The self-destructive tendencies of Lemmings have fascinated puzzle game fans since 1991. Now the classic franchise is making a return on Sony’s newest handheld.

Sony announced today that Lemmings Touch – the latest title in the franchise – is heading to the PlayStation Vita. It’s being developed by d3t, a studio made up of game industry veterans that have already worked on previous games in the Lemmings franchise.

So, what makes Lemmings Touch different from past games in the franchise? As the name suggests, touch controls will play a big part in the experience:

The mechanic is simple: you select a Lemming and then assign them a role. That IS simple, right? Yep, that’s the idea. But (and it’s a big but), as in all Lemmings games, it’s the levels that can prove difficult!

We’ve spent endless days working on a new presentation of the in-game HUD to make sure you have the perfect interface for Lemmings command and control. A pop-up radial menu frees up screen space so you can spend more time drooling over the magnificent landscapes that have been created to make the most out of that luscious PS Vita screen.

Aside from the new controls, the development team is also adding new objects for the Lemmings to interact with. Some of the new objects include cannons, trampolines, buttons, slides and more. All of the objects will be controlled directly via touch.

Check out the first trailer below to see Lemmings Touch in action:

There’s no release date yet for Lemmings Touch. Until then, you can always revisit the excellent PSP remake of the original title.

[Image: PlayStation Blog]