Lemmings Review

Anannya Sen’s Review

If you haven't heard of it before, try out this addictive puzzle classic faithfully recreated for your mobile! Well worth a look!

Ahhh Lemmings. Anyone playing computer games in the late 80s or early 90s should remember this game fondly. When it came out it was the talking point of everyone at school, a very cute and funny puzzle game that was simple, smart and addictive. Now I-Fone have released it for your phones and you can see what all the fuss was about.

The graphics are very faithfully recreated from the PC version and the blue lemmings with green hair look great. The sprites are a little small for the phone so you miss out on some more of the aesthetic detail that I remember but this doesn't affect the game at all. The backgrounds, as they were in the original, are dark and it's the environment the lemmings move around on which are full of colour and a little detail. One of the levels is quite surreal.

The sound is not bad, not as good as the original as the tune which was so catchy is unfortunately not there. The sound effects are a little toned down as well but you do get some effects when the lemmings blow up, when they get home and when you finish a level. This is one area which could have been beefed up a little.

The controls are really simple, but they lack the speed of the mouse which makes it so easy to point and click. You can use the D or key pad to control your pointer but it definitely moves slower than the mouse and the responsiveness can be a little frustrating at times. What this basically means is that it's best to pause the game (denoted by a pair of paws, geddit) and then move your pointer around as the game will unpause once you have clicked your pointer anywhere (on a lemming or not). The main button or 5 will click and the right shoulder button pauses. The left shoulder button will set all lemmings to auto destruct (comedy) and the * and # keys cycle through the type of lemming options at the bottom of the screen (you can use the pointer but it's not worth it really). You do get used to the controls really quickly though so don't worry if you have never played the game before.

The playability is excellent. The home version was so original when it came out it blew a lot of people away. The premise is simple, you have to get your lemmings to their home. Unfortunately, being lemmings they just follow each other and keep walking in a straight line unless told what to do. Therefore you have several types of lemming attributes you can assign to individual lemmings. For instance you can make them stoppers so they stand there and if any lemming walks towards them, they direct them back in the other direction. They are used to control and direct the flow of your lemmings. The other attributes are all designed to help you overcome the obstacles in the levels so you have lemmings that can climb, float with an umbrella, punch through walls, dig diagonally through stuff, mine directly beneath them, build bridges (only with 8 blocks at a time - be careful to watch them because when they run out they just keep walking) blow up etc etc. The gameplay is exactly as addictive as the home version was and you should find yourself hooked in no time.

The lastability is excellent. There are 3 levels of difficulty with a total of 28 levels overall. The last level, called taxing, is locked until you complete the first two levels. The game autosaves after each level but one detraction is that you can't save the game mid level. You can pause the game and suspend and resume though so this game should keep you entertained for a while. I completed all 28 levels but I had a bit of help as I had completed the original home version as well, way back when. Even when completed you can always play it again and try and improve the percentage of lemmings you have to rescue.

Another classic faithfully recreated for your phones. Perfect to while away the time.