Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!mmdf
From: "PETER C. FREY" <PFREY%drew.bitnet@pucc.princeton.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Lemmings: A total disappointment
Message-ID: <49497@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Date: 2 Apr 91 00:25:41 GMT
Sender: mmdf@ee.udel.edu
Lines: 76

I've been subscribed to this list for some months now, and ever since
Lemmings was released, about every other message has been by a firm
supporter of Lemmings.

After a couple months of these messages, I decided to purchase Lemmings
for myself.  That proved to be an uneventful date.

I was at first taken in by the 'cute' theme song and novel idea behind
the game.  The song, which sounded suspiciously like a digital version
of the song to My Fair Lady, was redone in almost every possible way in
each level.  The 'Menacing' level on Tricky was one exception to the
continuous variations of the same theme.

When I became stuck on those occasional difficult levels, the once 'cute'
and poppy song became so annoying I had to turn the sound off.

The graphics of the program are not completely smooth.  That is not my main
critique of the graphics, however.  The only time I was able to see just
what a 'Lemming' is, according to the programmers, was in the intro.  The
intro itself was short and inoffensive.  The main critique I have of the
graphics, which look like something I would expect from Atari ST programmers
or for IBM VGA, is that the Lemmings were tiny little figures on the screen.
A friend of mine and I laughed at Robocop 2's figure of Robocop.  Lemmings
are in the same vein, only more miniscule.

The entire 'novel' idea of the game is one that would appeal to the preschooler.
It is cute and inoffensive, as stated above.  The music is something out of
a Fischer Price game.  The blowing up and shattering of the lemmings is similar
to a Tom & Jerry's cartoon, where figures are blown up like just one more
function of their lives.

The fact that each level can be played over and over again places no importance
in each time you play.  In just about every game I've played, it Matters whether
you succeed or not.

The way the game makes a level difficult, is on a very technical level.  On
the levels that were difficult, and there are very few of them, you had to
click the mouse on the Lemming to cause it to perform a certain act at a very
precise instant.  If this is not done, all else is for naught, and you have
to go through the entire process again.

You don't fail at a level because it is complex.  You fail at the level because
of one technical mistake; a mistake that you know how to surmount, only you
did not hit the button at the precise moment.

I got through the fun, tricky, and taxing in little over 20 hours spent over
the first two days after purchase.  By the time I started into mayhem, the
game had become too routine for me.  I'll admit the two player part of the
game looks interesting, but of no tribute to the game.  It looks interesting
because the monotony of the game is broken by competition with a person.

As I write this now, I am on my way to a friend's room.  There, I shall give
over this annoying little game to him, to see if he finds it as simple as I.

Sorry if this letter disturbs those enthusiastic about the game, but perhaps
the version I have is not the same as those others have found exciting..?
Perhaps, by the look of it, I was slipped a mac or atari st version of the
game with a built in emulator..?  I doubt that, for I have read the box many
times.  That would be too easy an explanation.

Now if you want a real game, get one with more depth.  Xenon 2, R-type,
Carrier Command, and many other games available to the Amiga are just a few
examples of games where the graphics are excellent, the sound is worth hearing
over and over again, and you don't need a magnifying glass to see the features.

                                        Peter C. Frey

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