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Lemmings Revolution
 I've lost count of the number of lemmings that I've set free in the world. It must be thousands as this is the fifth or sixth Lemmings title (I've lost count) and the little darlings are still graciously lining up just breaking their necks to break their necks! I'm always happy to assist (to rescue them, not to break their necks) because I do want them to live for another day.
Whilst I just couldn't wait to get my hands on this latest Lemmings game, I must admit the actual wording of the title made me a bit nervous. The word 'revolution' hinted that there might be some drastic changes to the winning formula, but my fears were unfounded. Indeed, this latest Lemmings goes back to basics with just eight familiar 'skills' to allocate (climber, floater, exploder, blocker, builder, basher, miner and digger). There are no swimmers or surfers and no rubber tubes to paddle, but in this episode some new species of Lemming have been introduced, one that takes water in its stride and another that happily frolics in acid pools.
 So where does the 'revolution' come in? Well it's hard to miss as soon as you load in the game. Instead of a scrolling landscape to traverse, here the Lemmings spend their time literally running in circles as the landscape is wound around a cylinder that turns as you press the left mouse button and move your mouse. You can spin the cylinder in any direction and watch the Lemming procession. As well as new species, there have also been some new hazards and gadgets introduced such as boxing kangaroos (well that's what they look like), lethal spinning logs, and laser gates, as well as the more familiar teleporters and anti-gravity pads. This game also includes some timed elements like walls that spring open at a specific time, but the pace is rarely frantic as you can pause play at any time (almost!). So, rather than calling for speed, it's pure strategy that will help you beat the clock.
I'm quietly chuckling even though I know I have a few more grey hairs. These colourful rodents must bring out the very best in me, as I'm never satisfied in rescuing just 95 out of 100 if I can see a way to save them all. Does anyone else have this serious problem? And I get caught every time with the red lemmings, er herrings as I'm sometimes far too smart for my britches and try to pull every lever and break every laser only to find that I've missed the obvious and easy solution.
 In fact pulling every lever or activating every gadget can sometimes be a very bad move because they can hinder rather than help. Experimentation is absolutely necessary and this leads on to my one big complaint about Lemmings Revolution ... there is no mid level save or no feature that allows automatic replay as in Lemmings 3D. This might have been acceptable in the early Lemmings days, but not now. The latest episode definitely needs something to minimise repeating levels when it is certain that you are going to make a mistake somewhere. Lemmings Revolution would also have been improved had it been designed for multiple players to save their games. As is, the automatic save allows access to all levels up to the level you have reached, but you must be careful when loading a game. Accidentally press the 'start new game' instead of the 'continue game' button and that's where you start ... at the very beginning ... with no further access until you complete the levels.
Despite the hitches I've been having a few fun-filled days. If you haven't already met this maddening crowd of rambling rodents then be warned the game is highly addictive. The concept is simple, you must guide the lemmings 'home' in every level across dangerous terrain and around fiendish hazards. At your disposal are the various skills mentioned above so you can order your lemmings to perform tricks, and you might even have to make sacrifices to finish a level. The game uses mouse control with a couple of keystrokes for pausing, zooming in, and accessing the options menu. There are some very easy training levels that introduce one skill at a time, but don't be lulled into a false sense of security. The going does get decidedly more difficult I'm delighted to say!
Copyright © Rosemary Young 2000.
All rights reserved.
System Requirements:
Win 95/98, P166 (PII 333 recommended), 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended), 24xCD ROM, DirectX compatible 3D Accelerator 4MB (8MB recommended), Mouse.
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