lemmings game review
Little riddle: what is blue, with green hair, and who always goes straight regardless of the danger? No, this is not a Smurf with a wig chased by Gargamel, it is a Lemming. What is a Lemming? Explanations for the bottom two or three who have spent the past twenty years in a closet…Some unscrupulous dictionaries will tell you that a Lemming is a kind of rodent living in Scandinavia and which, when the first frost comes, throws itself into the void by whole herds from the top of the cliffs. This is only half true. They are actually endearing creatures in blue tunics and green hair who, it is true, gladly throw themselves into the void. In fact, the Lemmings always go straight ahead, whatever the danger ahead of them. A hole ? They fall into it. Any trap? They rush into it without flinching. A wall ? They bump into it violently and then turn around. Would the Lemmings be completely blind? Or totally stupid? Anyway, in the game of Psygnosis, it is up to you the heavy task of being both their eyes and their brain and thus guide these endearing critters from one door to another to through many levels, each more convoluted than the other. In order to achieve this, you can give them orders through the cursor that you direct on the screen. For example, do you want a Lemming to build a bridge? Nothing's easier ! Select the bridge icon at the bottom of the screen, drag your cursor to the creature that should become a builder, and press the action button. You just have to watch your worker get to work. And this is just one of the many possible actions.
Our friends with green hair can indeed equip themselves with an umbrella so as not to crash during a fall; they can also dig horizontally, vertically or diagonally, climb a wall, stop and block their fellows who will then turn around… They can explode too! In short, they are versatile and will need to exercise all their talents to cross as best as possible, and with your help, the 120 tables in the game, divided into 4 difficulty levels of 30 tables each. It is true that the first 30 levels are a simple formality and allow you to familiarize yourself with the different commands and possibilities of the title. It’s after things get tough, and even reaching level 100 will be a real challenge to your logic and your responsiveness. Most of the tables are actually real puzzles because the possible actions are given to you in limited number, some are even sometimes unavailable. Time is often against you too, forcing you to play with fire to get to the exit door before the time runs out. You will also have to deal with many traps that are not necessarily visible at first glance. It goes without saying that you will have to save a maximum of Lemmings since each table imposes on you a quota of losses that will not have to be exceeded in order to progress. The principle of the game is extremely original for the time, and trying it could quickly make the player addicted, to the point of haunting him during his sleep or pushing him to submit the most twisted levels to those around him in order to find a hypothetical solution…
From a purely technical point of view, Lemmings is also a success. The environments are detailed even if their number is quickly limited. You can always find the tiny Lemmings in these gigantic settings, but they are beautifully animated, often in a funny way, and they can be incredibly numerous on the screen, sometimes almost a hundred. The music of the game is also worth their weight in peanuts and contributes greatly to the friendly atmosphere of the title. We find with pleasure well-known themes from popular or children's music remixed with the "Lemmings" sauce. These catch the ear very easily and it is not uncommon for the player, to the chagrin of those around him, to start humming loudly while playing! The gameplay with the controller is of course not worth the ergonomics of the mouse but everything has been studied to make the experience as pleasant as possible thanks to several shortcuts: the two triggers L and R allow to scroll the screen to the left or right and the Y and X buttons select the desired action in the menu at the bottom of the screen without having to move the cursor there as you would with a mouse. The start button activates or deactivates the pause, during which it is always possible to move the cursor and quietly choose its future actions. Everything seems to be done to make the console player's life easier and it is clear that the recipe works despite the absence of a mouse (which will be released a little later on SNes). Also note a two-player split screen mode in which everyone will try to guide the Lemmings of their color to the exit door while sabotaging the hard work of their opponent so that the latter does not reach said door. Nice at first but too quickly messed up. The paintings are more like battlefields between fratricidal peoples than anything else.
What more can we say about this monument in the history of video games? Although it is unforgivable to have never played it, the game being released at the time on almost all existing platforms, computers and consoles. It has also been reissued with updated graphics on newer consoles such as the PSP and PS2, and a new iteration exists on the Playstation Store PS3. Anyway… the two or three in the background who would have spent the past twenty years in a closet have no more excuses to catch up and finally discover this masterpiece!
The notes
Graphics 15/20
We can blame the graphics for a certain lack of variety concerning the environments, or even Lemmings too small on the screen, but the whole remains very neat, very cute with funny animations.
Gameplay 15/20
The handling is simple and effective, almost as intuitive as with the mouse. Most of the main actions are assigned to a joystick button, which greatly simplifies things.
Lifespan 18/20
The difficulty is very progressive and everyone can progress through the 120 levels of the game at their own pace. However, only a handful of fierce fighters will finish the title, the difficulty being terribly high on the final levels. Lemmings being a great classic, it also has great replay potential.
Soundtrack 18/20
The musical themes are great classics, beautifully re-orchestrated, often in a fun way and perfectly suited to the quirky world of Lemmings. Small exclamations and various cries of silly creatures are also successful and make them even more endearing.
Scenario/
In case you haven't figured it out yet, Lemmings is a classic, a must-have that you must have played at least once in your life. The title blithely and brilliantly mixes thinking, puzzles, reflexes and good humor: a recipe as explosive as it is original which made this title a huge success as well commercial as critical. The game is still a benchmark today and is still as catchy as it was back then!
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