"A Classic game, given a nice overhaul."

Lemmings is an institution. If you owned an Amiga, chances are you spent many happy (and often frustrated) hours in front of your monitor, guiding your little green haired friends to safety. Or making them dig their way to their demise. Either way, Lemmings is a fun pick up and play game, which should therefore make it ideal for the PSP, right?

First things first, Lemmings for the PSP has been developed by Team 17, most famous for bringing the world the Worms series. You can tell. The cartoony, but still 2D graphics add a lot to the game's sense of fun, as you play through the levels, which are set in a number of different themes, all taken from the original game, but made more colourful and cartoonish. The sound is spot on as well. The lemmings themselves emit either a "Yippee!" or, rather bizarrely "Thank You!" as they reach their goal, and the drowning effects and splatting effects sound great as well.

The biggest overhaul, however, is the music. Gone are the original songs, save for one or two slightly tweaked versions, and in their place are some really atmospheric tracks, depending on the theme of the level. Levels in Hell have a sinister, moody score, whilst levels in the outdoors are bouncy and uplifting. I was saddened to hear all the original songs gone, but having played the game for a few days now, I can safely say that the new tracks work really well.

Now the most important bit. The control system. I was surprised to see that Lemmings does not utilise the Analog nub for controlling the cursor, but rather it is used for the camera, whilst the D-Pad controls the cursor and the shoulder buttons scroll through the various attributes. This actually works surprisingly well, and you can even change the speed of the cursor in the options menu if you want even more control. The tracking feature is also incredibly useful, as is the fact that when you select a Lemming to be a climber, he wears a climbing hat throughout the level. Floaters actually carry umbrellas with them too, so it's easy to see which lemmings are equipped with the float ability and which ones are not. It's these little touches that made me realise how much care Team 17 has put into developing the game, they could have just made a straight forward port, but they chose not to.

There are all the original levels in the game, plus 36 Team 17 levels, and the option to download new levels from the internet. There's also a really detailed level editor, so all you budding level designers can have hours of fun creating the most fiendish levels possible and then sharing them with friends via the wireless mode.

Lastly, loading times are pleasantly kept to a minimum, and it usually takes a level around 10 seconds to load. Game progress is saved via a memory stick, and you can save after each level, so no more having to write down passwords :)

Overall, Lemmings for the PSP is a great port, and a must for any Lemmings fans out there. If you've played Lemmings before, or just fancy something that's easy to pick up (but difficult to put down!) then give it a shot. You won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/06