Collection essentials #370: Norse by Norsewest: The Return of the Lost Vikings (PS1)

This is a sequel to the wonderful Blizzard game “The Lost Vikings”, which I covered previously.

Lost Vikings 2 came out in 1997, with two different versions. The dying Super Nintendo actually received its own exclusive version with pretty 2D graphics. I might actually prefer that version, but I don’t own it (as of now) so it didn’t make this list. The version made for various other platformers including the PlayStation features…well, actually, it also seems to have 2D graphics, just in a completely different sorta-3D-looking style that frankly I think looks kinda ugly. But this version also contains voice acting, so that’s nice.

As with the first Lost Vikings, this is a sort of action-puzzle-platformer sort of a game. You control three characters that you can freely swap between, and they all have different abilities, so you must utilize their unique skills to figure out how to get through each level. This game can easily be played alone, but friends can join in and multiple characters can be controlled at once. The fundamentals of the game are basically the same as the original, but this one introduces two brand new characters, a werewolf named Fang and a dragon named Scorch. The old vikings have more abilities than in the original, too. In each given level, you are given a certain combination of three characters out of the five, never more and never less. 

And like the original, this game has a delightfully wacky sense of humor. The ending stands out to me as the game’s most memorable moment, and of course I’m not gonna spoil that for you. (It’s funnier if you’ve actually played through the game anyway)

Several years back I played through this game co-op with my friend Nick, which was done over the course of months whenever we would get together. It was a darn good time. This game, like the original, stands out as something creative and timelessly fun. In modern times, the SNES version is playable on modern platforms as part of the “Blizzard Arcade Collection”. It’s not so great of a port, though, as the input lag in particular is kinda bad. But, hey, you ought to play this one any way you can. It’s one of my essentials, after all!