Level Review Topic

[Minim]

DOS - Taxing 8 - The Art Gallery


Lemmings: 80
Save: 80 (100%)
Release Rate: 20
Time: 4 minutes
Skills: 10 climbers, 10 floaters, 10 bombers, 10 builders, 10 bashers.

Good: Forces you to use another creative way of trapping the lemmings. Although the blockers are vacant...
Bad: ...Bombers aren't supposed to be added in a 100% level.

[Proxima]

Bad: ...Bombers aren't supposed to be added in a 100% level.

Whyever not? They're not doing you any harm just by being there.

Taxing 9 - Perseverance


20 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 50
4 minutes

2 climbers, 1 floater, 1 bomber, 2 blockers, 2 builders, 1 basher, 1 miner, 2 diggers

Good: Nice title, nice pattern with the skill numbers (see? the bomber does have a purpose!) and quite an elegant little puzzle the first time you encounter it.
Bad: The simplicity and obviousness of the three-skill solution takes a lot of the charm out of the level once you find it.

[Minim]

DOS - Taxing 10 - Izzie Wizzie lemmings get busy


Lemmings: 5
Save: 5 (100%)
Release Rate: 50
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 5 bombers, 5 blockers, 15 builders, 5 bashers, 5 miners, 5 diggers

Good: A nice break from huge masses of lemmings. Solution is well intended and not too easy thanks to the missing climbers and floaters.
Bad: I still think 5 minutes is too much time for this level. Bombers should be cut out.

[Proxima]

Heh, Taxing 10 is another level where I found a backroute instead of the real solution. In the "box" just before the big drop, build just before the wall, then bash so that one pixel of floor remains below the basher.

Taxing 11 - The ascending pillar scenario


50 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 20
4 minutes

2 climbers, 1 floater, 20 builders, 5 bashers, 5 miners, 5 diggers

Good: A really taxing level that took me years to pass. You have to be really efficient to control the crowd in that tiny space. The skill allocation is good too -- there are different things you can try with the climbers and floater.
Bad: Bland title.

[Pooty]

Heh, Taxing 10 is another level where I found a backroute instead of the real solution. In the "box" just before the big drop, build just before the wall, then bash so that one pixel of floor remains below the basher.

Hang on, I thought that was the intended solution?

[Minim]

DOS - Taxing 12 - Livin' on the edge


Lemmings: 10
Save: 8 (80%)
Release Rate: 50
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 2 blockers, 10 of the rest

Good: The title says it all, especially the blockers.
Bad: Too easy at this stage of the game.

[Proxima]

Heh, Taxing 10 is another level where I found a backroute instead of the real solution. In the "box" just before the big drop, build just before the wall, then bash so that one pixel of floor remains below the basher.

Hang on, I thought that was the intended solution?

Then why so many builders? I'm sure the intended solution is to dig and build up again from below.

I won't review Taxing 13 as I've done quite a few recently, and I'm sure several people have this on their favourites list....

[Clam]

I won't review Taxing 13 as I've done quite a few recently, and I'm sure several people have this on their favourites list....

Guess not. It might be on someone's "least favourite" list though... like mine.  " title="Angry" class="smiley" />

DOS - Taxing 13 - Upsidedown World


Lemmings: 80
Save: 79 (98%)
RR: 40
Time: 6 minutes
Skills: 1-0-10-1-2-3-4-2

Good: Unique graphical approach with all the grass and stuff on the bottom.

Bad: The one-way wall bug wrecks a seemingly legitimate solution, which spoils this level IMO. Also it seems pointless to start you the wrong way, and then give you a blocker and allow you to lose one lemming.
And it's another long, drawn-out hero level.
And the steel area over the bear trap which is inconsistent with other levels and really gets in the way.
And the masses of roots which make things awkward.
And the excess bombers that you can't use.

So, yeah. Not good.

[/rant]

[Minim]

Well, we don't have many right-to-left levels in the whole game, but it is harder than the average level I have to say. I like my "Upsidedown Islands" level better, even though the terrain pieces look quite messy.

DOS - Taxing 14 - Hunt the Nessy


Lemmings: 80
Save: 76 (95%)
Release Rate: 30
Time Limit: 8 minutes
Skills: 10 bombers, 10 blockers, 30 builders, 2 bashers, 1 miner, 1 digger.

Good: A slightly different approach on how to tackle the Nessy.
Bad: A poor attempt for a designer who wants to take the entire level. Not a lot of scenery. Where's all the water gone? Why do identical looking rocks get in the way? It's so repetitive, this level should never have been made on this console. I remember Ice Eagle saying this on the older forums "No challenge, just a waste of time!". Too many blockers and bombers. Exit should be placed behind and not in-front of the grass.

[Proxima]

I've contributed to the "Top 5, bottom 5" topic now, and Upsidedown World didn't make my top 5, but it certainly would have made my top 10.

Taxing 15 - What an AWESOME level


80 lemmings
Save 80% (64)
Release rate 50
6 minutes

20 of each skill

Good: Best music in the game. Another "special" level, this one with quite nice-looking graphics.
Bad: Tedious to get through all the obstacles, and especially annoying that the stars can get in your way.

[ccexplore]

Taxing 16 - Mary Poppins' land


80 lemmings
Save 96% (77)
Release rate 50
3 minutes

4 floaters, 3 bombers, 3 blockers, 20 builders

Good: Very apt title.  Skills set, % required, and time limit chosen well for the level's intended solution, together encouraging you to multitask the two time-consuming bits, a variation from the single worker lemming.  The level has also proven very interesting for challenges (100%; 1 minute; no floaters).

Bad:

• The weirdly slanted pillar holding up the starting platform looks really sloppy (why the slight slant at all?), parts of it even sticks out from the steel plates.
• For the intended solution, there are a lot of uneven terrain in the level, and if you don't take care to set your blockers on flat ground, you run the risk of walkers being able to pass through your blockers.  Granted, the uneven terrain makes it possible to just turn around by building, but then why not just omit the 2 blockers altogether from the skill set?
• Obviously much building if you aren't a fan of builder-heavy levels, but hey, at least here the building isn't gratuitous, and they have the decency to shorten the amount of building for the first drop by allowing you to start midway on the steep slope.
• The lack of variety in the skills set makes the solution rather easy to figure out.

[Minim]

DOS - Taxing 17: X marks the spot


80 lemmings
Save 90% (72)
Release rate 50
7 minutes

Skills: 5 bombers, 5 bashers, 5 climbers, 6 miners, 20 builders

Good: A good title for a level. X shows where the hidden exit might be...
Bad:Thanks to the exits on the left, the level is backrouted badly.

Check out my revised version. It's the last level of one of my packs. Hope you find it

[Proxima]

Bad:Thanks to the exits on the left, the level is backrouted badly.

You're overthinking it. It's pretty obvious they expected more people to aim for the visible exits (simply since anyone can see that they're there).

Taxing 18 - Tribute to M. C. Escher


75 lemmings
Save 86% (65)
Release rate 50
5 minutes

1 floater, 15 bombers, 15 builders, 1 basher

Good: Really fun level to play, especially if you're doing it without the basher (my original solution). Also, nice title, referring to the appearance after you've built a zigzag of stairs up on the left.
Bad: Requires a bit more mental arithmetic than a Lemmings level should to know how many bombers it's safe to use.

[Clam]

DOS - Taxing 19 - Bomboozal


Lemmings: 70
Save: 64 (91%)
RR: 80
Time: 2 minutes
Skills: 15 bombers

Good: Quick solution, and enough margin for error to make the bomber timing bearable. And if you don't want to deal with the back-and-forth stuff (and associated splat risk from putting bomber holes below each other), you can just bomb down the right-hand side.

Bad: Nothing but bomber timing - we've had quite enough of that already. And like many other levels, there's more bombers than you can afford to use. And by the time you've used 15 bombers, chances are you've died in the fire pits or fallen off the screen anyway.

[ccexplore]

DOS - Taxing 20 - Walk the web rope


Lemmings: 80
Save: 70 (87%)
RR: 50
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 20 of each

Good:  Features the web, a unique and unusual terrain to work a path through (yes, the web exists in levels like Mayhem 4 also, but there you only need to get through a small part of it).

Bad:

• The pointlessly long walkway between the webs--even longer than Tightrope City's, but absolutely pointless here since you don't need any crowd control or worry about the time limit.
• 20 of everything is far too generous and uninspired, more like something you'd expect from early/mid Tricky and not something from two thirds into Taxing.  They could've at least drastically lower the number of bashers to make you try out the other terrain removal skills.
• Also, once you get past the left boundary of the first web, the rest is rather straightforward, and the second web offers nothing different from the first.  Would've been more interesting if, say, they put the exit near the top right side of the second web forcing you to go up instead of just across/down like the first web

.