I can remember when we still had play dates, going to my friend's house on a sunny afternoon after school. After playing outside and eating a snack, we'd hop on her computer to play Oh No! More Lemmings, one of the sequels to the original favorite. It was hypnotizing! You just had to get those critters to the other side, sacrificing some for the greater good. The controls were simple enough for a young kid like me to understand - blocker, stair maker, digger - with the help of pictured buttons.
Even thinking about this game brings back memories of when times were simple and good.
The amazing thing about this computer game is that it is so simple yet so addicting. How many levels can you beat? How many Lemmings will get to the exit? What creative combinations can you make to make this day different than yesterday? Plus, it was always fun to fast forward the little guys when you knew your route was fool-proof. Didn't you feel anxious to come home, plop in front of your Macintosh, and start the journey of strange animals you would later on in life find out were actual mammals?
Level One, the screen pans across to give you a full view of the
level, and the floorboards open up a drizzle of Lemmings. Panic sets in! What should you do first? My plan was to always have a blocker to prevent any faulty paths. You knew trouble was brewing if the Lemmings started piling up and you clicked the wrong one to mine... straight into the lava pit! In that case I just restarted, learning from my mistakes that I would hopefully never repeat. After having a conversation with some friends and fellow gamers, quite a few have said that they never finished all 100 levels. Apparently the ice levels were too much for them to handle. For me, it was indeed the lava levels that sent me in a frustrated fury.
At times I didn't even know where to begin, and this is where the old adage comes in: Patience is a virtue. Sometimes I would leave the game to come back refreshed and clear headed, finishing the once taunting level with ease. I did feel sorry for the bombers. Who was I to decide the fate of a Lemming? Why should #5 go instead of #25? It all seems trite now, but as a young kid these things mattered! Oh No! More Lemmings would have to be in the top of my favorite computer classics, bringing the child in me out.
