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For a company that seems perpetually to specialise in products that offer far more on the aesthetic front than in actual gameplay, it's ironic when you consider that Psygnosis' biggest hit to date by far is one that goes right against the apparent philosophy.

Lemmings may have minuscule graphics and silly sound, but it remains one of the most excellently playable, compulsive - and original - games of recent times. Now, on a wave of revived Lemmings hysteria (with the data disk already out and a sequel currently in the pipeline), the silly little sods with the green hair continue their worldwide domination with a new version for the Super Nintendo (nee Super Famicom).

There are no surprises on the game front - apart from an all-new intro, it's basically a carbon copy of the Amiga original, right down to the inter-level message screens. The 100 levels are the same as before, as is just about everything else.

The idea is to safely escort a band of hapless lemmings (Somewhere between 50 and 100, depending on the level) through each screen's tortuous obstacles and traps to the exit. Mindless creatures that they are, the lemmings just bumble along blindly, bumping into things, falling off ledges, etc, and generally killing themselves inadvertently. To put a stop to this, and guide the lemmings to the exit instead, the player can bestow special powers on the lemmings via an icon bank.

Lemmings can be turned into bridge-builders, diggers, blockers, climbers, parachutists and more - applying the right skills to the right lemmings at the right time creates a safe route for the rest of the little buffoons to follow. It's not necessary on every screen to rescue every lemming - in fact, often some may have to be sacrificed in order to save others, and as the game progresses only limited resources are available, making strategy and forward-planning all the more important.

Essentially, it's a question of marrying this tactical stuff with good old-fashioned arcade dexterity (the trick is selecting lemmings and giving out the tasks quickly before a major disaster occurs - not always easy under pressure).

Yes, it gets frustrating at times, but in a way that just makes the player all the more adamant to complete the level rather than throwing the controller down in disgust. And that's Lemmings' secret - good, solid addiction value.

Given Lemmings' technical simplicity, and the complexity of its mouse-based control system, the primary problem with converting a game like this onto a console is not duplicating the action faithfully, but making the control work on a joypad, which is fundamentally unsuited to this sort of task.

But where the CDTV version failed miserably, the SNES manages without any problems! It may be something to do with the SNES joypad having four extra buttons, but the real key is in the Nintendo converters' better understanding of the game. The top two buttons cycle back and forth through the ten icons (rather than having to click on them with the pointer, although this is also possible), while the others select the lemmings. Although control of the pointer isn't as flexible as with a mouse, it works perfectly well - a particularly nice touch is that those funny little index-finger buttons at the top of the SNES controller that hardly ever do anything have also been put to good use here - they scroll the map left and right, leaving the pointer free to get on with other business.

Though initially cynical, I have to admit I was well impressed by Lemmings on the SNES - the game has been implemented perfectly and a more than commendable job has been made of the control mode. With so much drudgy arcade stuff being churned out for the big Nintendo at the moment, Lemmings comes as a refreshing reminder of what good software is all about - and proves that we can still show the Japanese a thing or two about game design.

Super NES owners shouldn't hesitate in buying this one - anyone who does, we'll want to know the reason why.

Though it doesn't sound like the easiest game in the world to get into, Lemmings' difficulty curve is graded to allow even the most hopeless players a chance to get started.

The first dozen or so screens are well easy, and from then on the extra difficulty elements are added gradually, allowing the player to learn with the game.

Admittedly, it does get very hard later on, and many less patient players may just choose to switch off rather than persevere.

Graphically, it's not exactly stunning, but the music jollies things along nicely, with an assortment of silly tunes. Non heinous.

1. Supremely playable.
2. Top-notch joypad control.

1. None!