Lemmings II:The Tribes - Psygnosis RRP œ29.99 - œ39.99 (Puzzle cum arcade cum ... Oh go on, you ALL know Lemmings!!) @~This issue, three, yes, THREE reviews of this excellent game, @~from The Bitmap Kid, James Judge and James Jillians. Take it @~away, guys ... (1) The Bitmap Kid (as if you hadn't guessed) BMK BMK The Bitmap Kid Presents... ----------------------------- Lemmings II - THE Review --------------------------- Lemmings was one of the most original, new and exciting games of all time when it was released. It soared to the Hall of Fame of all computer games straight away with its excellent gameplay, graphics and sound. I must admit I wasn't one of the biggest fans of the game, but I sure knew it was a winner. Now the long, long awaited sequel is here - Lemmings 2 with some great new features... The biggest major difference to Lemmings II is all the new skills, and the fact that you no longer have to strain your eyes to see the different skill options you have! In total there are now over 50 skills which means the game is a lot more varied than the first - and sometimes a lot harder! There are 120 different levels to pass spanning 12 lands of Lemmings clans. Although the Lemmings themselves (or at least their skills) don't change from land to land (eg each land can use any of the 52 skills to the level designer's preference) the landscapes and music do. For example in Medieval World you may have a few jet packers, but in Space World even though the environment is futuristic, you can still get archer Lemmings! The difficulty of the game is erratic, I've found. The Egyptian levels I found easy peasy - even at stage 10, but I found Sports very hard by about level five! There is no order in which to attempt lands, you can pick and choose how you want - I did the easy ones first! Be warned - lands can get VERY hard indeed, but it is very satisfying to be awarded a piece of Talisman, which is your aim in each land. Unlike the original Lemmings there are no level codes (yippee!) but you save your games to disk instead. The manual is basic, but it covers all the features and new skills, there are also some practice levels where you can try out the new skills if you need to. The actual gameplay is the same, basically, as the original. Get your Lemmings to the end of the level, using the skills, and that's it. Be warned though, if you only get two Lemmings through a level, that's all the Lemmings you'll have for the rest of that land and you won't score so well on that level! The graphics and animations are excellent throughout, I just can't fault them at any point (I of course tried my best...!). The same is almost true of the music, but the music in some lands is just not too good, unfortunately, while other land music is excellent, like Polar Land where there is a great version of 'The Red Nose Donkey' (or whatever it's called)! For the levels where the music isn't so good, and for those deep concentration moments, there is the option of turning the music off. I really can't fault this game anywhere. It may be a tad too expensive at RRP, but hey, you'll get it if you like it! Well, if you liked the first Lemmings then you've just gotta have the second game - it's much better! What a game! GRAPHICS ------ 92% SOUND --------- 87% GAMEPLAY ------ 96% RATING -------- ****/****** OVERALL ------- 90% - Not my favourite in games, but if you like this sort of thing, it's a must. BMK BMK * * * * * (2) Reviewed on an STe by James Judge OK, hands up all of you that haven't heard of the green headed Lemmings? Oh, good, none of you so I don't need to mention that this is a puzzle game in the form of its predecessor with a lot of improvements. And that the game involves you guiding a certain number of Lemmings through a fiendish level to reach the exit and, when all twelve levels per world are completed, to get a piece of the medallion that was split into twelve pieces at the end of Lemmings. Well, we have all heard of Lemmings, the green, stupid creatures that made such a huge impression on the computer market in 1990 or thereabouts. I don't think there has ever been a game that has caught everyone's eyes from the adventurer to the hardened platformer and even some non-players! Surprisingly there have only been four clones that are worth mentioning, and two of them are from Psygnosis. One is Penguins on the ST, the other is Xmas Lemmings on the PC and then there is Oh No, More Lemmings on all formats from ST to Mac (at last) and, finally, Lemmings 2, hoooooooraaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must admit that I am somewhat of a Lems fan - you should see my little doodles of 'em - so I was really glad when I got hold of a copy of Lem 2. I know I called this a clone of the original, but that isn't really fair - it beats its granddaddy into the ground and then spits on it, in my opinion. Apart from looking and playing better, the puzzles have been given a soup-up with over 60 (!) new skills. After the loading screens you are presented with the main menu, where you can select to play the game from the start, choose a world to play or load a saved game. If you click on the map you will see the twelve worlds you will have to trudge through to get the elusive parts of the medallion. The twelve worlds are (and I'll try to remember them in order of difficulty): Beach Lemmings Outdoor Egyptian Classical Medieval Circus Highland Space Polar Shadow Cavelem Sport Wow! What a selection. With twelve levels per world you definitely won't get bored with this game! Each world has got its own graphics and sound track and they are both excellent - even on the standard ST. Apart from the water and gouts of flame being animated you've got suns, sphinxes and polar bears blinking and other such little touches. The sound is really good, except that the ST version only uses one sound channel (to cater for the inferior STFM) so when there are effects (noises from the lems or their skills) the music gets shut out, but it is still playing in the computer's memory so it can get a bit disjointed, especially at the end of the level when lem after lem enter the exit to give a little 'yippee'. As I said, the lemmings have been given a new range of skills, and the old ones are still present. The skills are split into different categories, including: Wind skills (ballooner, magic carpet and twister), Ground removing skills (scooper, fencer and laser blaster), Building skills (filler, planter and glue pourer), shooting skills (archer, bazooka and roper), Movement skills (roller, booter and SuperLem) and, finally, Misc skills (pole vaulter, slider and diver). I've named only a few and there are a lot more interesting ones than those. To get you used to the new skills there is a practice option where you can choose eight skills to practice in one of four specially designed worlds which have no exit. This is very useful for starters as you never know just what you can use each skills for. As well as the singular skills, you can mix them up. If you have got a wide gap to jump, make a lem a runner and then when it reaches the gap, make him a jumper - he'll jump further. You can also interact with certain pieces of scenery from chains on which your lems can clutch (and they can only be dislodged by an explosion) and things which catapult the lems here and there (cannons etc.). There are also patches of water which you can swim or boat across (or dive into) and patches of ice which can only be skated across. As well as the usual problem you've got the often hilarious traps around the levels, from globes which suck the lem into it, twirl him around and then he explodes, to machines which make them into blocks of ice. Another addition is they have scrapped the two way scrolling for the levels. The game now boasts eight way scrolling, allowing some huge levels that will make even the most hardened lem fan think twice before embarking on the level! And those aren't all the improvements! If you have played any of the Lemmings games, you will know the frustration of waiting for 100 lems to trudge across the screen, up and down your carefully constructed path. Well, Psygnosis obviously listen to their customers as they have included a fast forward button, great. Another new function is the fan, which turns your pointer into a fan which allows you to control the direction of some skills such as twisters, jet packs, Icarus wings and ballooners. As well as all that we have now got full keyboard control to access the pause facility, fan, all the skills and the fast forward option so there is now no excuse of saying 'well, I didn't quite reach the skill I wanted with the pointer', you can now use the keyboard! I'm in great danger of going on all night about this game as I think it the best thing since Lemmings. All I can say is, sheer bliss. It looks good, sounds good and plays excellently. With no codewords it is a matter of slugging through each level until you complete the game, it is one game that refuses to accept cheats (at last). Don't worry though, it has got a save game option. Well done, Psygnosis, and I don't think you can top this (although that's what we said about the original). If you haven't got this yet, pester your nearest and dearest for a late Christmas present (just tell 'em it'll keep you quiet). If I gave points this would score 99% for all except sound and playability. Sound would have to be 90% (on the ST) and playability would have to be 100%. Lemmings rule again!!!!! * * * * * (3) Review By JAMES JILLIANS Alright, I know, Lemmings 2 isn't an adventure game, but I thought it might be helpful if I reviewed it. I'm sure there are lots of SynTax readers who are considering buying the sequel to the most popular game ever (!?!). Anyway, if Sue can review the original in Issue 20, I don't see why I shouldn't review this! @~Quite right! ... Sue Lemmings are incredibly stupid rodents with bright green hair. They're so stupid, in fact, that they tend to wander off, ignoring all obstacles in their way and meet an untimely demise after plunging from a cliff or drowning in a river. In Lemmings 1 it was your task to help guide a single tribe of these suicidal morons through the 100 or so levels to safety, using 12 different special skills which could be given to certain creatures. Since then, the lemmings have got together into 12 separate tribes, each taking on a particular theme , eg. astronauts, sports fanatics, cavemen, beach bums, etc. Now there are over 50 different special skills which you have at your disposal - jet-packing, ballooning, pole-vaulting, archery and the ability to use various lethal weapons as well as many, many more. Each of the 12 tribes has to negotiate 12 levels to reach freedom. You start off with 60 lemmings. Any that escape from one level progress onto the next. On each level the lemmings come out of a trapdoor and start wandering aimlessly about. By assigning special skills to lemmings you can destroy bits of scenery, or find other ways to traverse it, clearing the way for the other lemmings to wander over to the exit before the time-limit is reached. The levels take place over many screens which can be scrolled up, down, left and right. Up to 10 special skills are assigned on each level and because of the great variety there you are faced with a seemingly infinite number of different puzzles and problems. You also have to contend with a wide range of devious traps. The levels are challenging, becoming more difficult as you progress. The game is not easy - sometimes you will have to spend a long time pondering how to get all the lemmings to the exit. A great deal of skill is needed to get the lemmings to do the right things at the right time - sometimes you only get a split-second to perform a suitable action. The puzzles should challenge even the most cunning and experienced games players, and with 120 levels the game should provide weeks of entertainment. There is not much change between the levels for the different tribes, except for graphics and traps. The special skills are not exclusive to certain tribes - they are used in all manner of situations. The game has a unique sense of humour. The animation is excellent - some of the lemmings' exaggerated actions, like when they are flying through the air waving their arms or walking across the ceiling wearing magnetic boots, make you laugh out loud. The graphics are very atmospheric and well drawn but the sound can be irritating. I found that the repetitive music and WHAAA! noises made by the lemmings become tiresome after a while, forcing you to turn the volume down. J.J. ROUND-UP Lemmings 2 is well-worth buying. There is enormous variety and because of all the new special skills it is almost a completely different game from the original Lemmings. The puzzles range from fun to near impossible, catering for players of all abilities. The graphics are excellent (and very funny!) and create loads of atmosphere. Even if you don't normally go in for the strategy-arcade sort of game, I would make an exception for this! J.J. RATINGS GRAPHICS : 9 out of 10 SOUND : 6 out of 10 EASE OF USE : 7 out of 10 VALUE : 10 out of 10 DIFFICULTY : 9 out of 10 FUN FACTOR : 9 out of 10