Level Review Topic

[geoo]

Genesis - Sunsoft 19 - Let's go camping.



3 lemmings
Save 100% (3)
Release rate 40
4 minutes
Skillset: 0 1 1 1 7 2 0 1

Good: An excellent and really challenging level -- if you insist on actually going camping, i.e. sending all three down to the tent and back up to the exit. The solution is nifty and elegant, and the title is fitting. Definitely a level worthy being amongst the last in the hardest rating, but...
Bad: ...if you don't aim to fulfil the lemmings' wish to go camping, then it's practically worthless, as it has this blatantly obvious and trivial backroute that everyone finds the first (and possibly only) time playing the level, by just turning them around at the top: trip cancelled.

[finlay]

What is the intended solution? 

[lemmaniack133]

What is the intended solution? 

I'm wondering the exact same thing. I've ALWAYS used the backroute for this level cause I can never figure out the intended solution

[Proxima]

I've attached a Lix replay of the "long road" solution to Sunsoft 19.

Genesis - Sunsoft 20 - Haunted botanical garden



60 lemmings
Save 98% (59)
Release rate 20
3 minutes

5 floaters, 2 bombers, 4 builders, 1 miner, 1 digger

Good: Perhaps the most artistically designed level in the game; the curving "hedges" and filled-in areas form a lovely effect that wouldn't be out of place in a real garden.
Bad: Build, mine, dig, level over. You won't even notice the hidden traps unless, for some reason, you try a more roundabout route first.

Mod Edit: Restored attachments.

[geoo]

Sorry forgot about this, attached my lix replay to "Let's go camping" as well. I find it somewhat more elegant than Proxima's solution. Here's a brief outline if you can't watch the replay (highlight to read):
Quote

Block the first lemming on the small brick, delay the third one by digging through the starting platform. The second one turns around at the blocker, and starts building towards the column when on the tent. The third one will have arrived by then, have one of the two bash and build twice, while the other builds up once to the left towards the blocker. Build to the exit at the left while building twice up to the block with the fire trap on top. After turning around, free the blocker using the basher. The blocker will walk up to the block you built against, turn around and walk to the exit as well.

The first time I played Haunted Botanical garden, I didn't find it that trivial actually. I built right from the landing platform towards the right, and then mined. Needless to say, when I thought I had a route to the exit, the hidden trap squished my lemmings. Building over it, which is somewhat tricky, got me to the exit, where my plans were foiled again by the next set of hidden traps. The longer route further over the top should work though.

Genesis - Sunsoft 21 - Be sure to be a builder



25 lemmings
Save 100% (25)
Release rate 50
4 minutes

1 bomber, 1 blocker, 12 builders, 3 bashers, 1 miner

Good: It's certainly not trivial, you need to find a route that conserves builders to some extent. Probably harder than most of DOS Mayhem (which doesn't say much though).
Bad: I haven't found a really elegant solution to this level yet. You can still brute-force your way through the level. Design looks a bit messy.

Mod Edit: Restored attachments.

[ccexplore]

The first time I played Haunted Botanical garden, I didn't find it that trivial actually. I built right from the landing platform towards the right, and then mined. Needless to say, when I thought I had a route to the exit, the hidden trap squished my lemmings. Building over it, which is somewhat tricky, got me to the exit, where my plans were foiled again by the next set of hidden traps.

Well, that certainly explains a lot in terms of your feelings towards hidden traps.

[Proxima]

Ah -- playing Hail 5 in Lix made me notice something. The lemmings fall one pixel further left than they would on the original game! (This seems to make 100% on Hail 5 impossible.) On Sunsoft 20, it means they miss the upper "hedge" and land on the middle one, so at first your comments made no sense to me, but I understand now. Yes, after fixing it, it is indeed possible to solve "over the top", even with 100%. My solution (which works in both versions) was for the left-side lemmings to build over the gap under the second yellow filled circle.

Moving on...

Genesis - Sunsoft 22 - Watch right or left (Part two)



50 lemmings
Save 92% (46)
Release rate 20
2 minutes

4 bombers, 1 builder, 3 bashers, 1 digger

Good: Elegant maze-like layout, not easy to find a way through with so few skills. For additional replay value, both exits are reachable.
Bad: The left exit is much harder, and you have no incentive to try for it, since the easier right exit is also the one that saves the maximum %.

[mobius]

Genesis - Sunsoft 23 – Move on in two Separate Groups



50 lemmings
Save 100%
Release rate 50
3 minutes

1 blockers, 7 builders, 4 bashers

The solution I came up with seems slightly backroutish but I did use all the skills.

Good: Looks sort of simple at first but is in fact much harder than it looks. Requires some thought and planning. I like the design look as usual.
-I also like the title of most of the Genesis levels even though they're kind of strange.-

Bad:  Still getting tired of all these levels that have 5-10 builder and 1 or 2 basher/miner/digger. This one isn’t so bad though, at least there is a blocker too.
The yellow brick next to the steps in the middle is annoying to bash through correctly.


<<<I’ve now completed all the Genesis levels except the ones left in this list!>>>

[mobius]

can someone upload a Lemmix replay of the long solution to Let's go camping?

I don't have the original files for Lix and I don't really care to get them.

[Crane]

This is my first review too - I don't know why I didn't join this forum sooner.  I hail from England, where the Genesis is known as the Mega Drive, but I'll try to cater for both sides of the pond!


Genesis/Mega Drive - SUNSOFT 24 - Out, away from the tune



Lemmings: 50
Target: 98% (49)
Release Rate: 1
Time Limit: 6 minutes

Tools: -- -- 01 01 05 05 -- --


Good: Very neat design with the stave and the notes (and remembering the double-bar terminator on the far right!).  Easy to make the naïve mistake of building against the first A-note instead of bashing through it.  Good music choice.

Bad: Far too trivial for SUNSOFT, let alone this late on - this is no harder than early Taxing at best.  Building off the final A-note can be frustrating because it can sometimes trap lemmings to the right of it.  Time limit is far too long - even leaving the release rate at 1 leaves you with well over 2 minutes to spare.

[Minim]

Nicely written review there, and welcome to the forums!

Genesis - SUNSOFT 25 - Stray sheep



Lemmings: 100
Save: 80
Release Rate: 1
Time Limit: 7 minutes

Skills: 20 of each

Good: It does sort of "expand" on the original hidden exit challenge.
Bad: Poor idea, and there is no real challenge other than figuring out how to avoid some nasty hidden traps that scatter around the place. " title="Angry" class="smiley" />

[Crane]

Genesis/Mega Drive - SUNSOFT 26 - Just a minute (Part Three)



Lemmings: 100
Target: 100% (100)
Release Rate: 90
Time Limit: 1 minute

Tools: 01 -- -- -- -- 02 03 01


Good: Nice scenic design.

Bad: Solution is too obvious as, by this stage, players know about the "mining into one-way walls" trick to turn a lemming around (thanks to the "Everyone turn left" levels) and this level uses it twice.  The wide pillar on the right doesn't reach the bottom of the screen - admittedly not too visible in-game, but a bit of a careless oversight.  It is not really a worthy successor to the "Just a minute" levels of Mayhem... in actual fact, I don't think you can actually run out of time unless you forget to turn up the release rate.


With some skill, you don't even need to use the third miner to save the climber, as you can bash from the exit and hit the steel plates while allowing the basher from the left to still reach the tunnel... in my opinion, only offering 2 miners and relying on this trick would make it more on par with post-Mayhem difficulty.  You can probably tell I don't like this level too much; I found it a pushover by this stage and there isn't really much I can say about it that's positive.



Oh, to bring up an older level:

...
Genesis - Present 16 - A trap is a trap


Lemmings: 100
10% to be saved
Time: 3 minutes
Release rate: 80

Skills: 7 bombers, 7 blockers, 5 builders

Good: Impossible to build straight away, lots of exits and of course, lots of traps. Not a bad intended solution with the requirement of more than one worker...
Bad: ...but it's time consuming with blockers AND bombers, steel frame looks boring.

My solution to this was very unorthodox, and I sense it is what the designers were trying to aim for, given the low pass percentage.  I bombed straight down the middle, directly above the exit.  Of course, you don't have enough bombers to break through, so I used the only other source of bombers available... the nuke.  About 30% get saved this way.  It also explains the presence of the steel floor, to prevent exploding lemmings from undermining the exit.

[Proxima]

Genesis - Sunsoft 27 / SNES - Sunsoft 1 - Two heads are better...



4 lemmings
Save 25% (1)
Release rate 1
1 minute

4 climbers, 1 floater, 3 bombers

Good: In the Genesis version of the level, the steel areas are tightened compared to the SNES version, preventing a backroute that saves 2/4. (Was the Genesis version made before or after the SNES -- anyone know?) As bomber timing levels go, this one requires good precision but, with only three bombers, is quick and not too annoying. Saving one of four is unique, and rather a nice quirk.
Bad: Like the previous three levels, it's far too easy for late Sunsoft. For anyone expecting the category to be a step above Mayhem, it's really only the last two levels that are worthy of that.

* * *

Lemmix replay for "Let's go camping" attached.

[mobius]

Oh, to bring up an older level:

...
Genesis - Present 16 - A trap is a trap


Lemmings: 100
10% to be saved
Time: 3 minutes
Release rate: 80

Skills: 7 bombers, 7 blockers, 5 builders

Good: Impossible to build straight away, lots of exits and of course, lots of traps. Not a bad intended solution with the requirement of more than one worker...
Bad: ...but it's time consuming with blockers AND bombers, steel frame looks boring.

My solution to this was very unorthodox, and I sense it is what the designers were trying to aim for, given the low pass percentage.  I bombed straight down the middle, directly above the exit.  Of course, you don't have enough bombers to break through, so I used the only other source of bombers available... the nuke.  About 30% get saved this way.  It also explains the presence of the steel floor, to prevent exploding lemmings from undermining the exit.

excellent idea! That makes a lot of sense. It definitely fits near the end of the game, and the title is apt as well. I believe it. *forgot it's Present 16. But still, I think you're right.
In Lemmix it wouldn't work too well but on the actual Genesis steel works a lit differently, I believe it may be doable.*
It's also sad though because if this is the intended solution this would be just another of the Genesis levels with absolute ridiculous back routes. This would've been a very good level in that case. Who would think to try that route at first... And since the other ways are really not hard at all the a doubt many people got this one.

*Which reminds me there is someone with a complete Genesis walkthrough out there. I'll post it when (if) I find it.

[Proxima]

In Lemmix it wouldn't work too well but on the actual Genesis steel works a lit differently, I believe it may be doable.

You must have just got lucky on the Genesis and unlucky on Lemmix, because the steel mechanics are pretty much the same. An exploder just above the steel, because he isn't actually standing on steel yet, will take out a small piece, sometimes preventing the lemmings entering or causing them to splat. Most of the time you can save enough, though. I saved 42% on Lemmix after just a few tries.

Recently, TVTropes listed this as one level where the nuke is required. I had to correct them