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The Lost Vikings
Before they conquered MMOs, Blizzard made this gem.
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PRESS START
An Introduction To Today’s Game
Three Vikings get abducted by aliens, and it's not the setup to a joke.
Released in 1993 by Silicon & Synapse (later Blizzard Entertainment) and published by Interplay, this puzzle-platformer asked a simple question: can three Vikings with wildly different skills work together to get home?
The answer involved a lot of switch-pressing, enemy-bashing, and falling to your death because you forgot Erik can't glide like Olaf. It’s a puzzle game in the vein of Lemmings and it’s still one of my favorite games on the system. This was Blizzard before Warcraft, before Diablo, before they became the giant they are today. And it’s a series I would love to see make a comeback.
Happy New Year, friends. I hope you had an amazing holiday break.
BEHIND THE PIXELS
Let’s Dive Into The Game
The Lost Vikings is a side-scrolling puzzle-platformer that hands you control of three distinct characters, and you'll need all of them to survive.
Erik the Swift runs fast, jumps high, and can bash through certain walls with his horned helmet. Baleog the Fierce wields a sword for close combat and a bow with unlimited arrows for ranged attacks and switch activation. Olaf the Stout carries only a shield, but don't underestimate him.
That shield blocks enemy projectiles, doubles as a glider when held overhead, and creates platforms for Erik to reach higher areas. The catch is brutal: all three Vikings must reach the exit alive, or you're restarting the level.
Bombs can be set to blow up computers to open your path.
The game spans 37 levels across six wildly different worlds, thanks to that time travel premise. You'll navigate a grey alien spaceship, dodge dinosaurs in prehistoric times, and deal with laser-wielding robots in the future.
Each level is a self-contained puzzle box where you constantly switch between Vikings, using their abilities in sequence. Erik jumps to an upper platform, Olaf glides down to a lower area and blocks incoming fire, Baleog shoots a distant switch to open a door.
The puzzles scale beautifully, starting simple and building to genuinely challenging brain-teasers that require careful planning and execution.
While Olaf is blocking any potential attacks, Baleog can use his bow to hit switches.
Mechanically, the game rewards experimentation. Some walls hide items if Erik bashes them. Certain enemies need to be eliminated before you can safely navigate with Olaf. Switches might need to be hit in specific orders.
You can switch between Vikings at any time with the Select button, though only one Viking moves at a time in the SNES version. Each Viking has three health points, and losing one means an automatic game over since you need all three to finish. The game offers unlimited continues via a password system, which uses memorable four-character codes.
Erik is able to find secret areas by running into them.
The presentation hits that early 90s sweet spot. Colorful 16-bit sprites pop against detailed backgrounds. Charles Deenen's soundtrack adapts to each era you visit, from spaceship ambiance to prehistoric drums. The Vikings themselves are full of personality, with between-level dialogue that injects humor into the dire situation. These aren't generic heroes, they're bickering buddies who argue about food and make jokes about bashing walls until their heads explode.
What makes The Lost Vikings special is how it took the puzzle mechanics of Lemmings and gave players direct control. The original concept involved managing hundreds of tiny Vikings, but hardware limitations and design wisdom scaled it down to three fully realized characters. This decision transformed the game from a chaotic strategy exercise into a focused puzzle experience where every move matters.
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WHERE TO PLAY
The game can be played, along with its sequel and other early Blizzard games, in Blizzard Arcade Collection.
Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)
Loose: $33
Complete: $82
New/Sealed: $170
GAME INFORMATION
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PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS
What’s your favorite SNES RPG?
Comfort and Familiarity - 27.27%
Nostalgia for a simpler time - 9.09%
Gameplay and Graphics - 9.09%
Childhood Memories - 36.36%
Collecting and Preservation - 18.18%
Other (Write In) - 0%
Reader comments from the poll:
(Comfort and familiarity) “Look, I'm not against new games at all, but lately I just don’t seem to have the same drive to have the latest game or console - for instance, Metroid Prime 4 - I’m a huge Metroid fan, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to spring for the latest chapter, when I can go back and play Super Metroid for the upteenth time! It’s the comfort and familiarity of the past I guess! Why play the new thing when they perfected it years ago already?” - Shen
RETRO HARDWARE
Reading about retro games is great, but playing them is the real goal. This new Retro Hardware section is about easy, affordable ways to get those classics running without the headache.
Miyoo Mini Flip V2
Say hi to the Miyoo Mini Flip V2. This little beauty has taken so much of my free time since I picked it up last year. Slightly bigger than the original GameBoy Advance SP, this has become my favorite device to take with me when I brave the outdoors and leave my protective man cave. (Scary!)
It comes pre-installed with thousands of games, easily playing everything up to the PS1, with some N64, DS, Dreamcast and PSP thrown in. Everything that came out before those, it plays perfectly, including a massive Arcade library.
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GAME OVER
Why You Should Play This
The Lost Vikings deserves your time today, whether you experienced it in 1993 or you're discovering it fresh. The Blizzard Arcade Collection includes both the original SNES version and a Definitive Edition that combines the best features from all releases. You get quality-of-life improvements like rewind, save states, and three-player local co-op. If you want the authentic experience, the SNES cartridge runs about $33 loose or $83 complete.
This game matters beyond its own merits. It put Silicon & Synapse on the map and funded their transformation into Blizzard Entertainment. Without Erik, Baleog, and Olaf, we might not have gotten Warcraft, Diablo, or World of Warcraft. The puzzle design still impresses, the character-switching remains fresh, and the humor lands even decades later.
Yes, the graphics show their age, but the core gameplay loop of "think, switch, execute" feels timeless. Whether you're chasing nostalgia or hunting for SNES gems you missed, The Lost Vikings offers 37 levels of clever puzzles wrapped in time-traveling chaos. Just remember: all three Vikings make it home, or nobody does.
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