The Adventures of Lomax

The Adventures of Lomax
Also known as: Lomax (Japan/Europe, title screen) Developer: Psygnosis Publishers: SCEA (US), Psygnosis (EU), Tomy (JP) Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: December 18, 1997 Released in US: October 31, 1996 Released in EU: November 1996 This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden level select.

The Adventures of Lomax (or just Lomax in Europe) is a fast-paced platforming spin-off based off the Lemmings series. A evil wizard has turned your buddies into monsters, so now you gotta stop him and turn back your friends.

Lomax stands out from the other Lemmings games for one reason: you can play as the Lemming. Only one game had played with this angle before, so Lomax takes it one step further with a great amount of running and spinning.

This game is known among some circles for its lush pixel art, thanks to two key members from Flink playing a key role in the game's design. Lomax was the last game the two worked on together.

Unused Text

All of the game's text (in multiple languages) is included in the file GAME.TXT in the disc's root. Even the outwardly English-only American release features the full text in French, German, Italian and Spanish, meaning these localizations technically go unused. They can be accessed with the following code: D006B2E0 00A0 + 3006B30C 0017. Hold Square + Circle when starting a new game.

Leftover Demo Text

The American and European versions contain what appears to be leftover text from a demo version. On the US version, only the English and German translations are finished, and it was left untranslated in French, Italian, and Spanish. The November '96 date and completed translations suggest this demo was intended for the European market.

English
HI THERE MY FRIEND! THIS WAS JUST A LITTLE TASTER OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH IF YOU DECIDE TO JOIN OUR LITTLE ADVENTURE... AVAILABLE NOVEMBER '96
French	German
BONJOUR A TOUS! C'ETAIT JUSTE UN PETIT AVANT-GOUT DE CE QUI VOUS ATTEND SI VOUS DECIDEZ DE VOUS LANCER DANS NOTRE PETITE AVENTURE... SORTIE EN NOV. 1996	HALLO MEIN FREUND! DAS WAR NUR EIN KLEINER VORGESCHMACK AUF DAS WO MIT DU ES ZU TUN BEKOMMST WENN DU DICH ENTSCHEIDEST BEI UNSEREM KLEINEM ABENTEUER MITZU- MACHEN... ERHAELTLICH NOVEMBER '96
Italian	Spanish
SALVE A TUTTI AMICI! QUESTO E STATO SOLO UN PICCOLO ASSAGGIO DI QUELLO CHE DOVRETE AFFRONTARE SE DECIDERETE DI UNIRVI A NOI IN QUESTA PICCOLA AVVENTURA.... DISPONIBILE DA NOV. '96	HOLA AMIGOS! ESTO HA SIDO UN CORTO AVANCE DE LO QUE OS ESPERA SI OS EMBARCAIS EN NUESTRA EMOCIONANTE AVENTURA... A LA VENTA EN NOV. '96.

Memory Card Loading/Saving

Lomax uses a password save system, but a number of leftover strings imply the game was intended to support memory card saves.

SAVE/LOAD-MENU
MEMORY CARD 1 IS UNFORMATTED!
MEMORY CARD 2 IS UNFORMATTED!
NO MEMORY CARD(S) INSERTED
NO MEMORY CARD(S) FOUND
SELECT MEMORY CARD 1 OR 2
ERROR
CREATE NEW FILE IN MEMORY CARD %d?
MEMORY CARD %d REMOVED
MEMORY CARD FULL
MEMORY CARD %d READ ERROR
FILE CORRUPT
ERROR WHILE WRITING
SAVING...
ARE YOU SURE?
OVERWRITE EXISTING GAME?

Frame Rate Settings

Among all of the other Options screen strings are settings to allow the user to switch between 50Hz and 60Hz display modes. These strings are translated for each language, but they do not usually appear within the game (even in the PAL version, where they would be most useful).

FRAME RATE
50 FRAMES
60 FRAMES

Debug Features

As in Flink, Lomax has some very simple debug features which are enabled via a button-code in- game: first, hold Down + Start. Release both, then hold Up + Triangle + Circle + X + Square. Release Up, and if entered correctly a tiny number sequence will appear at the center left of screen - it's quite easy to miss that the code has actually worked.

These numbers represent the current level and sub-area. By pressing L1 + Select, the level can be incremented up to 22 before looping back to 1. Pressing L1 + Start will load the selected level. Sub-areas cannot be selected by button sequence, but a free movement feature can be enabled by pressing L1 + Square. Lomax will begin flying, and though difficult to control, is completely invulnerable and can be taken directly to the end of the sub-area. The same button combination will restore control to normal.

• 

  Level select enabled (look closely at center left).

• 

  Taking off in free movement mode.