Lemmings

"100 little haired creatures even stumbled past the Mega Drive, and as good as ever."

Lemmings is a game that was developed by Psygnosis that came out in shops sometime in about 1990. The game has appeared on about every console under the sun, up to PlayStation. It's no longer made for next-gen consoles, as the new versions fail to give fresh ideas and when they do, they're not always that good. You can get it for PC, download it or buy it on budget range, and although it's old, it still remains as one of the best games that were ever made. This Mega Drive version is no exception. It's a very mind-testing puzzle game, and this version, although a bit different, ports over well to the Mega Drive.

A lemming really is a rodent that lives in North Europe, and at times, they sometimes become dependent on each other, and just follow each other about. This is no exception, although they look nothing like them, just cartoon characters wearing a blue dress with green hair. They walk in straight lines, and they won't stop unless you give them a task to do. They can run into walls and turn around, jump off cliffs, walk in water, and your job is to stop them and lead them on the right path to their home. They have skills such as: Climber, they climb up straight walls; floaters, that parachute off steep cliffs: bombers, that blow up and make a hole in the ground; blockers stand still and turn lemmings around; bashers bash horizontally through walls; miners mine diagonally down and diggers dig straight down. Then there is a builder, who can build a ‘staircase' up, diagonally. The funniest bit is the part where you can blow up every lemming. The skills are limited in the levels, so you must dig, bash, build your way to safety, and you have got to use what you get. Believe me, some levels are very difficult. I've completed every level apart from Mayhem Level 30.

There are various level designs, plus in every difficulty setting there is a special, nice looking level. There are many traps, like metal blocks preventing you from digging down them, traps that burn you to bits, and hidden wall traps. Arrows sometimes point in a direction so you can only go through the direction they point. When you sometimes think you have the masters plan to do the level, there is a trap, you can't build a bridge far enough, or your lemmings fall splat on to the ground. Or you even have a complex course where you just have to do something on that very spot, or you won't make it. It's not just about strategy, but its about timing and positioning, and the trial and error element of the game makes it so addictive to play. What else? Well, the number of lemmings in a level is variable, to 2 to 100 of the buggers, and the number you have to save varies too. You can set the release rate, up to 99 and you can get an army coming from the trap door, where they fall out.

There is a password system, along with 6 difficulty ratings to choose from. There is Fun, Tricky, Taxing, and Mayhem that are loosely based on the PC version, but with several levels changed around. There is also Present and Sunsoft. The easiest is fun, and Sunsoft is by far the hardest. Present was just a bonus category thrown in which isn't too challenging if I say so myself, but still good fun.

So you want more? There is more! Yep, 2-player mode, the person to rescue most lemmings wins. There are 20 levels, and you are really supposed to make traps for your opponent to fall for. There are two different lemming types, and they each have their own home, so if an opponent's lemming goes into your home, then it's gone! (Good news for you though!) The levels are more or less symmetrical. Just grab a mate who doesn't slag off old games and who has played this and you will have the full definition of a ‘2-player game'.

You can also have the option to have background music or without, thus putting more emphasis on the sound effects.

The graphics aren't brilliant. The lemmings and they're animations look low-res but the levels look pretty good. There is no full background, it's just a black (or more precisely, dark navy blue) screen. But who cares? This game is so good, that you won't care about the graphics (unless you're writing a review, duh!).

The BGM is great, with some mix ups of well-known tunes, like a tune with 10 green bottles, the death march (quite appropriate) and the wedding march, can-can tune, O Little of Bethlehem, Beethoven, Mozart, and some others that I don't know. Sound effects are okay as well.

The game is worth not hours, not days, not weeks, not even months of action! It's worth years of action. Obviously it's not going to be the only game you will play on for years, but you will always come back to it now and then. It took me over 8 years to complete every level, apart from level 30 on Mayhem!

As a PC port over, this game is ported very well. Use your D-pad to move the cursor, and C to pick a task. No problems with the controls. It is a bit disappointing that some of the good levels from the PC/ Amiga version, have been replaced by smaller levels, they're too big for the allowed space. But to compensate, 2 new full difficulty levels have been added.

This game is one of the best games ever, I can't believe it didn't even make it in the Spring 2004 Best. Game. Ever. Poll. It has appeared on every console since it's release in 1989/1990 up to the PlayStation. It may be forgotten now, but download it for an emulator, find it in Oxfam, buy it on a budget range, you should have this. You'll love it.

Summary

Graphics Good backgrounds but bad lemming animations 6/10
Sound Famous and exclusive tunes add to the depth of the gameplay 9/10
Gameplay What more need I say? 10/10
Life Span You'll play it for a long time if you persevere. 10/10

Buy or rent? Chin scratching starts here. Buy

Overall Simply a true classic which is getting more forgotten. A masterpiece, find it and buy it.

Overall Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/04