Level Review--Lemmings Revolution

[Nessy]

"Love Train Boogie" is a classic Lemmings Revolution level in my opinion and I think you did it justice with your Good and Bad explanations I honestly don't know what is up with those water tanks and I don't think it was meant to be part of any type of intended solution. Maybe they should have focused more on preventing backroutes

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8-1: Bounce around the world!

Lemmings: 50
Save: 46
Time: 5:00
Skills:
- Climber: 1
- Floater: 2
- Bomber: 4
- Blocker: 4
- Builder: 6
- Basher: 0
- Miner: 0
- Digger: 2


Good: This was one of my favorite levels as a kid and it continues to be one of my favorite levels to this day. It's a puzzle involving splatforms but it is much more unobvious on how to do it and it has a tighter skillset that didn't allow for just a "build anywhere and anyway" you want type of solution. The level title is so awesome as well and a classic. It also has two entrances which the regular forum members around here know I love <3 although the fact that the lemmings pass the destructive terrain on the level from both sides does add a extra layer to the puzzle.

Bad: It is very easy to fall victim to super precise and finicky solutions. I don't really think it's the level designer's fault though. It's just one of those levels that has a good solution to it but it just falls victim to unintended "stuff" that can't always be patched out.

[mobius]

I agree Bounce around the world is harder than it looks. It looks very simple but turned out to stump me for a while at first.

8-2 Lock In

Lems: 14
Save: 11
10:00 minutes

2 climbers
2 floaters
3 bombers
20 builders

Good: Another level that looks rather simple (and sparse) at first but turned out to be quite a bit harder. 20 Builders seems like 'you basically have infinite builders' but it is actually quite a challenge to ration them out. The main idea is a group of lemmings getting traped in an area and how to save them from outside (somewhat similar to but different then Penelope Lem Stop).

Bad: I found this level somewhat annoying because my solutions (I found at least two) always seem to rely on a lot of precision.  But that tends to happen a lot with builders in this game. I remember trying a lot of things that failed on this level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8oeHw677ek&list=PL0750E99D04921FDE&index=38

[Nessy]

"Lock In" for me was one of the first WTF puzzle that had me super stumped when I was a kid! I agree with your comments and despite needing a lot of polishing it was one of the most memorable levels for me.

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8-3: Under and Up

Lemmings: 50
Save: 48
Time: 5:00
Release Rate: 40
Skills:
- Climber: 0
- Floater: 0
- Bomber: 10
- Blocker: 0
- Builder: 9
- Basher: 1
- Miner: 2
- Digger: 1


Good: This level was strange to say the least. I feel like there was supposed to be a decent puzzle somewhere in here and I'll say that is enough information to put that under the "Good" section.

Bad: But I don't understand this level: 1) There is a giant lava pit in the middle of the level that a weasel on top lowers by hitting a laser switch. This allows you to just build over the teleporters, walk through the now empty lava pit, and then build over the next teleporter to the exit. Was this intended? If not why lower the lava pit instead of having it as a solid backroute blocker? 2) If you try to solve the level intentionally there seems to be something very wrong with the way builders behave when you build through those doors and platforms that have been opened through switches. This makes it really hard to build out of the pit that I think is the part of the level you go under and up in represented in the level title. 3) The time limit is super tight and it is unnecessary.

[mobius]

Under and Up is one of the main candidates (which I mentioned earlier) as seeming to indicate that they intentionally created backroutes in some of these levels. As to why; I have no idea. While it sounds silly, given the number of glitches in the game and the shaky nature of the game's development I wouldn't be surprised if they went though the levels (as intended) and because of glitches (like what Nessy mentioned about this level) instead of fixing them, just decided to make fixes to the levels to make them easier, but who knows.
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8-4 Nice Shootin' Tex!

50 Lemmings
Save 42
4:00

floaters: 1
bombers: 6
blockers: 3
builders: 7
bashers: 1


Good: I assume the shooting in the title refers to getting the timing right on bombers. Aiming the builder is not really a problem as it there is a steel block as a marker (which is nice).

Bad: Other than that there isn't much to this level. It's just 1 long builder bridge, some timed bombers (blah) and sacrificing some lemmings to close the door at the top. I found this level sort of bland.

[Nessy]

8-5: Water way to go.

Lemmings: 30
Save: 25
Time: 10:00
Release Rate: 50
Skills:
- Climber: 10
- Floater: 10
- Bomber: 10
- Blocker: 10
- Builder: 10
- Basher: 10
- Miner: 10
- Digger: 10


Excellent: The pun in the title of course!

Good: I found this level to be quite an interesting puzzle. The top layer of this level is pretty straightforward... until you reach this certain switch in the middle layer that frees a crowd of Water Lemmings nearby. The catch is that it also activates a killer saw that will slowly start to kill the Water Lemmings one by one. In order to save them the normal Lemmings have to hit another switch that is too far away and it's pretty much impossible to hit it on time. The main puzzle revolves around going about the level in a more non-linear way.

Bad: Nothing to be honest. I guess it is pretty easy for its place and you don't really know the switch is a bad switch at first until you hit it but that's with anything in any game with stuff like this I guess!

Fun fact: I remember playing this level with my dad and when I found out what that killer switch did I refused to hit it ever again. My dad would ask me how I was going to free the Water Lemmings but I just told him I will find another way... I never did

[mobius]

Water Way to Go: one of my favorite levels in the game. During my first play of this game this was the only tier 8 level that I could solve early on and I subsequently solved (if memory serves) 9-6, 10-7, then a little later 11-6 which are both way easier then those around it as well.
I like that this level isn't too hard but isn't trivial; it's a pretty decent challenge using exclusive Revolution gadgets.
Only bad things I'd say are it's position; it's quite a bit easier then levels around it. Some of the things in the level may be a bit pointless, (like the teleporters) but they serve a nice decorative feature, as well as the crab.

fun fact: this is the only level where the teleporters make an actual sound. For whatever reason they make no sound anywhere else in the game.

This level also has some interesting challenge solutions to it.
https://www.lemmingsforums.net/index.php?topic=1059.msg39018#msg39018

[mobius]

8-6 As Quick as you Can!

Lemmings: 101
Save: 96
4:00

[I'm no longer going to carry on writing out the skills, since we can't post pictures it doesn't do much good imo]

Good:
The title refers to the theme of a race; the worker needs to make it to the switch in time to save the others. It seems very simple in retrospect but stumped me at first.

Bad:
Not a bad level idea but the idea is used several times now (Penelope Lem Stop..).  The two hatches make the solution sort of obvious when you realize that part of it and a bit trivial. I just wasn't real impressed with this level.
I don't like how building out of the pool requires two builders but it looks like 1 should be sufficient (or almost sufficient)

[Nessy]

8-7: Watch Out! Evil about!

Lemmings: 50
Save: 45
Time: 6:00
Skills:
- Climber: 0
- Floater: 0
- Bomber: 2
- Blocker: 2
- Builder: 12
- Basher: 10
- Miner: 3
- Digger: 0


Good: There seems to be an interesting puzzle with making sure the weasels head out ahead of the lemmings into the teleporter that leads straight into a lava trap, and there seems to be an interesting puzzle involving a careful navigation to hit the correct switch on top to open up the platform to get into the exit.

Bad: But I stress the word "seems" a lot under the Good explanation because there is a horrible backroute where you basically just build to the exit from the right side after the weasels have fallen. You skip the entire level like this! Even if this backroute didn't exist I'm not even sure if the intended way is possible as I remember always running out of builders and having no idea what to do to converse them in that tight space that the switch needed to open up the platform to the exit was.

[mobius]

Good: There seems to be an interesting puzzle with making sure the weasels head out ahead of the lemmings into the teleporter that leads straight into a lava trap, and there seems to be an interesting puzzle involving a careful navigation to hit the correct switch on top to open up the platform to get into the exit.

Bad: But I stress the word "seems" a lot under the Good explanation because there is a horrible backroute where you basically just build to the exit from the right side after the weasels have fallen. You skip the entire level like this! Even if this backroute didn't exist I'm not even sure if the intended way is possible as I remember always running out of builders and having no idea what to do to converse them in that tight space that the switch needed to open up the platform to the exit was.

I too wondered for a long time if the apparent intended solution was even possible; and I can say it is. It is quite a challenge though. It was a fun to figure out how to conserve builders but at the same time sort of feels like it wasn't intentional...

Spoiler

I think you must sacrifice the lemming that flips the switch on top.

This is a case where it almost seems to me like the level was designed as a ruse and the 'backroute' was actually intentional. It's just another one of many levels here where I really don't know what to make of it; or what they were thinking when designing it.

[LemSteven]

I'm not sure it is possible to revive this thread, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try!

8-8: Take Her to Warp Speed, Captain

Lemmings: 25
Save: 12
Time: 8:00
Release Rate: 5
Skills: 10 of each

Good: Introduces the speed-up pad.  The save requirement is lenient enough that you can lose a few to the spiked log and still pass the level.

Bad: One way to avoid the spiked log is to mine and bash underneath the speed-up pad, bypassing it altogether.  This more or less defeats its purpose.  Also, although it barely works, the attached screenshot illustrates a ridiculous backroute.

[mobius]

8-9 Bridges

53 Lemmings
Save 48
Time: 3:30

50 normal lemmings, 3 acid lemmings.
skills are seen in the pic attached


Good: the puzzle of how to get the lemmings to flip the switch inside the acid pool is somewhat interesting, as is saving the normal lemmings, who need a splatform. [Actually the level overall looks more interesting than it  really is imo]

Bad: There's a lot of trickery in this level, whether intended or not. First because of the odd way acid pools work; you have to figure out that you can't simply drain the pool then let a lemming go into it to flip the switch; lemmings ordinarily walk on top of an invisible platform over drained acid pools (which seems like a glitch to me). BUT acid lemmings walking on acid when it is being drained will sink down with it.
Next the giant bridge over the lava pool is completely hidden meaning you just have to assume it's there because one builder clearly isn't enough to get across there. Of course it's pretty obvious this is the case; but then why hide it in the first place?
There's also the possible solution of mining into the acid; which is most certainly a glitch

[LemSteven]

8-10: Walk the plank or join the crew?

Lemmings: 100 (2 hatches, both normal lemmings)
Save: 75
Time: 15:00
Release Rate: 50 (both hatches)
Skills: 20 of each

Good: A very challenging layout makes this level quite an ordeal despite the extremely generous skill set.  The top group has to deal with a large retractable wall whose switch is controlled by a weasel, but the weasel cannot be released until the bottom group is released from their starting area.  Creating the path for the bottom group is also non-trivial; there is a legitimate choice between building a long bridge directly to the exit (walking the plank), or teleporting to the top to unite with the others (joining the crew).

Bad: One's first attempt will almost certainly be ruined by the teleporter, which leads to a bottomless pit if entered from the right side.  Also the skill set and time limit seem almost two generous.  If there were 10 of each skill and a 10-minute time limit, the level would not be appreciably harder.

[Nessy]

"Walk the plank or join the crew?" was actually one of my favorite levels as a kid and I was able to do both solutions assuming that long bridge directly to the exit strategy is intended. I'm actually not sure but it works pretty well I was also never sure about that weird teleporter behavior and why it spits you out the other side. Wonder if it was it supposed to be an intended troll or a bug?

9-1: Bamboo Maze

Lemmings: 50
Save: 48
Time: 5:00
Release Rate: 49 (I think)
Skills: 1 Climber, 1 Blocker, 10 Bashers, and 10 Diggers

Good: Visually beautiful looking level and insanely fun to solve as there are multiple solutions through the maze and none of them are trivial especially with the lack of builder skills and only having one blocker skill which makes crowd control more important.

Bad: It's still very easy to backroute this level and I can't help but wonder what exactly was the intended solution supposed to be, if any? There just seems to be a lot of obstacles on the level that don't seem to get used (such as the switch that opens up the 2-lemming countdown wall at the bottom right) or they just seem to be so insanely easy to bypass due to a lack of steel in some areas.

[mobius]

in regards to "Walk the Plank or Join the Crew"
Wow: I never thought of that meaning for the title of that level!

Teleporters always work this way in the game: whatever direction a lemming is facing when entering = that's the direction it will exit. And left facing always comes out on the left side and visa versa. Still doesn't explain if this was an oversight on this particular level or not. My guess is like many other things; the production rush prevented them from making cleaner teleporting mechanics.


9-2 Can't get there from here

50 Lemmings
49 Save
6:00 minutes

Good: Tough puzzle especially for beginners.

Spoiler

The main trick is climb bombing

. But it also offers a decent builder preservation challenge and a turn around challenge yet still has a few different possible solutions.

Bad: For veterans of L1 and older games there's not much of a challenge as that trick is first used in Mayhem of L1.

This was one of the hardest in the game for myself at this point on my first playthrough and stumped me for a long time. I had not yet solved said Mayhem level at this time either. (I hadn't even gotten to that point in Mayhem).

[Nessy]

"Can't get there from here" is another one of my favorites and one that did truly stump me back then

9-3: Lemmings Four the Drop

Lemmings: 4
Save: 4
Time: 5:00
Release Rate: 69
Skills: 1 Floater, 4 Bombers, 6 Builders, Four Diggers

Excellent: The pun in the title

Good: A nice, simple puzzle revolving around the theme of four lemmings having to be released from their initial areas in the right order so that they can help the other lemmings in the level.

Bad: It's way too easy of a level for its late position especially considering the fact that it's surrounded by "Can't get there from here" and "Booby trap". This level would have been perfect towards the very beginning of the game in order to ease players into actual puzzles instead of having the huge amount of tutorial levels it had.