Level Review - Lemmings Plus I (formerly LPDOS)

[DireKrow]

Wimpy 9 - It's A Thin Line!



Lemmings: 60
To save: 54
Release rate: 85
Skills: 30 of each Climbers, Floaters, Bombers, Blockers, Builders, Bashers, Miners, Diggers

Good: Nice gentle introduction to building to walls to bash through it. As a tutorial level, I like that focus was placed on it by making containing the crowd a comparatively simple affair.
Bad: Visual design is a simple. Not the best use of space, since the active play area is entirely in the top half.

[Nessy]

Wimpy 10 - Labyrinth of Despair



Lemmings: 80
To save: 72
Release rate: 80
Skills: 30 of every skill except Floaters which is 5

Good: One of my favorites from this rank. The fact that you don't have a lot of floaters now presents the challenge of having to navigate some pretty tricky terrain to not only save the lemmings from the hatch on the right but also make sure you don't accidentally crave out a path that leads to lethal falls as well.
Bad: Not much to say. I guess having 30 of all the other skills does neglect the need to conserve or use your skills wisely so it becomes less of a puzzle since any type of mistake can be easily fixed or any type of strategy can be executed. Then again this is only the second rank so this is without a doubt a nitpicky thing

[Proxima]

Wimpy 11 - The Flagpole



Lemmings: 50
To saveL: 40
Release rate: 75
Skills: 5 climbers, 5 floaters, 3 bombers, 3 blockers, 1 builder, 5 bashers

Good: A nice simple introduction to a useful trick: bombing a climber so a later climber has a starting-point for other skills. The limited skillset helps focus on the trick so the new player will easily discover it.
Bad: There is a more devious solution, which will be required on the later repeat (Danger 25, "Use the Pen!") but is possible on this level. I consider that a bad thing because if the player does find this solution here, the later level will feel like a pointless rehash. This could have been prevented by trimming the skillset to only the skills needed by the climb-bomber solution.

[DireKrow]

Wimpy 12 - Only One Place To Go



Lemmings: 50
To save: 49
Release rate: 75
Skills: 2 Climbers, 1 Bomber, 1 Blocker, 1 Builder, 3 Bashers, 1 Digger

Good: One of my favourites from Wimpy. I like that it escalates Mild 6 in a way that's immediately understood: there's two groups but only one digger. The talisman is great and results in a cool discovery for new players (like me) who didn't consider combining skills in that way.
Bad: Decoration is sparse. Ultimately, the talisman solution is much simpler than the 'regular' solution, so if an experienced player spots that solution first, it renders the puzzle trivial by comparison.

[Nessy]

Wimpy 13 - A Magician Would Be Handy



Lemmings: 80
To save: 40
Release rate: 75
Skills: 40 of every skill

Good: This level introduces you to some pretty extreme obstacles such as having to build up to really high places, manage and prevent lethal falls, and having to figure out a way to dig out a ceiling of terrain to reach the exit without any proper upward destructive skills. However, the level does give you a very large skillset that allows players to freely experiment with them and start figuring out some more advanced strategies and tricks all on their own and without having their hand held.
Bad: I wouldn't say this is a "bad" thing but I guess for this level still being early on in Wimpy it can be a bit intimating for new players especially if they somehow don't learn any new tricks and they just brute force through everything.

[Proxima]

Trivia concerning the above level: if I remember rightly, it was originally intended as a showcase for glitching through the steel (hence the title), which of course became impossible in NeoLemmix. I don't know if the skillset was changed to accommodate, or if both solutions were originally possible.

Wimpy 14 - Head East or West?



Lemmings: 80
To save: 64
Release rate: 60
Skills: 40 of each

Good: A fairly nice-looking level with a good concept: having two roughly equally attractive solutions gives the level some replay value and encourages the player to find both.
Bad: Whichever way you go, this is a massive breather -- the easiest level since Wimpy 1. The routes are not all that equal, since the east route involves building over a large gap (albeit this is quicker in NeoLemmix, with the 10-second skip).

[Nessy]

Wimpy 15: Just When You Think You Know!



Lemmings: 20
To save: 5
Release rate: 99
Skills: 20 of every skill

Good: Given the strange shape and structure of the terrain it provides an interesting challenge of having to control the crowd in a way where just simply placing blockers to control the crowd is no longer the most ideal strategy especially considering the 99 release rate.
Bad: I want to say that the terrain is a double edge sword because without any knowledge of this level's repeat (which you shouldn't have anyway when playing this level for the first time), the terrain seems a bit... random? Like I guess another way to reword is to say that the level definitely does feel like an easier repeat of something which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it does diminish this incarnation a little bit once you solve the harder version of this level.

[WillLem]

Wimpy 16: Lemmings On Stilts



Lemmings: 13
To save: 9
Release rate: 50
Skills: 25 of every skill

Good: The level has the look and feel of a classic Lemmings level, which I think is always a positive. The solution is immediately obvious and there are plenty of skills to execute it, plus there's some room to experiment with different ways of solving the level. It's also possible and easy to save all of the Lemmings despite the limited terrain and the need to contain the crowd immediately at the start.

Bad: There's nothing really bad about this level at all: it's good early-pack level. I like these sorts of levels that help a player to build momentum and confidence whilst making their way through the pack. If there's room for improvement anywhere, it could perhaps be a bit of a longer level or have more to do than simply build across the gaps, given the sheer number of skills available. But, again - its an early-pack level and it's a simple idea done well. Level packs need these!

[Proxima]

Wimpy 17: No Need To Worry!



Lemmings: 80
To save: 64
Release rate: 50
Skills: 20 of everything

Screw Your Arrows: Save 79 with max 1 builder

Good: This is a competently done one-way-wall level that has a bit more to it than just "get to the other side, then bash" -- but it still isn't too hard and has several possible approaches, fitting into the difficulty curve of the pack. The talisman is excellent because it looks completely impossible at first, but has a nice solution that teaches you a trick that will be useful on other levels.

Bad: Looks a bit plain, especially the repetitive ceiling architecture.

[Nessy]

Wimpy 18: Down The Wall



Lemmings: 50
To save: 45
Release rate: 50
Skills: 20 of every skill except floaters

Good: The lack of floaters makes for an interesting puzzle revolving around trying to get a large crowd of lemmings safely down the level. There are many, many ways to go about it and all of them are unique.
Bad: Just a personal preference but the small red pillar terrain towards the center doesn't look like much at first but it's possible to use it for more trivial solutions that completely skip using the wall that the title of the level is referring to.