Lemmings 2: The Tribes

"Move yer lemmings, watch em squish!"

As of late there have been some really great puzzlers out there. Who can forget Mr. Driller and Pokemon Puzzle? Yeah, they sure were great. Well, actually Chu Chu Rocket is the closest game in comparison to Lemmings. In Lemmings 2, you command one of the many tribes such as space lemmings and highlander lemmings. The main basis of gameplay involves saving your whimsical rodentia from the dangers of stupidity. What really depresses me is the lack of Lemming support as of late. It was a great puzzler for those who like trial and error gameplay. Lemmings 2 for Genesis is one of those games that just tugs on you to play. If not for the repetition, for the lemmings! Its so sad watching those little guys plummet to their doom and squish into little bitty lemming bits. Thats why you gotta save em. Gotta save em all! Whatever. And now on to the review.

Gameplay
Lemmings shines in gameplay. Its really great saving the little dudes from what would be their ultimate destruction. You perform this tedious task by communicating with the lemmings what you wish for them to do. Say there is a large pit and not enough hang-gliders to send them all over the pit. Well, why not send one over and have him build a bridge while the lemming on the other side builds that side's bridge as well. Its this kind of trial and error that makes the game fun. Another task is to save all of the lemmings. Depending on how many you save determines your rank. This plays out well because certain stages have you make ''stopper'' lemmings, which means ultimately you will have to ''destroy'' those lemmings because they can't do anything else besides stand there and stop lemmings from passing. Saving 100% of the lemmings in every stage all the way to the end is very hard, yet on the same note saving SOME lemmings is relatively easy. Thats what makes the game great.

Gameplay 10/10

Sound
The sound in the game is based on popular tunes from different cultures. Everything from psycho future music to the ''highland'' song are in the game. Most songs are real tunes that most people would recognize. Generally, the music is upbeat with a 4/4 tempo. Sometimes a solid 3/4 waltz will play, but most of the time the music stays in standard territory. The game has good music that is sure to lighten up your day.

Sound 9/10

Graphics
The graphics are very cartoony. Imagine playing the game Worms except with lemmings. As a matter of fact, the back of Worms 2 says ''A little bit of Lemmings, a whole lot of Terminator!''. See? Now you get the main picture. The colors are anywhere from pastel to quasi-futuristic space tones.

Graphics 7/10

Overall Lemmings 2 is a great game for those who want to lay back and enjoy a smooth ride. The game plays slow, yet it also plays fast enough to get those pace-makers rolling. Finding this game is like finding Elvis, though. You probably will not find it, but if you do I guarantee you will be plastered to the chair for at least four hours with this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/01, Updated 07/12/01