the next stage.
If not, you must redo the stage.
Each viking gets three hits before he dies, but you do have powerups to lengthen survival like food, an extra health bar, among others.
The game blends in adventure and puzzle perfectly, as stated previously.
The game increases in difficulty as you go through its thirty seven stages, forcing you to probably redo some of the stages until you get the puzzles correct and survive with all three vikings in tow.
There is plenty of replay value in the game simply because it is so darn fun.
If the gameplay doesn't get to you, the music definitely will.
The game has some of the best music in video gaming.
I like the music in the Egypt levels and in the Mechanical levels.
The Space level music is also great, and definitely check out the title screen music (Kick It!).
The sound effects are top notch (including a hilarious belching sound), and the graphics are outstanding.
Overall, Lost Vikings is a game you should have in your backpack of games for Super Nintendo.
The puzzles will leave you scratching your head, and the adventure is very thrilling.
I love this game for the priceless memories, the graphics, and the awesome and catchy music.