Lemmings 2: The Tribes
Encyclopedia
Lemmings 2: The Tribes, a computer game released in 1993, is the first real sequel to the popular puzzle game Lemmings
. As with the original, it was developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis. The gameplay remains mostly the same as the original game, requiring the player to lead a certain number of lemmings to their exit by giving them the appropriate "skills".
s.
Lemmings 2 was not quite as popular as Lemmings was, nor was it ported to as many platforms. In spite of all this, it was well received and considered by many as a worthy sequel.
foretells a great darkness soon to consume the land. This prophecy told that the only way the lemmings could survive was by evacuating their island, using the power of the Lemming Talisman
. This talisman consisted of twelve pieces, one owned by each tribe. With the help of the Guide that has helped them before (referring to the player in the previous Lemmings game), all lemmings must now reach the center point of their island in order to escape their doom.
The gameplay in Lemmings 2 differs from the original in the following ways:
As mentioned before, there are many more (61 in total) skills available in the game, although no more than eight are available in each level. Some of the skills are similar to the original ones (like digging and building variants), others are all new (several flying skills, for example). One skill, the "attractor", will cause the lemming to play a musical instrument
and have nearby lemmings stop walking to do a dance. The instrument and dances they do vary by tribe.
A practice mode has also been added. In this mode, any type of skill available can be selected for the player to experiment with. There is a choice of four different practice levels.
Each tribe's levels can be started at any time, and progress can be saved from the main menu. The player starts out with 60 lemmings for each tribe, but only one lemming needs to make it to an exit in order to progress to next level. The amount saved will then be the amount left in the next level. As some levels may require several lemmings to complete, the player might have to replay an earlier level to save more lemmings for the following ones if they realize they do not have enough.
The player will be rewarded with a bronze, silver or gold medal
, depending on how many lemmings are saved in the level. This will also dictate the type of the talisman part received once all the tribe's levels are completed. To watch the outro
and credit
s, all golden talisman parts need to be won, as well as rescuing at least 20 lemmings from each tribe.
A new fast forward button and fan
button have been added to the controls. The fast forward replaces the release rate button in the original game, which would let the player release more lemmings at a time. There is also the ability to fast forward. The fan button turns the cursor into a fan, which is used to push around any flying lemmings or to affect wind-powered elements.
Smaller additions include:
The permanent skills are irreversible enhancements to the behaviour of a lemming, staying with the lemming until the end of the level. When a lemming is given a permanent skill, their hair and shirt colours are swapped to make them easier to identify. An example of a permanent skill is the runner, which makes the selected lemming run for the rest of the level, and jump over small gaps.
Continuous skills are those that a lemming will continue doing until it is ordered to do something else, encounters an obstacle, or reaches the end of the appropriate terrain. An example of a continuous skill is the fencer, which gives the selected lemming a small sword, and enables it to dig a tunnel on a slight upward slant until there is no more dirt, or until the sword hits something more solid than dirt.
Temporary skills are carried out until given another order, just like continuous skills, but also have an upper limit on how long the lemming will keep doing the skill. This may be due to a lemming running out of materials, or simply because there is a time limit on how long the skill can be used for. An example of a temporary skill is the laser
blaster, which allows a lemming to make a vertical tunnel slowly blasting upwards. The laser beam has a long but limited range, and is only activated for a limited time.
An alternative (and overlapping) grouping of skills can be made in terms of what they do to the surrounding environment. There are building skills, which add bits that other lemmings can walk over (e.g. planter, filler), removal skills, which remove pieces of ground (e.g. bazooka, twister), movement skills, which alter the way a lemming moves through its environment (e.g. roller, diver), shooting skills, which cause a lemming to fire a projectile (e.g. archer, bazooka), and wind skills, which cause the lemming to be influenced by the fan in some way (e.g. icarus wings, twister).
, while outdoor lemmings must avoid being eaten by a frog), and levels are designed in a way that complements the tribe. Apart from that, each tribe has its own skin and clothing colors, its own entrance, its own entry and exit method, its own music, and, except for Classic, its own style of dancing (for the attractor skill).
Keeping with Psygnosis's tradition of including references to their earlier games, some levels of the Space tribe include the Walker robot from Walker
as a hazard.
games, with the Lemming stopping at the end of the countdown for a couple of seconds before exploding into a shower of debris. While the Lemming is stopped, other lemmings can pass behind it (even if the lemming was a blocker prior to being an exploder). Skill sets for this tribe are restricted to the skills from the previous Lemmings games (climber, floater, exploder, blocker, builder, basher, miner, and digger), making gameplay for this tribe fairly similar to that in Lemmings.
), and the shadow tribe (black hair and tan skin).
The music and dance style of the tribes also reflect the nature of the tribes. The background music from the sports tribe has a very vibrant, bouncy beat, and the entertainer from the medieval tribe plays a few notes on a lute
.
Methods of entry and exit also differ between tribes. The entrances are usually in the form of trapdoor
s with two flaps that drop down, but can differ a bit from this — there is an upturned barrel used by the highland lemmings, and a dragon's head that is used by the medieval tribe. Lemmings from the circus tribe carry out a bouncing turn before heading off into the next level, while Lemmings from the space tribe float away behind a planet.
s of the Amiga game include: DOS
, Mega Drive, Super NES
, Game Boy
, Acorn Archimedes
, Atari ST
and FM Towns
. The Amiga CD32
version was cancelled.
The next game in the Lemmings series after Lemmings 2 is All New World of Lemmings
(1994), which continues the storyline with the Egyptian, Shadow and Classic tribes.
Lemmings (video game)
Lemmings is a puzzle computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in . Originally developed for PC and Commodore Amiga, Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time...
. As with the original, it was developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis. The gameplay remains mostly the same as the original game, requiring the player to lead a certain number of lemmings to their exit by giving them the appropriate "skills".
Overview
Numerous changes and additions were made in this sequel. First of all, there is an introduction movie explaining the storyline of the game. Secondly, there are now many, many more skills available to give to the lemmings, unlike the eight in the original game. There is still a total of 120 levels, but in this game they are divided into ten levels for each of twelve tribeTribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s.
Lemmings 2 was not quite as popular as Lemmings was, nor was it ported to as many platforms. In spite of all this, it was well received and considered by many as a worthy sequel.
Storyline
Once upon a time, the twelve lemming tribes of Lemming Island lived happily and peacefully. However, an ancient prophecyProphecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
foretells a great darkness soon to consume the land. This prophecy told that the only way the lemmings could survive was by evacuating their island, using the power of the Lemming Talisman
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
. This talisman consisted of twelve pieces, one owned by each tribe. With the help of the Guide that has helped them before (referring to the player in the previous Lemmings game), all lemmings must now reach the center point of their island in order to escape their doom.
Gameplay
As mentioned before, there are many more (61 in total) skills available in the game, although no more than eight are available in each level. Some of the skills are similar to the original ones (like digging and building variants), others are all new (several flying skills, for example). One skill, the "attractor", will cause the lemming to play a musical instrument
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
and have nearby lemmings stop walking to do a dance. The instrument and dances they do vary by tribe.
A practice mode has also been added. In this mode, any type of skill available can be selected for the player to experiment with. There is a choice of four different practice levels.
Each tribe's levels can be started at any time, and progress can be saved from the main menu. The player starts out with 60 lemmings for each tribe, but only one lemming needs to make it to an exit in order to progress to next level. The amount saved will then be the amount left in the next level. As some levels may require several lemmings to complete, the player might have to replay an earlier level to save more lemmings for the following ones if they realize they do not have enough.
The player will be rewarded with a bronze, silver or gold medal
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
, depending on how many lemmings are saved in the level. This will also dictate the type of the talisman part received once all the tribe's levels are completed. To watch the outro
Outro (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, the term "outro" refers to a sequence of graphics and music presented to the player as a reward for successful completion of the entire game. Outros are also commonly referred to as the game's ending...
and credit
Credit (creative arts)
In general, the term credit in the artistic or intellectual sense refers to an acknowledgement of those who contributed to a work, whether through ideas or in a more direct sense.-Credit in the arts:...
s, all golden talisman parts need to be won, as well as rescuing at least 20 lemmings from each tribe.
A new fast forward button and fan
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
button have been added to the controls. The fast forward replaces the release rate button in the original game, which would let the player release more lemmings at a time. There is also the ability to fast forward. The fan button turns the cursor into a fan, which is used to push around any flying lemmings or to affect wind-powered elements.
Smaller additions include:
- When falling from moderate heights, instead of just dying, lemmings will now stun themselves upon landing, taking a second to get back up to continue walking. (Lemmings will still die instantly from higher falls.)
- TrampolineTrampolineA trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched over a steel frame using many coiled springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes....
s will let lemmings jump and bounce about. - CannonCannonA cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s and catapultCatapultA catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during...
s in levels will launch a lemming away. - Lemmings can grab on wind-powered swing ropes to allow them to travel across gaps.
- Levels can span vertically as well as horizontally (mostly because of the flying skills).
- Lemmings with permanent skills have their colours switched for easier identification.
- Lemmings caught in explosions will be temporarily stunned.
Skills
The various skills that the Lemmings are given can be broken into three different classes, referred to here as permanent, continuous, and temporary skills.The permanent skills are irreversible enhancements to the behaviour of a lemming, staying with the lemming until the end of the level. When a lemming is given a permanent skill, their hair and shirt colours are swapped to make them easier to identify. An example of a permanent skill is the runner, which makes the selected lemming run for the rest of the level, and jump over small gaps.
Continuous skills are those that a lemming will continue doing until it is ordered to do something else, encounters an obstacle, or reaches the end of the appropriate terrain. An example of a continuous skill is the fencer, which gives the selected lemming a small sword, and enables it to dig a tunnel on a slight upward slant until there is no more dirt, or until the sword hits something more solid than dirt.
Temporary skills are carried out until given another order, just like continuous skills, but also have an upper limit on how long the lemming will keep doing the skill. This may be due to a lemming running out of materials, or simply because there is a time limit on how long the skill can be used for. An example of a temporary skill is the laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
blaster, which allows a lemming to make a vertical tunnel slowly blasting upwards. The laser beam has a long but limited range, and is only activated for a limited time.
An alternative (and overlapping) grouping of skills can be made in terms of what they do to the surrounding environment. There are building skills, which add bits that other lemmings can walk over (e.g. planter, filler), removal skills, which remove pieces of ground (e.g. bazooka, twister), movement skills, which alter the way a lemming moves through its environment (e.g. roller, diver), shooting skills, which cause a lemming to fire a projectile (e.g. archer, bazooka), and wind skills, which cause the lemming to be influenced by the fan in some way (e.g. icarus wings, twister).
Tribes
There are a total of 12 tribes in the game: Classic, Circus, Cavelem, Shadow, Space, Outdoor, Beach, Sports, Egyptian, Highland, Polar and Medieval. While the twelve different tribes of Lemmings will generally have a set of skills that are more commonly associated with that tribe, there can be overlap between the available skill sets of each tribe. Each tribe will typically have its own style of traps (for example, space lemmings can be killed by an open airlockAirlock
An airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
, while outdoor lemmings must avoid being eaten by a frog), and levels are designed in a way that complements the tribe. Apart from that, each tribe has its own skin and clothing colors, its own entrance, its own entry and exit method, its own music, and, except for Classic, its own style of dancing (for the attractor skill).
Keeping with Psygnosis's tradition of including references to their earlier games, some levels of the Space tribe include the Walker robot from Walker
Walker (computer game)
Walker is a computer game released for the Amiga system in 1993, where the player controls a huge ED-209/mecha styled device fight against military forces in various time periods....
as a hazard.
Functional differences
There are no functional differences between the tribes, save for the "classic" tribe which has had many of the new gameplay features turned off in order to play similarly to the original game. In this tribe, the exploder follows the "classic" explosion type of previous LemmingsLemmings (video game)
Lemmings is a puzzle computer game developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in . Originally developed for PC and Commodore Amiga, Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time...
games, with the Lemming stopping at the end of the countdown for a couple of seconds before exploding into a shower of debris. While the Lemming is stopped, other lemmings can pass behind it (even if the lemming was a blocker prior to being an exploder). Skill sets for this tribe are restricted to the skills from the previous Lemmings games (climber, floater, exploder, blocker, builder, basher, miner, and digger), making gameplay for this tribe fairly similar to that in Lemmings.
Cosmetic differences
Most tribes have green hair, white skin, and blue clothes (just like in the original Lemmings games). Exceptions to this include the beach tribe (tan skin, as they get the most sun), the polar tribe (light blue hair, a reflection of the cold environment they live in), the highlands tribe (orange hair, a stereotype associated with the Scottish HighlandsScottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
), and the shadow tribe (black hair and tan skin).
The music and dance style of the tribes also reflect the nature of the tribes. The background music from the sports tribe has a very vibrant, bouncy beat, and the entertainer from the medieval tribe plays a few notes on a lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
.
Methods of entry and exit also differ between tribes. The entrances are usually in the form of trapdoor
Trapdoor
A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling .Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position....
s with two flaps that drop down, but can differ a bit from this — there is an upturned barrel used by the highland lemmings, and a dragon's head that is used by the medieval tribe. Lemmings from the circus tribe carry out a bouncing turn before heading off into the next level, while Lemmings from the space tribe float away behind a planet.
Ports
Known portPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
s of the Amiga game include: DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Mega Drive, Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and FM Towns
FM Towns
The FM Towns system is a Japanese PC variant, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with regular PCs...
. The Amiga CD32
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...
version was cancelled.
The next game in the Lemmings series after Lemmings 2 is All New World of Lemmings
All New World of Lemmings
All New World of Lemmings is a computer game released in 1994, as the third game in the popular Lemmings puzzle game series. In North America, the game was named The Lemmings Chronicles...
(1994), which continues the storyline with the Egyptian, Shadow and Classic tribes.
External links
- http://www.psygnosis.org/games/lemmings2/ - Lemmings 2 game materials, on unofficial archive site psygnosis.org