🫧 Received: December 25th, 2019 🫧
🫧 Written: June 25th-July 12th, 2026 🫧
Year: 1996 | Developed and Published by: Psygnosis
Hello, gamers and readers alike, welcome to my blog and thank you for taking the time to tune in today, I really appreciate it!
Screengrabbed while watching silenig's Amiga Longplay Lionheart (Hardest, Best Ending, 50 fps) video on YouTube
In 1993 there came out a platformer named Lionheart for the Amiga computer which was developed and published by Gütersloh based German video game firm Thalion Software. This game was a collaboration between Austrian programmer Erwin Kloibhöfer and Dutch graphic designer Henk Nieborg, who both met and worked together as freelancers at Interactive Design with Charly for Dragonware Games and Ghost Battle for Thalion Software. After the latter was published, Kloibhöfer and Nieborg were hired in their employ. Influenced by their deep love and appreciation for Japanese action games, having spent countless hours playing imported games, development on Lionheart went smoothly and was positively received. Sadly most of Thalion Software's games didn't manage to sell well, causing them to close down their doors in 1994, six years after the firm's foundation. With
Image from GameFAQs
simpler title The Adventures of Lomax in North America (and as just Lomax elsewhere in the world). Programmed and editor programmed by Kloibhöfer with Nieborg handling graphic artistry and level design, produced by Greg Duddle (who had prior experience with the Lemmings franchise acting as liaison for the Atari Lynx port of the first DMA Design iteration, produced E&E Software's Commodore 64 port, helped with quality assurance to DMA Design's Lemmings 2: The Tribes, and produced Clockwork Games' recent main entry 3D Lemmings), product managed by David Dyett in the UK and by Laura McLeod in the US (both of whom also product managed the other Lemmings spinoff of 1996, Visual Sciences' Lemmings Paintball), with technical assistance handled by Craig Duddle, and with both Mark Day and Dana Oertell handling public relations (having also done so for
Images from GameFAQs
Lemmings Paintball), The Adventures of Lomax would be released on the PlayStation One by Pysgnosis in North America on October of 1996 with the European release Lomax following suit that November. This Lemmings spinoff would also see Japanese distribution for the console the following year on December 18th of 1997 through Tomy Company. The year 1997 also saw the game being given treatment for the personal computer format.
Left: "Let's go!" | Right: With each time you touch a magic cap you'll summon Wise Old Lorock
In the sidescrolling action platformer The Adventures of Lomax you take control of the eponymous Lemming, and for once you get to do so directly as opposed to guiding him. Lomax can move left and right where you can increase his running speed by holding down the R1 shoulder button simultaneously with a side direction, duck down, hold down on a steep incline to tumble downward, climb a rope up and down once he gets on one, and while standing underneath the open trapdoor exit once you reach it simply press up to enter it to
Left: Running off on an adventure to rescue the Lemmings | Right: Reaching the dangling moneybag with a helmet toss
clear the present level. By pressing the 𝖷 button you can have him jump up in the air with the gained altitude based on hard you pressed the button, and when repeatedly pressing 𝖷 you can have him do a spin attack which not only acts as a way of fending off monsters and deflecting obstacles but it can also help destroy pots which sometimes pop up from the ground and untangle dangling bags full of money within reach which once it hits the ground will bounce across making gold coins spring out left and right. Among the possible contents
Left: "Yippee!" | Right: Once in a while you will have to be careful of those enemies riding on blimps who will attempt to hit you with the bombs they drop within their target's range
inside a pot once it gets shattered is a magic helmet which you can have Lomax throw as a long-ranged projectile with the ⭘ button which will rebound back to him as if it were a boomerang (by holding down or up while pressing the button you can determine the angle in which the helmet is thrown), and that's if you can get to it before it's too late as it bounces off of the ground (over to the edge if you don't get to it promptly). By collecting another magic helmet while still having one in your possession it will be stored in the reserve box at the top
Left: Being greeted by butterflies gracing the screen really elevates the atmospheric depth and brings this area to life | Right: Descending down from branch to branch
of the screen a la Nintendo's Super Mario World where you can bring it down by pressing the △ button at any point (but once it starts to fall down you best be sure to get underneath it in order to catch it otherwise it will have been wasted). Should Lomax sustain damage while wearing the helmet he will lose it, either causing the spare helmet to fall down as a result or if you don't have one at the ready will render him vulnerable for he will lose a life should he be damaged again without one. Other contents inside a smashed pot could be a set of six coins
Left: Rope climbing | Right: Whatever you say, ol' Lem
(where collecting a hundred of them will gain you a life), a 1UP balloon in inconspicuously placed pots that are found through thorough searching, and one of six ability icons to assign to Lomax. Once you've got at least one you press the Select button to access a ring menu around the Lemming where you can toggle between your available options and assign the ability once above his head, after you have done so you can return to the action by pressing Select again and utilize the currently selected ability with the ☐ button (four among which
Left: Push a tree to create a makeshift bridge | Right: Made it to the end of level exit
require that you have a helmet in order to use them): these are the bridge building ability where you can produce a set number of makeshift platforms to reach a higher spot normally inaccessible with a normal jump, the digging ability allows you to dig through the dirt blocking the path by holding down the button until you're through, the grab helmet which you can use to reach high platforms moving above you or across from you to cross over gaps, the bomb helmet has you toss the helmet where in a matter of seconds it will blow up and
Left: Teetering | Right: Barrel riding across
destroy any large obstacle impeding your path, the fire helmet which can take can of multiple enemies at once (whereas the normal helmet can only do one at a time), and finally there's the hover helmet ability which allows you to safely glide down provided you keep the button held down. The number of times you can use any one of these abilities is finite, so only use them to bypass certain obstacles and when you really need to. You can also have a better view of what's above and below you by holding down the L1 and L2 shoulder buttons
Left: Quickly jumping from sinking boat to sinking boat | Right: Stay above the water lest you want to be attacked by the pufferfish that trails and follows you in the direction you're going
respectively, the latter of which is a major boon to let you know the exact placement of any platform at the bottom that you'll have to jump and/or drop down to. Along the way are monsters to contend with who revert back to Lemmings once you spin attack or toss your helmet at them once or twice which will gradually add to your saved Lemmings count. Should you reach a total number of 50 the reserve box will have "bonus" written on it where you'll not only clear the present level upon reaching the exit but you'll also be given a bonus
Left: Selecting the appropriate ability to help overcome certain obstacles | Right: With the bridge building ability you can create momentary platforms that help you reach higher spots
opportunity to gather more coins and lives. Occasionally you will see a magical cap floating in place in midair which summons a wizened Lemming named Wise Old Lorock once you touch it who will share helpful advice and impart words of wisdom unto Lomax. Partway through each level are rope barriers which will act as a checkpoint in the event that you lose a life, picking up your progress from that spot. Once you made it to the exit you will be taken
Left: Pushing the barrel into the water | Right: Hanging onto the rope on one hand
to the map screen and be presented with an eight-character password based on the PlayStation controller's face buttons where its setup is based on the section you're at, the number of lives you have, and the number of continues you have remaining. Losing your life last will take you to the game over screen, where you're given ten seconds to either continue by entering the left trapdoor or to go back to the title screen by taking the one on the right.
Left: In this game are flower platforms | Right: Both big and small
This Lemmings spinoff is absolutely beautiful to look at. Nieborg's artistry and sense of visual aesthetic are filled to the brim with painstakingly lavish and sumptuous detail with an impeccable color palette that give the proceedings a strikingly abundant and engrossing appeal. It may just arguably be the best-looking 2D sprite-based game to hit the PlayStation One console bar none. The opening medieval level visually grabs you from the get-go with
Left: Narrowly escaping the avalanche of boulders | Right: Let's take a look at the time
the vibrant green grass, detailed trees and beanstalks, soothing clouds in the backdrop where you see the occasional medieval architecture, pleasantly animated waters, and as if it wasn't impeccable enough to look at already there's a moment when the screen is graced with a high number of butterflies giving the proceedings atmospheric depth. Another medieval level that takes place by the waters has got a beautifully designed castle looming in the backdrop with
Left: Standing on long-stemmed flowers hanging above the clouds | Right: Riding a perpetually swinging platform (evidently hung from the bottom of the upper clouds)
hints of the sun piercing through the clouds, and in a subsequent medieval that transpires above the clouds you'll occasionally get a glimpse of onion domes popping out of the clouds. The haunted graveyard is fittingly spooky with the mansion in the background, tombs and crosses spread about, a large skull on a pike in the foreground early on in the outset, atmospheric color layering mist here and there, a vibrant moon partially covered up and
Left: Floating away | Right: Oh no, you don't!
surrounded by dark clouds, and decrepit pirate ships. The Western levels look great with the canyons in the foreground and in the background with the sun rising, trees, cacti, and light mist. And finally the space levels look incredible with the parallax scrolling craters in the backdrop and pointy mountain-like peaks, star-laden outer space with the occasional blue or purple vapors flying upward, as well as the sand-like celestial bodies with castles above them
Left: Using the helmet grabbing ability to reach the pole to cross that wide gap | Right: Between a barrel and a barrel monster
spins around you get a sense of how swiftly he's doing so especially as his eyes and cape twirl around in over the top fashion, when he ducks down should he wear a helmet it will delay itself by half a second before falling on his head, his tumbling animation is solid as he rolls down the incline where he'll momentarily appear dizzy and discombobulated, I like the loading screen where he waits patiently resting his elbow beside an hourglass as big as him occasionally checking his wristwatch (guess you can't have too many timepieces), I love how the red feather plume of his helmet has a mind of its own depending on the helmet ability you gave him where it turns into an open hand grabbing onto a bar or a pole as well as how it elongates itself and splits off in two ends acting as a helicopter rotor as he glides down, and in true Lemming fashion will blow up into itty bitty blue and green pieces the instant he takes
Left: By entering inside mystery boxes it will shoot you straight upward or diagonally, sometimes requiring course correcting your jumps in midair | Right: Once you saved a total of 50 Lemmings you'll be granted access to the bonus level upon reaching the end of level trapdoor exit
damage without a helmet or falls offscreen as if he got nuked. On the subject of the Lemmings, who were already endearingly designed to begin with (albeit largely through the previous entries' cover art and concept design if not the in-game cutscenes on account of their literal bite-sized nature during normal gameplay, though even then their animations are very likable) have been drawn so adorably in The Adventures of Lomax. Once a monster has been defeated by Lomax it will then magically revert back to a Lemming who lands on the ground and makes a run for it with such fluid motion until they jump off the nearest ledge (not exactly beating those centuries' old mass suicide allegations) sometimes floating away on an umbrella like when you assign the floater ability to them in Lemmings. I love their cute icons on the left side of the reserve box and how it briefly gives you a thumbs up for each time
Left: Big flower platforms | Right: Sometimes you'll have to carefully jump from a small flower platform to another small flower platform
a Lemming has been rescued, and I honestly think they don't look that bad with long hair (even if it's only for that small sprite). Among the Lemmings that you rescue along the way are those who've been changed into hopping bald men, barrels wobbling about on two feet who will attempt to blow up in place should you get closer to them, undead zombies who jump out of coffins emerging from the ground, bats who occasionally swoop down to reveal that they are vampires, gun-toting hat enemies who fire a bullet upon sustaining one hit (which will sprout legs and zero in on your current location and blow up either within close proximity or after having been hit by Lomax's helmet), and green space goo that move around like Slinkies. The Adventure of Lomax has got its fair share of scaling and rotating effects that are done to a solid standard. When you're greeted by the title screen it is filled to
Left: Mystery boxes abound | Right: Back to normal for that Lemming
the brim with Lemmings floating on an umbrella to inform you that, yes, you are playing a Lemmings game (not one of the traditional variety, but you are playing a Lemmings game nonetheless). During the earlier battles Evil Ed will have his minions fly on a rocket toward the screen. When standing on a flower platform it will dip down in the direction Lomax's weight is shifted, the mystery box will rotate in random directions, sometimes you'll ride on a boat that rocks back and forth in the water. And during the final battle against Evil Ed while in his final form he will occasionally try to attack by moving his head toward the screen. Every now and again Lomax will travel from plane to plane where, depending on how far back you're heading, the camera will either track on him as you cross over to a new plane or if you're in the far back you will be set in the distance. Though this is largely a 2D game at heart there are a few 3D objects with appealing textures once in a while that add to the
Left: A boss fight, in a Lemmings game? That's unheard of! | Right: Once the balloon has popped with just enough holes you'll proceed to the next environment
environment such as the bridge where you manually move from plane to plane, the bridge that you cross under in the watery level, and in one medieval level there is a clock tower that is pleasantly designed and honestly complements the present environment. One thing to note about is that upon turning the game on the screen has been positioned slightly off-center with a slim portion of the right side being cropped out which fortunately can be rectified by adjusting the screen from the title's options where you can move it all the way to the left (or, depending on the setup of your TV, until the dot touches the upper left corner). Another Psygnosis release on the PlayStation that would do something similar was the console port of Perfect Entertainment's Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?/Mortality Bytes!, which again is a simple adjustment fix. I'm just so baffled as to why the screen was set off-center by default, it just makes no sense even for the time it came out.
Left: Lomax's journey continues at the haunted graveyard | Right: Two more Lemmings freed
The music and sound design to The Adventures of Lomax was composed by Philip Morris over at PC Music (which supplied the speech and sound effects), who started out by creating the sound effects to U.S. Gold's Mega Sports. After that he joined Psygnosis where his audio career would be given a boost over the years, for he was a music composer and sound producer to Microcosm, worked as music manager to Novastorm and Divide by Zero's Innocent Until Caught, handled the music and effects coordination to the Sega CD
Left: Tumbling down | Right: Zombies everywhere
during the proceedings, and The Adventures of Lomax is absolutely no exception in that regard. I love how the title theme opens up with a trumpeted fanfare sounds like a bouncy hip hop-styled bard's tale recounting the tales of the title character with the medieval instrumentation (including a nice use of the lute), it's just unfortunate that unless you keep the options accessed you don't get to hear the whole theme in the game proper as it would cut to the attract mode before getting to the really good part if you just left the title screen idle for a bit. The opening medieval theme sounds very inviting and makes for a good companion
Left: Dig-a-dig-a-dig-a-dig-a-dig-a | Right: Jump up right in front of the bright moon
piece to one of the fantasy themes heard in 3D Lemmings due to the similar sounding nature, the second medieval theme* is engrossing to listen to with its up tempo melody that's easy to bop my head to, and the third medieval theme* sounds absolutely spectacular with its jovially bouncy melody and incandescently beautiful instrumentation for it is among my favorite pieces of music in the franchise on account of how encouragingly empowering it sounds (the night I got my Sega Saturn console back in 2022, on account of Sega's Clockwork Knight not arriving until the next day, the first disc I put in it was this game and listened to this very* When listening to its soundtrack the order is reversed, I was going by the order you hear these themes in particular in-game
Left: Deflect and thwart the shark by spinning over and over | Right: You'll have to contend with more walking dead zombies
theme). The first haunted theme has got a lightheartedly spooky yet undeniably catchy beat which aptly complements the atmosphere, the second haunted theme sounds lightheartedly foreboding, and the third haunted theme sounds befitting for a pirate-oriented setting with the attack bells and snazzy accordion playing amidst the pirate ships at sea. The first Western theme sounds engagingly atmospheric with a sweet sense of scope and size to the melody, the second Western theme has got an enjoyable banjo melody with the occasional harmonica and violins here and there, and the third Western theme sounds immersive with
Left: Reverting the zombies jumping out from the coffins back to Lemmings by spinning continuously | Right: Carefully time on those marine mammal platform that revolves in circular fashion toward the surface every several seconds so as to not fall in the water
the occasional tribal vocals. The first space theme evokes such an otherworldly quality of the literal variety that there is a soothing new age feel to it especially with the intermittent piano cue while the second space theme adds a touch more intensity to the music while still maintaining that evocative new age style of melody. The first three boss themes are suitably hectic with their techno beats, the theme for when you finally face off against Evil Ed has got an intensely engaging and catchy techno flavor, and the ending credits theme sounds soothing and rewarding when all is said and done. What I appreciate the most when it comes
Left: Sprung upward | Right: Standing on a platform riding down a zipline
to this soundtrack is that the music will keep playing even after Lomax had lost a life, I love when a video game does that as opposed to starting over after the fact especially if the music accompanying the action is great, and it is great. The sound effects are good, such as the slight creak of the trapdoor before Lomax emerges from it onto the scene, the magic sound effect for when Wise Old Lorock is summoned and when a Lemming has been rescued, there's a swift motion effect when Lomax uses his spin attack, the splashes sound crisp should he fall in the water as he's flailing his arms, the jingling sounds for when coins are collected are befitting, I enjoy the trumpet blowing cue any time you claim a helmet, the
Left: More barrel riding at sea | Right: From one barrel to another
shatter sound for the smashed pot is aptly thought out, and there's a soft-sounding yet effective "boom" any time an explosion takes place. I'm also endeared by the high-pitched Lemming voice Lomax uses from time to time with the "let's go" preceding the start of the action and "oh no" right before he blows up much like in Lemmings as well as the sounds he makes when tumbling down and the dizzying sound he makes when getting on his feet after the fact, the grunts he makes as a pushes a heavy object, how he shouts "heeelp" the first time you get in the water (otherwise he'll make muffled gargles as he drowns), the riveting "whoa" he makes when bouncing on a spring, and a Lemming's "yippee" when it's freed sounds cute.
Left: Helmet toss toward the zombie | Right: Vampire
The Adventures of Lomax marked the last collaboration between Erwin Kloibhöfer and Henk Nieborg before the two went their separate ways. After this game Kloibhöfer would lend his programming prowess to neo Software Produktions' Alien Nations and The Sting!/The Clue! 2, Remedy Entertainment's Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Sproing Interactive Media's Panzer Tactics DS and Riding Star, Kloibhöfer's Cosmic Supremacy, as well as
Left: Coins galore | Right: Crossing from one pirate ship to another at the back
Sproing Interactive Media and Deep Silver's Cursed Mountain which appears to be the last video game he worked on in 2010. Nieborg, meanwhile, would accumulate a wealth of work credits following this game's release for he would work on the visuals for games such as Karma Studios' Stip (which went unreleased), Eurocom's Game Boy Color adaptation of
Left: Shot past the windmill blades | Right: Carefully making his way up the precariously set up platform ferris wheel
Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, WayForward Technologies' Contra 4/Contra: Dual Spirits and Shantae sequels, NG:DEV.TEAM's Gunlord, as well as Bitmap Bureau's Xeno Crisis and Terminator 2D: No Fate (for which he acted as art director) based on James Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, et al, and even though the gaming landscape had changed since he first started in the video game business with the focus being shifted to 3D gaming (for which he contributed to sometimes) he remained true to his 2D pixel art roots.
The Super Famicom port's adorable introduction combined with the endearing music makes me happy and brightens up my mood ☺️
I first learned of this game sometime in the 2010's through the internet as I had no awareness of its existence before this. I knew of Lemmings, of course, but I hadn't played any incarnation or iteration of the franchise at that point. Growing up no one in my family either owned or borrowed a copy, none of my cousins who owned a Game Boy or Sega Genesis
Left: Skidding | Right: Trapped in a bubble
PlayStation One, not just 3D) and Tim Beaumont's cover art looked colorfully endearing when I saw it online, I decided to ask for it as among the games on Christmas of 2019. The Adventures of Lomax was the first game in the Lemmings franchise I played, and honestly I could not have found a better place to start. Though this game has the occasional trademarks firmly established by the franchise since its inception (having a Lemming drop down from a magical trapdoor exclaiming "let's go" to start off the action, Lomax's dig ability acting as this
Left: Either weave around, duck, or maneuver around those swinging spiked balls | Right: Taken damage
game's equivalent to the basher ability in the main games, utilizing the platform producing ability in a similar vein to the stair-building ability in the main iterations, some of the Lemmings floating downward or across after having been rescued from Evil Ed's monstrous spell, and Lomax helplessly shouting "oh no" before blowing up into itty bitty pieces scattered all across the screen), it also works incredibly well as a video game all on its own. To actually take control of a Lemming as opposed to just guiding one along indirectly is very refreshing
Left: Stay vigilant and watch out for randomly protruding spike traps up high in the Western cliffs and mountains | Right: Tipping the helmet toward the hat monster
for the franchise (even if it's just for this game), the gameplay feels solid and is genuinely fun to play as you learn to accustom to his abilities and functions in the earlier levels for the difficulty gradually amps itself up the farther you go along. In this game Lomax will go through a multitude of enjoyably endearing gameplay scenarios as he climbs up and/or rappels down ropes, creates a makeshift bridge by pushing a tree to cross a gap, occasionally rides on a barrel on top of either beds of spikes or on water where the desired direction you
Left: What does this say about a Lemming's weight if he's apparently heavier than a vulture that he winds up dragging it down with him the second he grabs on to the rope on its talon? 🤔 | Right: Vultures and flowers down below
must take is reliant on you holding the opposite direction, jumping from flower to flower where it shifts depending on where Lomax is standing, riding from swinging platform to swinging platform where you must time your jumps properly, from time to time there are mystery boxes to jump inside of where they will launch you in the present direction it is facing upward or diagonally where on occasion you must maneuver and course correct in midair to get to the subsequent mystery box or until you land safely on your feet, getting on
Left: Toss the helmet at the gun-toting hat enemy | Right: Moneybag and coins
rickety platforms tethered on a rope and waiting for it to be stable enough to get to another platform made of a similar build or on stable land, warding off sharks jumping from the water as you ride on a boat through consecutive spins, being launched up to higher ground from standing on a coffin laid at sea where a skeleton opens it up annoyed at its slumber being interrupted, jumping from an aquatic marine mammal to aquatic marine mammal swimming in circular motion with precise timing, hopping from, hopping from bubble to
Left: Take out those bullet monsters from a safe distance before they do you in by exploding within you approaching closer | Right: It's all a matter of determining whether the spiked ball is in front of you or not, and once you've got that figured out you've got nothing to worry about here (needless to say it make take a number of tries before then)
bubble which can momentarily save him from falling into the water lest you take too long to get off before it pops, having a kettle of vultures help you get across by grabbing on to the rope tethered to their talons and immediately jump from rope to rope lest it get dragged down by Lomax's weight, as well as being shot up and levitated by vapors with the highest altitude gained achieved by pressing the jump button just as you're about to ride up it. You couldn't do half of this aforementioned stuff in normal Lemmings, so for a Lemming to get
Left: Helmet bomb away! | Right: And just like that the rock obstacle has been eliminated, to which Lomax admires his handiwork
to do these feats is quite the opportunity while it lasts. This game also rewards you for thorough searching, especially since there are certain pots that will only reveal themselves from beneath the ground after having either achieved certain jumps or dropping in from an inconspicuous spot. Oftentimes you will be traversing from plane to plane, to the back or to the front, by either crossing the walkway connecting the gap (where you can alternate between up and down to remain on the bridge should an enemy be directly in front of it until
Left: Taking in the surroundings at dusk | Right: Running to the next plane past a tipi with smoke exiting at its top
it's clear) or jumping on a spring that faces inward or outward (it helps in the final set of levels to determine what's a platform and what's the background when being sprung to the back). There are a certain instances when you have to overcome or avoid specific obstacles which require depth of perception, mainly the spiked balls that swing to the screen and back (just finding that middle ground is enough to know when it's safe to cross or to avoid it, especially when they appear while riding on a barrel on top of spikes or during the first three
Left: "Oh no!" *boom* | Right: Spinning amidst vultures
boss fights) but during the haunted graveyard section there are a handful of moments when you must cross when a slowly rotating windmill bar is not in the way (one time in particular is done as you're being shot diagonally across from a mystery box). Some moments may require trial and error in order to truly learn to overcome it especially in regard to area layout, and once you come to grips with the dos and don'ts asked of you in these levels the world becomes your oyster while still maintaining that gradual sense of challenge. It also
Left: Evil Ed's minion riding on a rocket flying toward the screen | Right: Duck!
helps to take your time and not rush ahead if you can help it, especially since there's no pesky timer to worry about (bonus levels notwithstanding) which is a relief. The Adventures of Lomax also does something highly unprecedented coming from a Lemmings game: boss fights. At the end of the last level of each area, you will be put in a situation where the screen scrolls automatically for there is a boat held together by a balloon floating in the backdrop. Every now and then will be a handful of Evil Ed's minions riding on a rocket toward the
Left: Slime monster below on a mysterious planet in space | Right: Another Lemming rescued, but take care to tread carefully past those swinging spiked balls
screen, the goal is to have them fly toward the rock-like structure which in turn will deflect them back to the source of origin creating a hole in the balloon where victory is assured when you successfully accomplish it a set number of times. During the proceedings the balloon ship will come to the forefront and either attempt to flatten you or produce several spiked balls which you have to weave around or duck down or every now and again drop down to a lower platform and duck down for a little bit before you have to get on the move again on
Left: Guess someone's played Capcom's video game adaptations of Disney's DuckTales and Disney's Aladdin, otherwise Lomax's duck animation where the hat follows suit within (half a) second's delay would make no sense | Right: Levitating
account of the automatic scrolling. The process will repeat itself until you're through, if you're fortunate a pot may pop up from the ground which contains a helmet that helps you survive a little longer. Losing a life after having done damage to the balloon doesn't mean starting over, as you can pick up where you left off which I feel is more convenient. At the very end of the game when confronting Evil Ed, the solution is fairly simple to the fight especially during his second phase that it's quite a spin. So who is Evil Ed? How come he is such a curmudgeon? Why did he use his dark magic to transform innocent Lemmings into
Left: Standing right in the center where the rope barrier was | Right: Freed a buncha Lemmings at once, yippee!!
monsters? What was his endgame? Not once are you elaborated on any of these questions, Evil Ed is just evil for the sake of arbitrariness. Lemmings was never really known for story as that was not the focal point of the franchise because there wasn't really much of one to begin with (and the rare instance when it tried to establish lore in-game, like in DMA Design's Lemmings 2: The Tribes, it was reserved for its opening sequence alone because you don't get anything more after that). There is a recognizable European brand of charm throughout the course of the game which helps make the game very endearing and
Despite implementing the fast forward feature which did not exist when either Lemmings or Oh No! More Lemmings first came out in 1991 and doesn't exhibit any slowdown regardless how much action happens onscreen, I personally don't feel this PlayStation edition is the ideal way of playing the original Lemmings for there are levels missing out of licensing or other reasons, the exit variant designed like the wide open mouth of a menacing creature is missing its horns (and not in a seamless manner), there are glitches, you can't select and assign abilities mid-pause, it only features music from the first game even when playing levels from Oh No! More Lemmings, and I feel like it lacks the magic from Sunsoft's Super Famicom port, et al; it's not bad, it's just I'm not fully convinced about it (which is unfortunate, because the 3D rendering of the Lemmings in the opening cutscene is adorably charming and the cutest they've looked, in my opinion)
Distinctive Developments' PlayStation One version of Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings which bundled both the original classic and its expansion pack in one game disc, and the SNES version of Lemmings 2: The Tribes (which was adapted to the format by DMA Design itself). Up until I played the latter I considered this action platforming spinoff to be my personal favorite game of the series, but once I played Lemmings 2 I was completely won over by and engrossed in that sequel as it expanded on what worked before with its predecessor across all twelve tribes and introduced the much-needed fast forward button which would be featured in all subsequent installments to speed up the moments that involved nothing but walking. Though it gradually becomes hard as nails, the first Lemmings
Admittedly, it doesn't have the smoothest of framerates 100% of the time and takes a bit to properly learn the camera controls and how to assign Lemmings their abilities, but 3D Lemmings still appealed to me nonetheless (also without the fast forward and replay feature this game would be unreasonable)
on the Super Famicom I genuinely consider to be a very great and innovative game that helped changed the strategy-puzzle genre forever. Though 3D was something of an unchartered territory regarding this franchise, I'm surprised at how well 3D Lemmings turned out given the antiquated state of the art 3D, how you could move and revolve one of four cameras around (five including the first-person Virtual Lemming option), and how the 2D-control based Lemmings adapted to the third dimension but with a turner ability introduced so that it's possible for them to move in one of four directions as opposed to just two. I honestly really like it for I consider it good and underrated, plus I find Philip Morris' music to be immersive. My least favorite of what I played from the series was Distinctive Developments' PlayStation game. There was a point during the course of two and a half
Left: "Over here, you foolhardy imbecile!" | Right: Time to face Evil Ed's ultimate form, and it is a horrifically detailed form at that
The Adventures of Lomax is unabashedly a Psygnosis title through and through. It looks breathtakingly stunning with topnotch production values, its music sounds incredibly absorbing, the gameplay premise is very appealing, it's enjoyable to play once you come to grips with the gameplay, it's full of charm, and can prove to be a challenge. It also rewards you for thorough searching and for persevering through to the end. If you own a PlayStation
Left: Evil Ed head attack | Right: Oh okay, guess that's a wrap now, bye!! 👋
console and can afford it, regardless if you were acquainted with the Lemmings franchise or simply enjoy playing 2D action platformers, I recommend checking it out. It's very underrated and overlooked (coming out in the era of 3D giants like Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot and Core Design's Tomb Raider likely did not help its case), it takes an hour or so to play through, and it is such a worthwhile 2D platformer to play while it lasts. 😄 Let's go!
My Personal Score: 8.5/10
d(^-^)b TO EACH THEIR OWNd(^-^)b
● From The Adventures of Lomax alone on June 23rd, 2026, I took a total of 499 screenshots. It was difficult to choose which ones to use for this review. Every screenshot I took that you see here was taken while playing on my Samsung smart TV.
● Curiously in the instruction manual in a page where the PlayStation controller is shown there is also the design of the PlayStation Mouse right beside it (which is not further elaborated on) when there is nothing in the back of the jewel case to indicate this. 🤨 Now either that was an accidental carryover from the manual of Clockwork Games' 3D Lemmings, which could either be played with the normal controller or through mouse control compatibility, or it's possible that at some point that there was a consideration to utilize it in some capacity (like when accessing the options in the title screen) but ended up never doing so? I also don't see how mouse control compatibility would've helped an action platformer like this anyway.
Happy 30th Anniversary, The Adventures of Lomax,
you earned it!!!! 🥳
Thank you for reading my review, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think (neither spam nor NSFW allowed); hope you have a great day, be a kind human, and take care! 😃
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