Level Review Topic

[Proxima]

Genesis - Taxing 1 - The bridge is breaking down.


50 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 50
4 minutes

1 climber, 2 builders, 2 bashers, 1 miner

Good: Another excellent "few skills" puzzle in the same vein as Tricky 29; indeed, I like this even better as at first sight it looks impossible to do everything with one climber and avoid releasing the crowd too soon.
Bad: Not much! Perhaps just that it shouldn't be the first of a set, as it's going to be tough to get your head round until you've played most or all of Fun and Tricky.
Better than DOS Taxing 1? They're both great levels, but this wins for being so concise and because "If at first you don't succeed" has a rather simple backroute.

[Minim]

And the backroute is... let me have a guess:

Dig the floor and bash under the pillars (Which you can get 100%)

[Proxima]

It certainly is

[Clam]

Genesis - Taxing 2 - Temporary peace


Lemmings: 50
Save: 50 (100%)
RR: 20
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 10 builders, 3 bashers, 1 miner

Good: The added steel in this version forces you to find another way around... which soon presents itself if you look closely. (Those bits sticking out of the ceiling weren't there in the other level, were they? Ohh... )

Bad: Should have water in the middle part, to be consistent with the rest of the level.

Better than DOS Taxing 2 (Watch out, there's traps about)? Tough one but I'm gonna say yes. The DOS level starts out better, but ends up being too easy because of the excess skills and low % requirement.

[Fernito]

Genesis - Taxing 1 - The bridge is breaking down.

Hey, the double flamethrower in this level looks pretty neat! Awesome use of terrain pieces! 

[Dullstar]

I'd have to test it, but there is a possibility of a backroute by going under the steel.  This, of course, doesn't have to work, due to the sizes of steel areas.  Maybe you could test it?

[Clam]

You mean Taxing 2? I considered it, but I didn't make a serious attempt at it. I'll try it now.

[Pooty]

Yeah, you can go underneath it, and beat the level that way. But this is not easy at all.

[Edit: A YouTuber called LemmingsMaster did this. The solution he employed is very unorthodox.. but it worked.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGhjGZ61jiE

[Clam]

Yep, I just found this solution myself. That's unfortunate, this is a good level otherwise...

[ccexplore]

I won't go  over this.  After all this is just an early Taxing level, and the "under the steel" solution is clearly more of a shortcut than a proper backroute--I'd argue that for anyone but a seasoned Lemmings player, it would be a more difficult path to find and take.

That said, it would've been easy to eliminate the shortcut if they just add more steel in the middle that goes all the way down to the bottom.  Perhaps they thought it looks better with less steel added.

[Minim]

You talked so much that I needed to go back a page to see what level I was meant to be reviewing

Genesis - Taxing 3 - No choice but to follow them


Lemmings: 80
Save: 80 (100%)
Time: 3 minutes
Release rate: 10
Skills: 5 builders, 3 bashers.

Good: A rather interesting and creative solution, has a fair bit of water, better than Heaven can wait.
Bad: The diagonal wall looks horrible.

[Proxima]

Genesis - Taxing 7 - Jump down!


100 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 1
6 minutes

5 builders, 1 basher, 1 miner

Good: Awesome feeling of "This must be impossible!" until you solve it (which, btw, is also why I personally prefer "Heaven can wait"); another lovely concise solution making the most of a few skills. Title turns out to be a neat hint.
Bad: Basher and miner take a long time to finish (though in fairness, it's hard to see that this could have been avoided).
Better than DOS Taxing 7? Ouch, first time I've had to decide between two levels I really love. On balance I'd say the DOS level wins it.

[Clam]

^ Wrong pic. That's Taxing 27. Although I must say, some your comments seem very appropriate for the pictured level and the skillset given here.

(EDIT It's been fixed. Thanks)

[Clam]

Genesis - Taxing 8 - Lemmings search for treasure.


Lemmings: 50
Save: 50 (100%)
RR: 10
Time: 5 minutes
Skills: 1 floater, 8 builders, 3 bashers, 1 digger

Good: Clever way of isolating a lemming and releasing the crowd, rather than the standard block and bomb. Two viable routes to the exit.

Bad: Spare builders from taking the lower route mean you can stop the digger and so have full control over the crowd. Without the possibility of spare builders this would be a much better puzzle. Also the one-pixel gap in the pyramid and the slight "misalignment" of the pillars are crucial to the level and effectively hidden unless you go and find out - which I personally hate.

Better than DOS Taxing 8 (The Art Gallery)? Art Gallery wins on decoration alone. There's little else to separate these two.

[chaos_defrost]

Genesis Taxing 13 - Walk through here but cautiously


1 climber, 1 floater, 1 bomber, 4 blockers, 4 diggers
Save 48/50 (96%)
RR 1, 3 minutes

Good: It has a very neat solution/concept -- since bombing the wall directly blows through the wall, you need to find another way to get across. Or, another place to bomb. I mean, it WAS good enough a level to convert to ONML 

Bad: The solution set makes the answer a bit obvious. I mean, i don't know what skillsets don't open up backroutes, but still... -- also, there's a kind of blah backroute involving a "delayed" climberbomb or sorts.

Better than Upsidedown World?: Yes. UDW has a bunch of weird unfair terrain issues that make the level unfair imo. This level is a solid puzzle that works as planned every time you play it.