Level Review Topic

[Minim]

Mayhem 2 - The boiler room


Lemmings: 80
Save 90% (72)
Release rate: 30
Time: 6 minutes

5 floaters, 10 bombers, 10 blockers, 30 builders, 10 climbers.

Good: The title says it all, blocks an obvious path with a flame trap making it significantly harder. Not all of the level is hero based.
Bad: Too much time and too many builders, The scaffolding on the right looks a little bit dull.

[Proxima]

Mayhem 3 - It's hero time!


30 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 99
1 minute

1 of each skill

Good: Excellent title, and a clever puzzle with a neat solution. Very efficient use of skills to force you to think about using all the skill types (except of course the bomber as it's a 100% level). One of the most memorable levels of the game by anyone's standards.
Bad: Too early in the category, though admittedly not by much.

[Minim]

DOS - Mayhem 4 - The crossroads


Lemmings: 50
Save 80% (40)
Release rate: 99
Time: 1 minute

Skills: 10 bombers, 10 bashers

Good: The title says it all. The 99 release make the level hard and chaotic.
Bad: Can be solved 100%, too short because of the 1 minute time limit, it doesn't reflect your mind very much.

[ccexplore]

Bad: Can be solved 100%

It's interesting to note that on the Amiga version they did make this level require 100%, but only on the Amiga version AFAIK.  Clearly someone must've thought it's too harsh to the player to require 100% on such a chaotic level at this early stage of Mayhem.

[Proxima]

The Mac version also requires 100%, which isn't too surprising as the Mac also has harsher targets on certain other levels such as that 100% on Taxing 22.

Mayhem 5 - Down, along, up, in that order


80 lemmings
Save 75% (60)
Release rate 80
5 minutes

2 climbers, 2 floaters, 10 bombers, 10 blockers, 5 builders, 1 basher, 5 miners

Good: Uses a new and clever trick -- the infamous builder-turning. Also quite an awe-inspiring level when you first encounter it, as you probably used a lot more builders than that to solve the Fun version! Contains extra skills, but a clever player can use these well to save more than the requirement.
Bad: Rather a mundane title.

[Clam]

DOS - Mayhem 6 - One way or another


Lemmings: 75
Save: 75 (100%)
RR: 50
Time: 4 minutes
Skills: 10 bombers, 15 builders, 5 miners, 5 diggers

Good: Cleverly designed with two viable solutions, and plenty of room for variation in each. The trapdoor directly above the exit gives you that "so close, but so far" feeling.

Bad: Bombers in a 100% level? I know I keep going on about this, but it it's like every second level has bombers that you can't use. This one certainly doesn't need them for balancing the skillset or whatever. And the one-way walls aren't necessary - one has no effect at all because it faces the right way (and it's too high for the miner one-way bug to trigger), and mining the other wall lands you in the pit anyway.

[Dullstar]

Finally, time to review a level!  YES!

DOS - Mayhem 7 - Poles Apart

Lemmings:  50
To save:  45 (90%)
Time: 5 min.
RR:  50
Skills:
Climber x1
Floater x10
Builder x6
Basher x4
Digger x4

Good:  Clever solution, doesn't present itself easily, but isn't complicated either.
Okay:  Percentage requirements and skill amounts could be loosened a little (or the level positioned slightly later in Mayhem.
Bad:  Prioritizing, prioritizing, prioritizing!

[Proxima]

Mayhem 8 - Last one out is a rotten egg!


80 lemmings
Save 90% (72)
Release rate 55
5 minutes

5 climbers, 5 bombers, 5 blockers, 10 builders, 5 miners, 5 diggers

Good: Two challenges in one: beating a one-way wall without bashers and surviving a long fall without floaters. A memorable and tough level.
Bad: Rather a glaring backroute that could have been avoided by structuring the steel blocks better.

[Minim]

DOS - Mayhem 9 - Curse of the Pharaohs


80 lemmings
Save 98% (79)
Release rate: 90
Time: 4 minutes

20 bombers, 1 blocker, 12 builders, 5 bashers, 1 digger

Good: Good relation to the terrain set.
Bad: Can be solved 100%, doesn't make a big difference to the Fun solution.

[Proxima]

Mayhem 10 - Pillars of Hercules


75 lemmings
Save 66% (50)
Release rate 1
5 minutes

2 climbers, 3 floaters, 4 bombers, 2 blockers, 20 builders, 4 bashers, 2 diggers

Good: Another challenging "build a landing platform" level, and getting to the exit gives you the option of two routes, both quite tricky.
Bad: The long build at the end. Exits could have been below the end pillars without making this a less interesting level.

[Clam]

Mayhem 11 - We all fall down


80 lemmings
Save 80 (100%)
Release rate 1
3 minutes
80 diggers

Good: At last this design begins to provide a genuine challenge - there's not nearly enough time at the default rate, and if you don't watch out you're gonna run out of rope.
Bad: Only 11 levels since the last one - if you actually managed to solve all of Taxing (including Upsidedown and Triple Trouble) before unlocking it. Which is doubtful . But in any case, you probably saw this level coming, and predictability in a puzzle game is not a good thing.

[Proxima]

Bad: Only 11 levels since the last one - if you actually managed to solve all of Taxing (including Upsidedown and Triple Trouble) before unlocking it.

Oh, I certainly did

[Clam]

Bad: Only 11 levels since the last one - if you actually managed to solve all of Taxing (including Upsidedown and Triple Trouble) before unlocking it.

Oh, I certainly did

Hmm... I don't actually remember how I did it the first time around - far too long ago. However, judging by some of the sentiment in the top 5/bottom 5 thread, maybe some people didn't.

[namida]

Mayhem 12 - The Far Side


75 Lemmings
Save 75 (100%)
Release Rate 50
4 Minutes
2 Climbers, 1 Floater, 20 Builders, 5 Bashers, 5 Miners, 5 Diggers

Good: This level is VERY fun, and thus was one of my favourites before I got the concept of challenging puzzles and simply liked levels that were fun to play. The concept of having to go the long way around also was quite an interesting idea to me.
Bad: This is one of those levels which would still be just fine without a tough time limit, yet gives you one anyway. Also, there's all the backroutes (but since they involve glitches, they're not proper backroutes IMO). Also, it could've done with the digging and bashing through the terrain on the bottom left being made compulsory... as it is, lemmings can survive that drop, even under Original mechanics.

[ccexplore]

Also, it could've done with the digging and bashing through the terrain on the bottom left being made compulsory... as it is, lemmings can survive that drop, even under Original mechanics.

Interesting, never notice that.  Then again, it looks high enough that I think most people would dare not try the drop.  And even if they do decide to use the drop, they would still need to either dig or mine to turn the lemmings around first, so at least it's not significantly easier than requiring digging and bashing.