Prophecy I - The Viking Child

Brian the Viking!

Viking Child is the tale of a young boy thrown into an adventure through several medieval lands in search of his friends. He needs to rescue them from the clutches of the evil demigod, Loki. Now, it might look spookily familiar to a console gamer, but don't be put off; this is a great Atari ST game in its own right.

There are a humongous 16 levels to plunder, with 8 bosses to battle long before you reach Loki. Walk and leap over obstacles and use your weapon to kill anything that looks likely to hurt you. After a monster is slain, coins are dropped. Use them as currency in the local store, which offers weapons and the usual assortment of goodies. I love the fire weapon, but I advise upgrading your weapon from that short dagger.

Graphics are exceptional, with super-smooth scrolling proving yet again that the STFM is more than capable when in the hands of talented people. I love the gorgeous cartoon-like scenery, and the sprites are well-detailed, even if the animation is humble. The music and sound effects are great, with the choice being yours.

Viking Child is both a creative and technical masterpiece. What it lacks in originality is more than made up for in playability. It's interesting and challenging gameplay includes aesthetics to drool over! This is a cracking platformer, and you soon realise why it's one of my favourite platformers on the Atari ST.

Looks as good as it plays. Yep, I highly recommend you play Viking Child!!

• Download for hard drive at 8BitChip.
• Floppy disk can be grabbed at Atari Legend.
• The level codes to skip deeper into the adventure:

 Forest level: DENIS<E>

 Landbridge: THE BLIZ

 Labyrinth: SHARKMAN

 The Desert: NYMHARSW