The Steel Mines of Kessel

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Other versions

The Steel Mines of Kessel
Statistics
Difficulty	Mayhem
Level #	26
No. of Lemmings	100
To be Saved	90% (90 Lemmings)
Time	8 Minutes
Level Chronology
Previous	Have a nice day!
Next	Just a Minute (Part Two)

The Steel Mines of Kessel is the twenty-sixth level of the Mayhem difficulty in Lemmings.

Strategy

Turn the eighth and tenth Lemming into Blockers to leave seven Lemmings available to navigate the terrain. Turn one of those seven Lemmings into a Blocker when he's on the thin terrain above the chamber below and bomb him. Have one more Lemming block off the pool of water to the left and use two Lemmings to block and blow away the wall separating the next chamber.

Use a blocker to keep one of the original seven Lemming behind while a trailblazer builds over the second water pool. This should use two Builder skills. Have the trailblazer block and blow the next thin wall, and bomb the Blocker holding the last of the original seven Lemmings.

Have the last of the original seven Lemmings turn around at the right wall of the chasm and build to reach the left platform. Once he turns back right, build to the right platform. Have it block and blow the last thin wall and release the ninth Lemming. Once the ninth Lemming has navigated the level and made it to the Bear Trap, have it build over it with the last builder skill. Bomb the Blocker holding all the other Lemmings and raise the release rate to 99.

Atari Lynx strategy

Turn the first four Lemmings into Bombers just as they're about to walk over the hill with grass in order to blast through the dirt wall. If the timing is off and the Bomber is about to walk away from the wall, use up to four Builder or one Blocker skills to keep them close to it. Once through, have the first Lemming in line build over the water (this should only require one skill if he starts building at the edge of the steel block) while a Blocker placed on the steel block holds the other Lemmings back. Once there is a clear path to the exit, bomb the Blocker.

Version differences

Atari Lynx

• Renamed "YOU LIVE AND LEM"
• Only has 40 Lemmings and 35 must be saved.
• 5 bombers, 2 blockers, and 5 builders are available.
• There is no Bear Trap

DOS

• Only has 80 Lemmings.
• Requires only 75% to be saved (60 lemmings).
• 20 bombers, blockers, and builders are available.

Macintosh

• Only has 80 Lemmings.
• 90% rescue requirement means only 8 losses are allowed.
• In the Mac version's high-resolution graphics, three of the "thorns" in the terrain turn Lemmings back when they were not intended to. Thus, the player has to use more bombers or builders.
• The above factors combined leave almost no margin for error, making this version of the level notoriously more difficult than others.

SAM Coupé

• Only has 50 Lemmings.
• Curiously, requires 88% to be saved, allowing only 6 losses.
• The SAM Coupé version's collision detection has half the horizontal resolution of the terrain graphics, resulting in, among other things, roots sometimes turning Lemmings back, like the Mac version, and sometimes not. Bomber explosions are also smaller.
• The above factors combined make this level impossible to complete.

Sega Game Gear

• Renamed "STEEL MINES KESSEL"

Sega Master System

• Only has 20 Lemmings
• Requires only 40% to be saved (8 lemmings).
• 20 bombers, blockers, and builders are available.

2006 Remake

• 11 minute time limit.
• Requires only 75% to be saved.
• 12 bombers, blockers, and builders are available.

Access codes

• Acorn Archimedes / Atari Lynx: YOURINAFIX (you're in a fix)
• Amiga: HLFIFINEJY
• DOS: JNNIGMOEJK
• Macintosh: ILFMGONEJU
• PC:
• SNES: LHLTDDV / LHLTDDW

Trivia

• This map is also used in level 21 of the Fun difficulty, You Live and Lem.
• This is the last level to use the track "Forest Green" on most platforms.
• The level's name is a reference to the Spice mines of Kessel from Star Wars.

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