In addition to Skyward Sword and Dragon Quarter, I've been playing Lemmings Returns on JayisGames.
http://jayisgames.com/games/lemmings-returns/If you've played the original Lemmings, you know 90% of how this game works. Lemmings enter through a trapdoor, exit through a gate. They move straight ahead in suicidal fashion unless you intervene.
Rather than assigning powers like traditional Lemmings games, this one has you drawing lines or erasing the background to secure a path to the exit. The vast majority of levels restrict you to only draw or only erase with no choice in the matter, and the size of your brush/eraser is dictated to you per level. This is in addition to the time limit, release rate, and pass quota with which Lemmings players are already familiar.
At first it was rather disappointing. It's slow (there is no fast-forward key) and trying to tab out while playing sometimes causes slow-down that will cause you to run out of time faster than normal. The early stages are mostly perfect clones of stages in the original Lemmings, made incredibly easy by the draw/erase mechanic. You'll get a sense that it's all too easy to simply draw a line from start to finish and win with a wide margin.
This is not the correct tone with which to judge the game. Once you break through the Fun levels to Tricky the game gets clever. (Though you should play Fun to get down the basics)
The draw/erase mechanic presents some unique problems you don't have in the original Lemmings. Some levels will have you drilling precision tunnels through solid material or building bridges into very narrow spaces. You'll find one level must be solved by building a lattice of straight line bridges at angles so the Lemmings can climb back and forth to the top without getting stuck in an intersection too fat to leap. Another level will require you to build a network of one-way tunnels to direct the Lemmings. The severe restriction where you can only build or destroy, rarely do both, leads to challenging levels. You'll also see some really unusual concepts, such as a level where the entrances are buried, and you must quickly unearth them to prevent the Lemmings from dying upon entry.
A word of caution, however: if you dislike twitch games this isn't for you. By the time you reach "Taxing" you'll find yourself with scarcely enough time to reach the quota while waiting for Lemmings to navigate your tunnel. You'll have to draw bridges through narrow spaces very quickly, often with two or three separate lines of Lemmings requiring attention. You rarely can apply a workhorse strategy of blocking the Lemmings at the start and waiting to clear the path before releasing them. You cannot pause to think or make precise movements (You cannot pause at all), and in a few levels you will have no choice but to restart if you miss on the the dozen plus precision cutouts you need to make.
Unlike a lot of browser games that copy a piece of source material, Lemmings Returns mimics the mechanics and physics of the original in a way that makes it very easy to understand the new mechanics. Players unfamiliar with the original game, for example, may have trouble with stages that require you to climb through a thin ceiling. There is justification for him choosing the Lemmings motif over an original design.
The game has a great variety of levels and challenges that will both puzzle you and challenge your reflexes. I recommend you give it a play.
Player
