User Reviews (1 - 11 of 11)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Hey, who took the "AWESOME" out of the AWESOME level?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: August 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lemmings has always been one of my favorite puzzle games. In the early 90s, I'd play it for hours on end, sometimes even skipping school just so I could attempt to clear a level that frustrated me to no end. To this day, I've never managed to clear every single level, one right after the other, without taking months to do so. From Lemmings to Oh No More Lemmings!, from Lemmings Paintball to 3D Lemmings, from Christmas Lemmings to the special levels added onto a disk included with the strategy guide by Prima 10+ years ago, Lemmings has always managed to be challenging, no matter which direction it takes. Lemmings has never been graphics-intense: it's all about the gameplay, and for some part, the fun music. Tracks like "She'll Be Comin' 'round The Mountain" and several original tunes have made each level less frustrating than they normally would if had an irritating track playing. To this day, I will have what I'll call the theme, burned into my memory. I don't think it's a classic song, but it's the song that plays on the psp's main menu when you highlight GAME and then UMD. I -love- that song, and will hum or whistle it while working, writing, working out, anything really. So how well does Lemmings fare when thrown onto the psp, a system that desperately needs some great titles to save it from obscurity? Not too shabby, though it's a bit disappointing to see edits in the original levels, and even evidence of copyright issues.

If you've never played Lemmings, you're in for a treat. At the start of each level, a door will open, and Lemmings will fall out of it onto the ground. It's from this point, that you command them what to do using various actions at the bottom of the screen. The attributes given are Climber, Floater, Blocker, Bomber, Builder, Digger, Basher and Miner. Each one has its own specific use, and WILL come in handy at some point. What do you use these attributes for? Making it to the Lemmings' home located in each level. That's all you do- guide the Lemmings home using their special abilities. But it's not a piece of cake as the first 10 or so levels would have you think. Sure, you start out with levels that pretty much tell you how to clear them just by their name (like "Just Dig!"), but later on, you'll have to figure out tricks to clear the levels. Take for example the Blocker- whose ability is to prevent Lemmings from continuing in a certain direction, and turning them around. How do you make a Blocker if you don't have a Blocker attribute available? Yes, you're given a specific number for each attribute for each level. You'll have to rely on tricks like making a Lemming dig down for a few turns, then building a staircase, which makes them turn around. Instant-Blocker. Later levels have various traps like flames, water, hangman ropes, grinders, acid, presses, and more. Heck, some levels have the Lemmings' door too high up, and causes them to die upon touching the floor! Yes, you're going to need some good reflexes to make it through some of the levels here. There are even some levels that have one-way obstacles, like some walls. This means that you can only dig or bash through a wall in the direction the arrow on it is pointing. Again, every attribute does have a use. Climbers climb over walls, but for their entire life span or until they make it home. Floaters can land safely on the ground from high locations, and retain this ability until they die or make it home. Blockers are permanent until blown up or the ground from beneath them is removed. Bombers, well, you select a Lemming with this attribute, give it to them, and they have 5 seconds left to live before blowing up and creating a little crater or hole in the wall where they once were. Builders create staircases of 13 steps before running out of supplies until you make them build again. Miners mine diagonally downward, which is useful for making slopes for Lemmings trapped in pits to exit with. Bashers dig left or right, depending on which direction they're facing, in a straight line until they run out of material to dig, or hit steel (something Lemmings can't destroy/dig/bash, but can partially blow up, though it's of no use). And lastly, Diggers will dig downward until they run out of material, fall to the bottom of the screen, or hit steel.

The psp version of Lemmings here has all the original 120 levels from the first game (the Amiga and PC versions at least. The Mac version had an alternate level in one case), and most are retained rather well. But that's where the first big problem I have lies: some levels have been upped -too much- from their original design, and don't work well. Take a few levels from the original Taxing difficulty on the PC version: Hunt the Nessy, What An AWESOME Level, and Walk the Tightrope. In Nessy, there was a Loch Ness-esque monster in the middle of the level, made out of earth with a tuft of grass for hair and a big happy smile. It was cute. Now, it's just land formed slightly into a duck-head with eyes and a mouth drawn on it in a hieroglyphic-type manner. A small example, but disappointing none the less. AWESOME was just that- AWESOME. It had dragons used from the game: AWESOME, created by the same people who created Lemmings, which made the game seem different suddenly since the graphics for the dragons didn't fit in with the low-graphic levels and characters up until that point. Now, they're just mounds of dirt just barely resembling dragon bodies, but without the detail of spine bones, thorns, heads, or anything else. Tightrope was in fact, a tightrope. Now, it's just a wooden beam supported by other wooden beams. What they did here with this version, was had a small pool of level types: sewer, earth, ancient, hell and a few others. Every level was made to fit into one of those groups, never to go out of bounds like the original game did. Also, a few level names were changed slightly, like what was originally Mary Poppins Land, is now Mary Pop Land. Nothing major, but somewhat funny since it shows they lost the rights to use that name somehow. Finally, most of the levels' attribute number and percentage of Lemmings saved needed to clear each level has been taken from the Amiga version, as I noted when looking though the original strategy guide, and comparing the stats from that to these revamped levels. At the same time, I was disappointed to see that the psp version has MORE time for each level than the original release. Why make it easier all of a sudden?

The graphics aren't anything that would make you wonder how the psp can handle everything, but there are some pretty backgrounds, and you can actually see the eyes on the Lemmings if you zoom in. I especially liked the layered look: when you scroll through a level, the objects in the background will be seen at the appropriate angle. Very cool. Some of the music is back, though there's more ambient tracks than I remember, and the random music generator seems to favor some tracks over a few others, like the theme, which is unfortunate.

This version also sports an online mode where you can download and upload levels created by other players. Yep, you can now create your own Lemmings levels that you thought up when you were a kid like me, or challenge yourself into making the hardest level ever created for Lemmings. It takes a while to make something good, but it's worth it when you get e-mails from people asking for hints. Also, there's a "Special" play mode, just a handful of new levels: some stupidly easy and others hair-pulling hard. It's a small way to add some replay once you've cleared all 120 original levels.

Is Lemmings worth a purchase? Sure, if you've never played it, or want to relive some puzzle glory. Most of the replay lies in playing levels created by other people. But like most puzzle games, once you've cleared the main levels and find yourself playing them less, the game will sit on a shelf and collect dust for a long time. Plus, with how hard some of these levels are, you'll probably be taking long breaks. It's just a shame that one of the better titles for the psp is yet another port of an old game.

Great logic training and puzzle fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: June 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

We have loved Lemmings since their very first game. The concept is simple and oh so fun. You are responsible for saving the dutiful little green-haired creatures from nasty death.

Let me first say that the whole idea of lemmings following each other over a cliff is a MYTH!! This was a FAKE scene filmed by Disney (of all people) for the 1958 film Wild Wilderness. They imported lemmings to Alberta, Canada and forced them over a cliff for dramatic storytelling. Real lemmings don't do this!

Still, it makes for a fun computer game. The lemmings march along in a line. You can turn individual lemmings into climbers, bashers, or other types in order to avoid lava, water and other obstacles. Really, you don't need great graphics for lemmings, because it is all about logic and puzzle solving.

However, I was really impressed by the graphics they did offer. The backgrounds are in motion and add to the feel of the level. The level walls and pillars are very detailed in some situations.

The sounds are also not really important - it's more cartoony than realistic. You hear your little lemmings call out "Yippee!" when they get to the goal, or make various "glub" noises as they sink, fall, burn up, or get smashed.

There are a full set of "original" games, which my boyfriend remembers from the PC version, as well as new games custom for this PSP. Not only that, but there is a full level editor included so that you can create your own levels. I found the interface a bit clunky - but it certainly worked, and if you put some effort into it, you could create amazing levels.

On the other hand, they say to go to a website to download levels. I went both to the official Lemmings site as well as to the one they list, and there were no levels to download. I did this in mid-June, so the game had been out for a while. It was a bit deflating to find nothing new to play.

There are certainly a ton of levels included - and some can be quite tricky. While you can probably whip through all of the easy levels in an afternoon, it will take longer and longer to figure out the other ones. It's great mental exercise! It really hones your logic skills. If only people would start uploading levels - or the lemmings creators would provide new ones - the game would be playable for more than say a month.

Not your typical PSP game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is really great fun for people of all ages. There's no real violence (well, lots of lemmings die, but the goal is to save them!) and no dialogue at all. The point of the game is to get the lemmings to a safe house, but they all follow each other. In most levels, you have to prevent them from walking off cliffs, drowning, etc. by using tools or skills that you're given. For instance, you could build stairs, or open an umbrella while jumping off a cliff to lighten your fall. Stuff like that. The easy levels are really easy and the hard ones are really challenging, so there's fun for all. My only complaint is that the lemmings are so tiny on the screen, even though you can magnify.

Stunning graphics and amazingly intuitive controls

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: June 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was amazed at how sharp and beautiful the graphics were upon starting up this game on the PSP. What shocked me even more was how intuitive the controls were. Even though this game is over a decade old, it is the perfect PSP pick up and play game. the PSP wide-screen enhances one's ability to follow the action. The number of levels is almost infinite as you can create your own levels and also download levels from others (I have yet to be able to connect to try this out) and also download additional offical levels from the official website. Combined with Me and My Katamari, Lemmings makes for a must have for addictive puzzle fans on the PSP.

Suicidial Creatures are FUN

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lemmings is a game in which you help little cretures get to one point. Sounds easy right, well your dead wrong. These cretures die if they fall in water, from a big height lava, or mechanical deathtaps. Your job is assigning different lemmings to do a certain job. The jobs are listed, climbers, umbrellas, stoppers, bombers, diggers, shoverlers, miners, and stair builders. The most humorus of all jobs is bombers in which they kill themselves with bombs.
As you would think it is easy as go on and then as you progress it gets harder. There are over 120 different levels including 36 new levels. It is a extremly fun game until you get to the last couple of levels were it gets so hard you just want to break the whole game.
IF you want a fun game look towards Lemmings. But expect diffuculty
PS. Sorry about my bad spelling

Very nice puzzle game !!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game for my son. He likes to play it. Small characters are the only minus in that game.

sweet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: June 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

this game is fun up until the last like 30 levels which i sware are impossible to beat. i would suggest just renting it.

lemmings

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

i first played game on pc, this is far more fun. graphics are great

Superb

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Probably the best puzzle game I ever played. It's really fun and it will test your skills in every way. Puzzle game lovers this is a must have.

Great Remake!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This was one of my favorite games back in the day, and the psp overhaul has definitely done it justice. The backgrounds and graphics are beautiful, the music has been updated and the new music is nice and ambient. It has all of the original stages, ~35 brand new stages, a complex level editor, and best of all, you can download other people's created stages so the fun never ends!

Review Page: 1 2 Next 

Actions