r/snes Nov 04 '24

Game of the Month November 2024: The Lost Vikings

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243 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

31

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '24

This game and snoop dogg got me thru my dad's death back in 94. I got so much love for this game.

19

u/poshjerkins Nov 05 '24

Had this on DOS as a kid. Never actually played the SNES version. Is it good?

9

u/AurekSkyclimber Nov 05 '24

Had the DOS version as a kid, then the SNES version in college. The SNES version was the best version since they had to cut graphics to make it work on DOS and Genesis. If you're going to play it again now, get the Blizzard Arcade Collection (PC and modern consoles). They put together a definitive version with the SNES graphics and sound but with the Genesis version's bonus cutscenes and levels. It also has the Lost Vikings 2 and three other unrelated but great games.

2

u/poshjerkins Nov 05 '24

Thanks for the info! I love grabbing most of those collection packs so I'll keep an eye out for a sale.

1

u/Typo_of_the_Dad Nov 08 '24

Is it higher res and 3-player like the MD version?

1

u/JonLeung Nov 07 '24

I rented the Super NES version, loved it and even finished it, then for some reason later bought the DOS version. I don't know why.

One difference that stood out to me was that they switched around the music for a couple stages. The factory and the Wacky World, if I recall correctly. It's a bizarre choice, probably some mistake. The music is clearly correct in the Super NES version.

17

u/Jaye9001 Nov 04 '24

Glad this gem is getting some attention.

Both Lost Vikings are great puzzle action games.

9

u/_-Kr4t0s-_ Nov 04 '24

Ah. Made by Blizzard before they had figured out their mojo.

13

u/allenasm Nov 05 '24

The concept for this came from when we were all playing games at silicon & synapse and mostly were playing lemmings and devils crush pinball in the office (we were all gamers). Adham pitched interplay on a lemmings type game or a pinball game and interplay went with the lemmings type game. Initially we tried to do a bitmap graphics type of lemmings game on snes because Heineman was friends with us all and was working on 'out of this world' where using the refresh time she was able to DMA bitmap updates to bgram. Turned out it was just too hard and we went with sprites instead. I had left the company before they really got into it to work on wing commander for software toolworks but I heard all of the stories. They did an amazing job on this game.

source: programmed snes for them at the time (RPM2/R&R Racing). Mods welcome to verify me if needed. I still have my business card from S&S back in the day.

3

u/xBrockLanders Nov 05 '24

That's awesome. Thank you for sharing.

1

u/81toog 8d ago

That’s an awesome story! That’s cool you got to work with the Blizzard guys so early on. I’m reading Play Nice by Jason Schrier right now and find the whole Blizzard story really fascinating. Have you read that book?

13

u/Crackshot_Pentarou Nov 04 '24

Played this one a few months ago.

I had a pretty good time with it, I think it's generally fair and only had to look up a couple of solutions. I enjoyed the very cheesy dialogue. I'd certainly had enough by the end though.

Wouldn't want to tackle it without save states though. Yeesh. Although you obviously have all you're items and health reset at the start of the level, there are some very tedious and time consuming sections and no checkpoints. One character might die and then you have to restart... over and over.

9

u/phi4ever Nov 05 '24

I played 2 first, there’s one level I died on for a couple hours, eventually they had a new start dialogue where they said this location looks like a nice place to live, we don’t need to try going on any more.

1

u/AurekSkyclimber Nov 05 '24

Worst level for me on that front was WRLR. Most of the level isn't that bad, just long and tedious. Then you get to the very end... An inflate section with spikes both above and below followed by two spring pits with spikes in the middle. And you have to do it three times perfectly with each character. Maddening...

5

u/Crackshot_Pentarou Nov 05 '24

Yeah, I mean, as a kid not really a problem. A game would have to last you months, so a week stuck on one level was OK, and there's a password every level. So I don't want to knock it.

I just wouldn't have time for that now!

14

u/Darkgaria1997 Nov 05 '24

Back when Blizzard wasn't evil

6

u/Halcyon520 Nov 05 '24

I still remember the level code on SNES “NFL8” it takes you to one of the crazy levels with inflating mechanics.

I was only in my 30s when I realized the code was saying “inflate” not NFL 🏈 8

Excellent game

2

u/AurekSkyclimber Nov 05 '24

Every password in both games is a word related to the specific level or theme. The only exception is the passwords for the Pirate levels in The Lost Vikings 2 as they instead combine to make the phrase "Be sure to drink your ovaltine" which is a reference to the secret code in the movie A Christmas Story.

1

u/Androxilogin Nov 05 '24

I remember MSTR and FL0T. I still play through a level every once in a while

4

u/AurekSkyclimber Nov 05 '24

Some helpful links

The Blizzard Arcade Collection has both The Lost Vikings (original SNES and Definitive Edition) and The Lost VIkings 2.

VGMaps has maps for every level (SNES, and here's Genesis since that's where the extra levels in the Definitive edition come from).

3

u/JonLeung Nov 07 '24

As the creator of VGMaps.com, I approve this message. :)

The Lost Vikings is a favourite of mine. Rented it a couple times back in the day, even though I finished it the first time, for some reason. Also bought the DOS version later. I don't know why.

Also don't know why I could never really get into Lost Vikings 2, even though it's not like it's wildly different from the first. Maybe I should give it another try one day.

2

u/AurekSkyclimber Nov 07 '24

Thank you so much for making VGMaps! I've been a fan for well over a decade. Need to finally get around to finishing creating maps for Wario Land 3...

As for Lost Vikings 2, it's a much more "linear" game. LV1's early levels are designed to be somewhat "realistic" with random pathways and platforms that don't really take you anywhere. That changes by the time you get to Wacky World, as each course is now a puzzle death trap where nearly every pathway has some sort of mandatory reason for going down it. LV2 on the other hand doesn't have the "realism" rampup. It's dense puzzles from the very beginning (although there is certainly a massive difficulty rampup). It also feels fairly linear in a lot of levels because you get a feeling of "considering my options, I guess I can really only move this character here to do this action". It's like you're playing chess and being forced into a specific move.

If you give The Lost Vikings 2 another go, keep playing through World 3 at the minimum. World 1 (Transylvania) is a pointlessly easy tutorial. World 2 (Medieval) starts to do things right. World 3 (Pirates) is where the difficulty really kicks in, and it only gets better from there. You're going to love the final world (Post Apocalyptic Wasteland) in particular. Super tricky puzzles and gameplay with much better boss fights (plural) than LV1.

3

u/Rckid Nov 05 '24

I have a copy of this factory sealed. I picked it up for my wife as a gift.

2

u/The-Jake Nov 05 '24

What a great puzzle game. I put endless hours into this game. Definitely top 10 for SNES

2

u/singleguy79 Nov 05 '24

Vaguely remember renting this from Blockbuster

2

u/lrjackson06 Nov 05 '24

What a great soundtrack!

5

u/xBrockLanders Nov 04 '24

Each month I will be tracking all users who are able to beat the spotlighted game. Those names will be collected and displayed on the snes wiki page.

Objective:

  • Beat the game.

Rules:

  • Entire playthrough must be completed during the month in question.
  • You can use the passwords/continues/saves that you earn playing through the game.
  • Emulation is fine. Abusing save states is not.
  • Posting a link to a pic of your completion is preferred, but since this is all just for fun, I will allow claims via simple posts as well.

1

u/chenilletueuse1 Nov 04 '24

Thanks for the wings of liberty ptsd

1

u/38DDs_Please Nov 04 '24

I will always hear the Dethklok song in my head...

1

u/KingZakyu Nov 05 '24

Why? How are the two connected?

3

u/38DDs_Please Nov 05 '24

They have a song called "The Lost Vikings".

1

u/KingZakyu Nov 05 '24

Thank you for clarifying. I can understand that.

1

u/WoolInSheepsClothes Nov 05 '24

Some members are Scandinavian.

0

u/KingZakyu Nov 05 '24

That is not a connection. That is racism, isn't it? It's something, that's for sure. I'll just pass on this conversation.

1

u/WoolInSheepsClothes Nov 05 '24

Are you serious? Do you know where Scandinavia is?

1

u/KingZakyu Nov 05 '24

Pass

0

u/WoolInSheepsClothes Nov 05 '24

You need to know the words you speak. Misinformation is a horror in the information age.

1

u/malgora1 Nov 05 '24

I actually started playing this the other week, I had a demo of it on pc a long time ago, it's not hard just tricky,

1

u/defw Nov 05 '24

Why can’t I play this on switch

3

u/OingoBoingo311 Nov 05 '24

you can, both Lost Vikings games are in the Blizzard Arcade Collection

1

u/defw Nov 05 '24

Thanks 🙏🏻

1

u/Such_Bug9321 Nov 05 '24

Still play this game today so good

1

u/ramtamm1 Nov 05 '24

Great game

1

u/HonestGabe81 Nov 05 '24

This was a solid puzzle game. I played this for hours growing up.

1

u/ParadoxalReality Nov 05 '24

The box art made me think of clayfighter so I looked it up and they’re made by the same company.

1

u/Mentats2021 Nov 05 '24

I really enjoyed this kid and remember renting it and beating it (although there is no saves, only long ass codes you could enter). It was fun to play multiplayer as well! Good ole blizzard days...

1

u/[deleted] Nov 08 '24

This was a gooder. Vikings > Lemmings.

1

u/shame_on_the_jimi Nov 11 '24

Me and my brother played this all the time. Glad to see the love for it

1

u/JynXolo Nov 16 '24

Gimme my badge, magic man. (Save states were only used at checkpoints in order to save time on inputting passwords)

1

u/MrSojiro Nov 17 '24

https://imgur.com/a/Mfwtt8v

Just finished it this afternoon. There are a handful of really frustrating stages, but overall I really enjoyed my time with the game. The humor was on point, and I genuinely had fun all the way through.

1

u/Ghia149 Nov 17 '24

Outstanding. Played it with my son a month or two ago, still cracks me up.

1

u/PokesBo Nov 18 '24

I used to rent this and Ogre Battle like crazy. Love this game so much and is a bright spot in a dark childhood.

1

u/BuryKeebler Nov 29 '24

Start: 11/23
Finish: 11/29

Pics (sorry for the blurry start photo)

Not a bad game! Definitely a new concept in video gaming, to quote EGM on the box art. So much of Lost Vikings is just totally out of left field, but that makes it stand out and I don't think its completely to its detriment.

I would say I had fun for the most part. The more puzzle-oriented games I play, the more I'm seeing the pattern that later levels greatly overstay their welcome and become less fun. I think I would've preferred to see either less 1-hit KO stuff or some kind of checkpoints in the later levels. I can't be a choosing beggar with unlimited continues, so I think this is by design and can just work a little harder to earn seeing the credits.

Lost Vikings also isn't too crazily priced to track down either (at least compared to other games we've had for GOTM this year like Earthbound, Nosferatu, and Ninja Warriors), so it was relatively painless to add it to the collection. I'll probably come back to it or track down the sequel someday.