History ThatOneLevel / Lemmings

* Taxing 23, ''King of the Castle'', is a major pain. You have to get all your lemmings across a medium-sized gap, and you have only builders to work with- no blockers or digging skills to keep the others penned up while you build your bridges. Even worse, you have a small number of builders to complete the level with, and the level is designed so that you have to use nearly all of them, so you can't waste any, either.

* Mayhem 5, ''Down, along, up. In that order'', is a massive headache of a level. In its original version as Fun 28, ''If only they could fly'', you have thirty Builders and can simply send one ahead to build a giant bridge for the other lemmings, freeing them once the bridge is ready. But in the second version, you only have ''five'' Builders. This time around, you must use each Builder after the first to build up to the next platform in a zigzag arrangement directly below the exit (which requires sending one lemming ahead to build the first staircase and trapping a group of at least four more lemmings to build the remaining staircases when the first one is in place); because the platforms are too narrow to accommodate a full staircase, you must instead place a Blocker at the edge of each platform and have the Builder build into it in such a way that he turns around in time to reach the next platform up. Get the timing wrong, and either the Builder will turn around too early and hit his head on the underside of the platform before the staircase is finished, or he will turn around too late and finish the staircase in midair. Either one means restarting the level.

* Mayhem 21, ''With a twist of lemming please''. In the level's original version as Tricky 12, ''Bitter Lemming'', you have enough Builders that it is easy to stop the initial fall from being fatal to non-Floaters in fairly short order. But in the second version, you have just enough Builders to create the path to the exit, so all 50 lemmings must be turned into Floaters straight out of the gate. Miss one, and you have to start the level over. But that's not the end... once you send a lemming on ahead to build the bridges to the exit, you must bash through the wall of the pit under the entrance to reach the bridges - and you only have one Basher. Click on a lemming facing away from the wall instead of toward it - which is very easy to do in a pit of 49 lemmings with no way of selecting a specific one (or, for that matter, seeing which way any of them are facing) - and you have to start the level over.

* ''Save me!'', the second-last level of the original, is a lot harder than the final level. In particular, there are two platforms directly over the exit, and the first lemming to land on each one must begin building the instant he lands and then turn into a Blocker so that the other lemmings will turn around and walk over the opposite edge. The time window available for these actions can be extremely unforgiving on some versions.

** SUNSOFT 27, ''Two heads are better''. Three bombers must be activated so that they blow through three platforms in such a way that a fourth Lemming can fall through the holes and walk to the exit - get the positioning slightly wrong and either the later bombers will fall to their deaths before they blow up or one or more of the lemmings will walk into a spinning incinerator.

* Havoc 19, ''Looks a bit nippy out there'', requires that the first lemming build across a small gap at the bottom of a narrow pit; get the timing wrong and you won't be able to finish the level. Then, you must wait until the 79th lemming (of 80) has fallen out of the entrance and have him start building a bridge the instant he hits the ground (in other words, over the pit containing the other 78 lemmings) so that the final lemming can cross the gap and be available for other tasks to complete the level. Both of these final two lemmings must complete a series of further precision building manoeuvres to both pave the way to the exit and free the other 78 lemmings. This time you have a whole ''3 minutes'' to finish.

* In Taxing 21 (''Feel the heat!''), you have to get the Builders to make ladders in such a way that, when the Lemmings arrive to the end of the big ladder, they fall down exactly on top of the exit. If you make the ladder too short or too long, they get scorched by the fire blasters on either side, and there isn't a lot of room for error either.

The ''Lemmings'' series' simplistic but addictive gameplay has made it one of the most fondly remembered puzzle games of recent times. All of the games share the same small furry creatures plodding through dangerous territories, the same goal to guide all of them to the exit safely, and the same head-scratching difficulty. How difficult are they? The fact that this game needs its ''own subarticle'' under ThatOneLevel speaks volumes.

[[AC:Other Lemmings games]]

** Tricky 28, ''Everyone turn left''. 60 Lemmings, 60 Miner skills, a release rate of 80, and an expanse of one-way terrain pointing the opposite direction the Lemmings walk in, at the end of which lies a lava pit. The goal is to have each Lemming mine into the one-way ground so that, well, everyone turns left. However, you have to save ''every'' Lemming in this stage, so not one Lemming can get scorched or you'll have to start all over - and if you accidentally select the same Lemming twice, well... Evidently, Sunsoft decided we needed ''two'' such levels - however, ''Everyone turn left (Part two)'' exists much later in the game, so its high difficulty is more forgiveable.

** Tricky 28, ''Everyone turn left''. 60 Lemmings, 60 Miner skills, a release rate of 80, and an expanse of one-way terrain pointing the opposite direction the Lemmings walk in, at the end of which lies a lava pit. The goal is to have each Lemming mine into the one-way ground so that, well, everyone turns left. However, you have to save ''every'' Lemming in this stage, so not one Lemming can get scorched or you'll have to start all over - and if you accidently select the same Lemming twice, well... Evidently, Sunsoft decided we needed ''two'' such levels - however, ''Everyone turn left (Part two)'' exists much later in the game, so its high difficulty is more forgiveable.

* ''[=LOoK BeFoRe YoU LeAp!=]'', the final level of ''Oh No! More Lemmings''. You have to use about a dozen bombers to dig a downward path through several layers of rock, but you don't get any blockers to help you place them precisely; you have to time them to explode at a certain place while they're still moving. If just one or two explode in the wrong place, you can either send them all plummeting to their doom, trap them somewhere with no way out, or simply end up falling short of the completion percentage because you wasted too many bombers.

* The infamous ''We all fall down''. Unless you have the Windows version and [[GoodBadBugs its increased fall distance]], these levels are incredibly annoying, and worst of all, you have to do it ''four'' times, saving an increasing number of lemmings each time. And worse yet, you have to save 100%. One screwup, which is very easy to do, and all your hard work is for nought.

** Tricky 28, ''Everyone turn left''. 60 Lemmings, 60 Miner skills, a release rate of 80, and an expanse of one-way terrain pointing the opposite direction the Lemmings walk in, at the end of which lies a lava pit. The goal is to have each Lemming mine into the one-way ground so that, well, everyone turns left. However, you have to save ''every'' Lemming in this stage, so not one Lemming can get scorched or you'll have to start all over - a. Evidently, Sunsoft decided we needed ''two'' such levels - however, ''Everyone turn left (Part two)'' exists much later in the game, so its high difficulty is more forgiveable.

The ''Lemmings'' series' simplistic but addictive gameplay has made it one of the most fondly remembered puzzle games of recent times. All of the games share the same small furry creatures plodding through dangerous territories, the same goal to guide all of them to the exit safely, and the same head-scratching difficulty. How difficult are they? The existence of this page says quite a lot.

* ''Hunt the Nessy''. Not a hard level in terms of pure difficulty, just mind-numbingly tedious and not fun to play, unless you're the rare player who can't get enough bridge building.

* On the black-and-white Mac version, ''Pea Soup'' is virtually impossible, as the "peas" that you need to build to are completely indistinguishable from the muck that surrounds them due to the port's graphical limitations.

* For the Mac version, it is of course ''The Steel Mines of Kessel'' -- due to higher-resolution graphics, some stalks on the ground were made impassable, so you have to use extra bombers to get past them. Trouble is, you're limited to eight bombers for the level, instead of ten as on other versions.

* ''The Hangar'' sticks out in Lemmings 3D.

* ''Save me!'', the second-last level of the original, is a lot harder than the final level.

* ''Where Lemmings Dare'' from ''ONML''. The first part of the level is moderately challenging, but the endgame is where it gets rough: you have to dig a path downward and then mine diagonally so that you come out right above the exit. And I mean ''right'' above the exit; seriously, one pixel off and your lemmings get mangled in one of the two traps on either side of the exit, forcing you to do the whole stupid level again.

** SUNSOFT 29, ''I am A.T.'' This essentially requires creating a diagonal staircase of Diggers to allow Lemmings to climb out of a pit and walk to the exit -- except that as they reach the top, they must be turned into Diggers to keep the staircase climbable. Even if you get the basic pattern down, get the timing wrong (or set the release rate too low or too high) and either the final step will be too high by the time the first lemmings reach the top of it, some of the intended Diggers will fall to their deaths at the beginning of the staircase, you will run out of Diggers too early, or too few lemmings will have climbed the staircase by the time the final step becomes too high permanently (there are 100 lemmings, of which 80 must be saved). Did I mention the 2 minute time limit?

* ''Hunt the Nessy''. Not a hard level in terms of pure difficulty, just mind-numbingly tedious and not fun to play, unless you're the rare player who can't get enough bridge building.

* For the Mac version, it is of course ''The Steel Mines of Kessel'' -- due to higher-resolution graphics, some stalks on the ground were made impassable, so you have to use extra bombers to get past them. Trouble is, you're limited to eight bombers for the level, instead of ten as on other versions.

* Taxing 26, ''Triple trouble''. It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You're given three Lemming spawn points but only one exit, blocked off by a ring of stone in the center of the stage. It's easy to save all the Lemmings coming out of the topmost hatch, since you can just dig through the upper edge of the ring, but the other two hatches are a nightmare. You have a severely limited amount of Builders (12 on most versions, ''10'' on the SNES and Genesis versions), and you need two of them to get those groups past otherwise-impassable steel walls and one to build up to the exit once you've Bashed away the ground beneath it. In other words, you have only seven Builders to get up to the ring in the center, and if a Lemming runs out of building room when he nears the goal, you're pretty much screwed. Why this level isn't in Mayhem is a mystery for the ages.

* Taxing 26, ''Triple trouble''. It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You're given three Lemming spawn points but only one exit, blocked off by a ring of stone in the center of the stage. It's easy to save all the Lemmings coming out of the topmost hatch, since you can just dig through the upper edge of the ring, but the other two hatches are a nightmare. You have a severely limited amount of Builders (10), and you need two of them to get those groups past otherwise-impassable steel walls and one to build up to the exit once you've Bashed away the ground beneath it. In other words, you have only seven Builders to get up to the ring in the center, and if a Lemming runs out of building room when he nears the goal, you're pretty much screwed. Why this level isn't in Mayhem is a mystery for the ages.

* ''[=LOoK BeFoRe YoU LeAp!=]'', the final level of ''Oh No! More Lemmings''. You have to use about a dozen bombers to dig a downward path through several layers of rock, but you don't get any blockers to help you place them precisely; you have to time them to explode at a certain place while they're still moving. If just one or two explode in the wrong place, you can either send them all plummeting to their doom, trap them somewhere with no way out, or simply end up falling short of the completion percentage because you wasted too many bombers.

* For the Mac version, it is of course ''The Steel Mines of Kessel'' -- due to higher-resolution graphics, some stalks on the ground were made impassable, so you have to use extra bombers to get past them. Trouble is, you're limited to eight bombers for the level, instead of ten as on other versions.
* On the black-and-white Mac version, ''Pea Soup'' is virtually impossible, as the "peas" that you need to build to are completely indistinguishable from the muck that surrounds them due to the port's graphical limitations.

* ''Save me!'', the second-last level of the original, is a lot harder than the final level.

* This troper still remembers one level in the original Lemmings (don't remember the name) where you had to get the Builders to make ladders in such a way that, when the Lemmings arrived to the end of the big ladder, they had to fall down exactly on top of the exit.
** That would be "Feel the heat!".

* ''LOoK BeFoRe YoU LeAp!'', the final level of ''Oh No! More Lemmings''. You have to use about a dozen bombers to dig a downward path through several layers of rock, but you don't get any blockers to help you place them precisely; you have to time them to explode at a certain place while they're still moving. If just one or two explode in the wrong place, you can either send them all plummeting to their doom, trap them somewhere with no way out, or simply end up falling short of the completion percentage because you wasted too many bombers.

* ''Look Before You Leap'', the final level of ''Oh No! More Lemmings''. You have to use about a dozen bombers to dig a downward path through several layers of rock, but you don't get any blockers to help you place them precisely; you have to time them to explode at a certain place while they're still moving. If just one or two explode in the wrong place, you can either send them all plummeting to their doom, trap them somewhere with no way out, or simply end up falling short of the completion percentage because you wasted too many bombers.

* Mayhem 5, ''Down, along, up, in that order'', is a massive headache of a level. In its original version as Fun 28, ''If only they could fly'', you have thirty Builders and can simply send one ahead to build a giant bridge for the other lemmings, freeing them once the bridge is ready. But in the second version, you only have ''five'' Builders. This time around, you must use each Builder after the first to build up to the next platform in a zigzag arrangement directly below the exit (which requires sending one lemming ahead to build the first staircase and trapping a group of at least four more lemmings to build the remaining staircases when the first one is in place); because the platforms are too narrow to accommodate a full staircase, you must instead place a Blocker at the edge of each platform and have the Builder build into it in such a way that he turns around in time to reach the next platform up. Get the timing wrong, and either the Builder will turn around too early and hit his head on the underside of the platform before the staircase is finished, or he will turn around too late and finish the staircase in midair. Either one means restarting the level.

* ''Save Me'', the second-last level of the original, is a lot harder than the final level.

* For the Mac version, it is of course ''The Steel Mines of Kessel'' -- due to higher-resolution graphics, some stalks on the ground were made impassable. Unless you're playing the ''black-and-white'' Mac version, in which case, good luck getting past ''Pea Soup''. (In that version, the "peas" that you need to build to are completely indistinguishable from the muck that surrounds them due to the port's graphical limitations.)

* Mayhem 21, "With a twist of lemming please". In the level's original version as Tricky 12, "Bitter Lemming", you have enough Builders that it is easy to stop the initial fall from being fatal to non-Floaters in fairly short order. But in the second version, you have just enough Builders to create the path to the exit, so all 50 lemmings must be turned into Floaters straight out of the gate. Miss one, and you have to start the level over. But that's not the end... once you send a lemming on ahead to build the bridges to the exit, you must bash through the wall of the pit under the entrance to reach the bridges - and you only have one Basher. Click on a lemming facing away from the wall instead of toward it - which is very easy to do in a pit of 49 lemmings with no way of selecting a specific one (or, for that matter, seeing which way any of them are facing) - and you have to start the level over.

** Present 29, "Private room available". Two lemmings, the first and last out of the gate, must forge the path through the level while the other eighteen must be separated into individual chambers and each must then dig through the very centre of the chamber floor - too far off centre and either they will fall to their deaths or they will dig through their neighbour's wall creating another fatal fall.
** SUNSOFT 23, "Move on in two separate groups". This requires a series of quickfire bashing and building manoeuvres within the first few seconds to set everything up properly.
** SUNSOFT 27, "Two heads are better". Three bombers must be activated so that they blow through three platforms in such a way that a fourth Lemming can fall through the holes and walk to the exit - get the positioning slightly wrong and either the later bombers will fall to their deaths before they blow up or one or more of the lemmings will walk into a spinning incinerator.
** SUNSOFT 29, "I am A.T.". This essentially requires creating a diagonal staircase of Diggers to allow Lemmings to climb out of a pit and walk to the exit -- except that as they reach the top, they must be turned into Diggers to keep the staircase climbable. Even if you get the basic pattern down, get the timing wrong (or set the release rate too low or too high) and either the final step will be too high by the time the first lemmings reach the top of it, some of the intended Diggers will fall to their deaths at the beginning of the staircase, you will run out of Diggers too early, or too few lemmings will have climbed the staircase by the time the final step becomes too high permanently (there are 100 lemmings, of which 80 must be saved). Did I mention the 2 minute time limit?

* Mayhem 21, "With a twist of lemming please". The fall from the opening gate is fatal to non-Floaters and, in contrast to some similar levels, you do not have enough Builders to make the pit more shallow, so all 50 lemmings must be turned into Floaters straight out of the gate. Miss one, and you have to start the level over. Once you've done that (or while you're doing that), you must send a lemming on ahead to build the bridges to the exit, and finally bash through the wall of the pit under the entrance to allow the other 49 lemmings to reach the bridges - but you only have one Basher. And getting one facing the correct direction in a hazy sea of 49 lemmings is mostly down to pure luck.

* The infamous ''We all fall down''. Unless you have the Windows version (see GoodBadBugs above), these levels are incredibly annoying, and worst of all, you have to do it ''four'' times, saving an increasing number of lemmings each time. And worse yet, you have to save 100%. One screwup, which is very easy to do, and all your hard work is for nought.

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