LGR - Lemmings - DOS PC Game Review

Few games have been ported to as many systems and seen as many variants as DMA Design's Lemmings. And it's no wonder! There's just something about trying to solve puzzles with suicidal rodents that's incredibly satisfying.

[@RichHeimlich]

My QA company did the testing on this (and the sequel) and I wrote the strategy guide for it (which is an interesting story in itself). I'll never, ever forget the music as it was burned into my brain from all the time spent with it.

[@barrelbobcat428s_rebelion6]

I know I am late, but what was it like?

[@RichHeimlich]

@@barrelbobcat428s_rebelion6 What was what like, specifically? The game was a shockingly simple, adorable affair that most people found quickly addicting. We had no trouble lining up staff to take part in testing it. Psygnosis was also a very solid client to work with. They were extremely competent and responsive. The nature of the game was such that there were countless ways to go outside the desired limitations of the design due to how flexible and creative you could be within it and that made it a bear to test. It was in our labs for much longer than the average product which also helped to burn that soundtrack into my head.

[@barrelbobcat428s_rebelion6]

@@RichHeimlich you answered what I wanted to know Thank you so much!

[@michaelocampo9986]

May God bless your soul. :)

[@liammay7756]

@@barrelbobcat428s_rebelion6 what did you want to know?

[@LGR]

Could not have said it better myself. I remember this feeling fondly... I was heavily into ant farms at the time (both in real life and playing SimAnt a ton!) and loved the idea of simulating a bunch of little creatures. Playing Lemmings was like looking into a surreal virtual world through my computer screen. Like ants, but cooler. They seemed so alive! And I could *control* these little animated dudes, either to help or abuse them, and it was so freaking awesome.

[@Xzarfna]

I love these little buggers Went to university in Dundee where this was made and there are bronze statues of lemmings near the student union!

[@LGR]

I'm a collector, I've been gathering them for years :) Random places, thrift stores, flea markets, other collectors, eBay, Amazon...

[@Dimefan91]

I had fond memories of the DOS version as a kid. I'd always cry everytime I failed and a single lemming died. But when I'd get so frustrated at the little bastards I'd plan ways to get the killed in inventive and sadistic traps. This game made me a sociopath. Ah, good times.

[@Rhino-n-Chips]

I had the pc version, I remember thinking more than once "What does the mushroom button do?" Then ruining the level for myself.

[@tazgamerplays]

Rhino 'n Chips Like the pic, I enjoyed the game.

[@edbadyt]

I know I'm late but, how did you make that mistake more than once?!

[@Rhino-n-Chips]

@@edbadyt I was 4.

[@sameash3153]

@Walter Lotte lmao

[@Chaggy1978]

😂

[@LGR]

Lemmings is owned by Sony now, and they actually released a remake of Lemmings + Oh No! More Lemmings for the PS3 and PSP in 2007. Awesome versions, I thought, especially the PSP one which made an excellent game to play on the go. They were going to release one for iOS and other mobile platforms but that was canned in 2010 for some reason.

[@zacharygardner2469]

Your reviews are in no way lazy. I can tell that a ton of work is put into these videos and it shows. I love these reviews.

[@thefalloutguy5773]

Zachary Gardner just a name

[@KuddlyKisses]

Every time I see Lemmings I just can't help but smile. SO many memories and not just of me playing, but almost my entire family. We used to swap strategies, horror stories, comedic moments (not related to the horror stories...yeeeaaah. Right. ^_- ) etc. Those were the good ol' days ♥

[@shanester366]

yea me and my dad used to always play it on our old 386, I wish we kept that old pc

[@mjkittredge]

yes! This was the game that brought my dysfunctional family together. Even my dad who thought video games were a stupid waste of time liked this one. Lemmings was a big part of my childhood

[@WingsofSuicide]

I remember playing this game with my dad back in the day. The nostalgia is strong with this one.

[@SavestateComic]

I remember renting this for the Genesis multiple times. I played it so much my Dad took away the controller at one point. Only game that ever happened with. Good times.

[@RediffusionMusic]

I DJ in the bar attached to the small two-floor office in which Lemmings was made! It’s now a Mexican-inspired restaurant, but it has a plaque on the wall dedicated to Lemmings and the history of the building.

[@danarmstrong5828]

Used to live next to the old DMA offices in Dundee, the city has little Lemmings statues around the city to honor the game, DMA and Dundee's gaming history. :)

[@LGR]

Lemmings was released in 1991 for the Amiga, came later to several other systems. So it sounds like it adds up well enough!

[@LGR]

The last official game in the Lemmings series for PC was Revolution from 2000.

[@LGR]

Yes. I'll be reviewing Worms+Reinforcements/Worms United/Worms Director's Cut at some point in the future.

[@revenile]

I know this video is old but you should really do one on Lemmings 2: The Tribes. That medieval theme is amazing...

[@jillparker6553]

And here I am 7 years later watching the video for the first time. Hahah

[@markofsaints5319]

wow i really miss this game, I remember playing this as a child... good times

[@melisslacour15]

I loved playing this as a kid on my dad's huge laptop computer for work. Great memories!! ❤️

[@lemagreengreen]

The guys from DMA Design visited my school in the mid 90s, promoting a career in games development. Nice to know they really made it big :) wish I still had some of the promotional stuff they handed out to pass on to a true collector.

[@LGR]

Indeed I have. Can't say I'm a fan of it, but it's an interesting twist on the genre. Liked Lemmings Revolution a bit more.

[@kjakobsen]

I've only played it on the Amiga, with the most impressive music ever. I've just seen, that they made a Commodore 64 version. And the retro geek in me, almost cries tears of joy hearing what they squezed out of that amazing SID chip.

[@tigershark132]

I love how 'pause' is a set of paws! :P

[@CoolDudeClem]

The Acorn Archimedes version is the definitive version! It was the only thing that motivated me to go to school back in the day since they had it on the computers there.

[@GigaLem]

CoolDudeClem one of my schools had the dos version

[@thebeggs4]

That's the system that introduced me to Lemmings, too! The Windows version with the unofficial Java add-on "Lemmini" comes close as it adds the missing levels (MENACE!, etc) and music, but the Acorn version was fantastic.

[@steeviebops]

Another Acorn fan here, was introduced to Lemmings on the A3010s in my school. Nowadays I got it working on RISC OS on a Raspberry Pi.

[@ranger9047]

This is one of the first games I remember my older brothers playing. We only had the original DOS version. They had a notebook full of codes for almost every level all the way through mayhem! To this day I just play a piece of the soundtrack and they just about fall over from the wave of nostalgia lol

[@TheSauciest]

Just to think, these people would go on to make the GTA games.

[@wizzardoo6228]

An excellent comment.

[@adynmichael]

Matthew Olejniczak yup

[@franknitti9126]

Matthew Olejniczak Are you sure? Where did you get that info?

[@Jakepearl13]

Not to mention,the publishers made the wipeout franchise

[@Nochift138]

That's what LGR said

[@calilovett2063]

I found it online and now I'm addicted. It's infuriating.

[@JackyVSO]

It was so freaking difficult! Despite vigorous attempts, I never managed to make it through the last 20 levels when I played it as a kid. This is probably why it still holds a kind of magic for me. You really have to be made of special stuff to unlock the whole of it.

[@supermegazeldaland]

I had lemmings on snes but then it miraculously vanished. I suppose it fell off a cliff or something.

[@hdofu]

PlayerNamedQuix also the ds port homebrew was good, PlayStation portable version was good, and caveman for iOS is good

[@AudreyDurden]

some of the BEST music EVER on a video game

[@bencheshire]

Yes, because the gameplay is so good, it translates to every system. I used to play it on the phreaking game gear, and I loved it. And I had the Amiga version too.

[@marshmllodragon]

I used to play this game and lemmings 2 obsessively as a kid. ❤️ Such good memories

[@Trusteft]

I strongly remember as a teenager going to a shop selling games, to buy a joystick for my ST. As I entered, there was this huge TV on the left, running Lemmings for the Amiga. I was with a friend and we kept watching someone else play for a while. We weren't the only ones, there were several more people doing the same. It was love at first sight for everybody there. It's hard to explain now, but the game looked, sounded and played like something out of this world, at least to our senses.

[@LGR]

Thanks! And yes, I may review Lemmings 2: The Tribes at some point.

[@Roxas4ever]

Another classic from my childhood. I wish I had been old enough to understand the harder puzzles, because I was never able to finish the game.

[@RockmanZeroModernDay]

Notable ones: Sega Genesis version of Lemmings, Sega Master System, Amiga. My first time playing it is three levels... Just Dig, Only Floaters can Survive this, and Tailor Made for Blockers.

[@mima85]

Lemmings... hours and hours passed playing with it, both Amiga and DOS versions. The first tune heard in this video it's one of my favourites in the DOS version of Oh No More Lemmings. Pure OPL3 FM delight :-D

[@qwertyb18]

Man, this game along with Tim 2 was all I had when I was a kid along with an NES. Good times.

[@Weetomuncherishere]

Great game. I've played it on virtually every machine from the ZX Spectrum to the PS3. Oddly it never appeared for the C64 despite constant promises.

[@LGR]

Really? There are videos of it on KZbin, and I've played it myself! See here, listed as one of the last commercial C64 games: www.lemon64.com/?game_id=1513 Looks like it was converted by Thomas Mittelmeyer in 1994.

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

i have the CD32 dos and windows versions

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

and also the european saturn version that uses the mouse

[@Xredator]

yea there is a c64 port

[@philbateman1989]

As far as I know there is no ZX Spectrum version though...

[@howrylo]

this was my favorite game growing up. so cool you covered it.

[@tazgamerplays]

Lemmings was great, I really miss some of these old games, and the sounds from the old computers.

[@LGR]

Yup! I hope to review it someday.

[@AnubisDark]

I remember playing Lemmings Real Life in middle school with friends. I think i'll go see them in the graveyard tomorrow.

[@AdriftForWeeks]

I absolutely adore this game, been playing it ever since the Amiga days

[@ChairmanMeow1]

I have so many vague memories as a kid seeing my friends older brothers playing this on their macs and amigas

[@bizzhat]

This, was possibly the best game review I have ever seen! A job well done. Thanks :)

[@LGR]

@MrShot97 and @raymangold22 I can settle this: they're both freaking awesome in their own ways, end of story. One can appreciate both with no ill side effects. It's true! I love FM, I also love samplers. Neither one is objectively better than the other, it's all up to personal preference. Limited oneself to a single type of music or sound leads to a very boring existence.

[@GrandPrixDecals]

The only youtuber where you can’t tell the difference between a video uploaded yesterday and one uploaded 10 years ago 😉👍

[@basicallysnake]

Take a shot each time you hear LGR say lemmings

[@LGR]

Played on my NCR Comten 386SX.

[@Shot97]

Wise words phreakindee. Sorry for hijacking your board here. In all honesty I do love all the retro and console sound hardware. The C64, the NES, Genesis, Amiga, SNES, MIDI, MOD, I even have my PC speaker wired to my SoundBlaster AWE so that it sounds as good as possible. And the PC speaker, as horrible as you want to say it is sometimes, it always makes you smile.

[@waffleless]

The animations are fantastic. The Basher and Brickdr are really clear.

[@LGR]

Thank you! I definitely thought about mainly covering the Amiga version instead of the DOS one, but since I grew up with the DOS port and already dedicated my Christmas Lemmings review to the Amiga game, I figured I'd stick to DOS and mention the Amiga and other ports as a side-note. The Amiga really is my favorite "classic" version of Lemmings, next to the awesomely enhanced Macintosh port.

[@NeoTrggrTheGammer]

oh man i loved this game growing up. I grew up on dos and windows and this game was my childhood was this game

[@Highretrogamelord]

Ah, Lemmings..such a classic! I think I played the X-mas version and the original as the kid. I can remember a level with snowmen...must have been the X-mas version.

[@-taz-]

Great info, phreakindee. I played Blood Money as a kid, and remembered DMA Design from the intro, yet somehow never even linked it to Lemmings (or anything else after that). And I remember Davey Jones Locker from Blood Money, so that adds up. And I seriously doubt anyone here, maybe the whole set combined, spent as much time as me on DeluxePaint, yet I didn't even know about the 8/16 pixel challenge either. Nice! (The only DP fun fact I remember is Guybrush Threepwood's name.)

[@oCMSo]

Pikmin: "Papa is that you?"

[@BlooditeDrakan]

Oh the days of playing Lemmings on the Macintosh at school! That games was amazing good fun.

[@thebeggs4]

One level that I'll never forget it "I have a cunning plan". Not just because I love Blackadder, but my father and I got stuck on that one for ages. I also remember some of the level codes from the Acorn Archimedes version, since they were short phrases. Sometimes, you could even guess them, as they'd follow certain patterns.

[@thelowmein9143]

One of the first pc games I played, great nostalgia trip! It was a great game.

[@Shot97]

Think of it this way,i'm not sure how many Amigas were sold in the U.S.,although I did see some figures once and it was higher than I thought.The 500 sold more than the other models I recall,so eat your heart out those that think the Amiga was only used for the video toaster.Weather it sold 300,000 or over a million or more,thats alot of potential sales for games,and if it worked on one,it worked on the others,more than you could say for PC's.An Amiga owner,even here,had it good for a long time.

[@Shot97]

Thats all i'm trying to say,my concern is not with multi thousand dollar sound cards that NO ONE had, and no companies supported.This channel is mostly about gaming,and the Amiga was the first affordable computer that had realistic sound in my opinion,it lasted till 94 and even in the VGA world,it did just fine,and I always thought its music was better than FM,and usually the MT-32.The AWE,affordable and good support,and it was much better than FM I believe.Better than what MOST people had.

[@Rakiarmas]

I had Lemmings on Sega Genesis/Megadrive. It was pretty popular game in my family & we were trying to complete this game together. We manage to get pretty far until the stages became just too difficult for us. Me & my cousin played the two player mode alot. It was pretty fun to try getting points for yourself & sabotage your friend's game at the same time.

[@ceruleantear1]

I once played Lemmings at summer school. I never played it long enough to get the point of the game, but some of my classmates sure loved it.

[@Shot97]

Already seen this on Blip, but had to come over to favorite and comment! Great video! Though I wish you covered the Amiga version, I understand your connection with DOS. It does have some rocking FM.In the late 90's I got this for DOS and just thought "This isn't right".One of many DOS games that eventually got me into emulating the Amiga, then getting the real thing again.I have managed to beat it by myself, takes alot of patience. Very nice ending screen on the Amiga anyway.The game team claps

[@robintst]

Shadow of the Beast, Blood Money, and Lemmings were staples of my gaming habits back then when I had an Amiga 1000. But my brother had the Amiga 500 and since it was an AIO machine and more easy to move, when our parents weren't home, we'd bring it down to the living room, drag the coffee table to the middle of the floor, and hook it up to the big woodgrain floor model TV we had.

[@MarkTheMorose]

+Alan Rizkallah (Yinz Gamerz) There should be a law that says if you play retro games, it has to be on a TV with a woodgrain finish.

[@StephanS]

Ah..... my first PC Dos Game. Still love it and have the old disc laying around. This one really turned me into a Gamer!

[@LGR]

Well... that's a bit concerning, but I'm still looking forward to it. Frick, I looked forward to Worms 3D and I survived, so I think I'll be fine :)

[@aaronmicalowe]

I've played just about every version of lemmings that came out for the Amiga, including all the special versions that normally came out each Christmas. The original took me 3 days to complete on all difficulties and I had to fake an illness to skip school by sucking a bottle onto my cheek and creating a bruise then pretending I'd had a bad fall. Amazingly my parents fall for it :D Never relied on any guide either, because back then there was no internet for anyone outside of a research lab.

[@Shot97]

Oh, I get it now. I just checked out your channel, I can see that you are absolutely in love with FM...alright, I get it. I do have to say I really don't think a majority of people agree with you thats its better, but I do absolutely respect your opinion. I see you feel very passionately about it.

[@Shot97]

I love how London has preserved most of their buildings, and they have laws regulating how tall they can be. They genuinely care about their history. Over here perfectly good buildings get demolished to build something that looks newer. Perfectly good trees get demolished to build miles of parking lots! I live around Detroit, and we probably have the oldest preserved buildings around, simply because no one wants to build anything new here! haha! But honestly they dont need to! Their beautiful!

[@LGR]

New Lemmings games keep getting canceled, unfortunately. But I'm freaking psyched to check out Worms Revolution later this year!

[@kihro]

i loved this game i miss the 80's/90's.

[@RediffusionMusic]

I also seen you were playing this on an NCR machine… Dundee software on Dundee hardware - love it!!

[@KentuckyRanger]

Back in 1990 I purchased this game! I didn't have a computer, but my friend did...

[@JimPlaysGames]

Yay Lemmings. Great review and some interesting information about it's development that I did not know. Glad you mentioned the fact that the suicidal lemmings thing is a myth. Also they're not bipedal and have no talent for bridge building.

[@NJRoadfan]

For the home user, 16-bit micros like the Amiga, Atari ST, or Apple IIgs were much more affordable and more game oriented. IBM's PS/2 offerings in 1987 were priced well above what a household could afford and didn't include any sound outside of a PC speaker. Any IBM PC compatible priced for home use at the time was usually XT class with CGA/Tandy and later EGA video and in very rare cases, an Adlib sound card. Compared to them, the Amiga, ST, and IIgs were miles ahead in capabilities.

[@richkawaiipikachu]

Remember playing this on the Amiga. Awesome computer Awesome game. Also I currently own a version for the PS2 which has all the original levels with updated graphics.

[@Kizzabell]

I loved this game when I was a kid. It's awesome! I need to find a download for it.

[@LGR]

Oh yes they were, don't take that away from me! :D

[@NJRoadfan]

There was also an unofficial port to the Apple IIgs by French programming group Brutal Deluxe. It borrowed the best parts from the other platform ports to create an optimized version. From their site: graphics from Atari ST, MIDI music from DOS (converted to SynthLab tunes), and digital sound effects from the Macintosh and even some bug fixes.

[@funkophone]

Ah memories. I remember having this game on a great stonking blue 3 1/2 floppy and thinking to myself: "Blue floppy disks? We're living in the future now, man."

[@bruceaskew2107]

this game kicked ass .. thanks for the memories

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

Great game i used and still play on amiga. The most difficult port was on C64 due memory sprites cpu limitation. State of the art though there too. Great review mate.

[@Shot97]

I don't have much experience with the IIgs,I am subscribed to a couple channels that do videos on them.They do have good sound,and were affordable.However they definitely did not have as many games released for it.From 85-94 most games came out on the Amiga.So as you point out with the extremely costly PC setups,I think the Amiga was the best bang for your buck.

[@RetroGamer2399]

Iv been waiting for you to do a review of lemmings for awhile =D

[@NJRoadfan]

A Model 30 with dual floppies (No HD) and monitor would set one back $2000 in 1987. Most home PC compatibles like the aforementioned Tandy 1000 series would cost around $1000 or so. The Roland MT-32 and LAPC were very costly when new, $850 or so, well above the cost of a household to purchase for game use. Keep in mind all these prices don't take inflation into account so roughly double those $ amounts for today. Besides, Paula was already bested by the Ensoniq 5503DOC found in the Apple IIgs.

[@UrbanBassMovement]

Great game, had this on the Amiga 500, bought the new HD version on PSN, nowhere near as good, lost all the charm of the original, some games just look better in low rez, btw, your easily the best and most in-depth game reviewer i have ever watched.

[@isorSOT]

I remember when i played it on my Genesis, this game is so amazing!

[@Trusteft]

Exactly, they felt real and like own little world. More so that even "god" games of the past, like Populous, Megalomania etc. The animation and attention to detail was awesome. And the music, I have to give music credit too, it felt so....festive lol.

[@nathansyupp1137]

I played for hours on the Super Nintendo when I was a kid. Never even seen a computer back then. Thought that was the first until years later.

[@JoeBee9]

I really like that song in the intro! I believe it's called "Downwardly Mobile Lemmings" which is from the "Oh No! More Lemmings" soundtrack.

[@LGR]

Nope! Worms was though, which was inspired by Lemmings somewhat.

[@LGR]

If Sony had released the PSP version for iOS and mobile devices as was planned in 2010, I'd have been one darned happy Lemmings player. Sucks it got canceled, still hoping for a proper mobile version as I imagine it'd be perfect for touch screens.

[@etherraichu]

I had Lemmings on Mac. It was great but the copy protection! Every time you started the game would tell you to look in the instruction manual and find a specific code, on a list of them under lemming skill symbols. They were all in this shiny, neon green font that couldn't be photocopied.

[@laffer35]

Loved this game, had it on Amiga... the Amiga version had a cool 2 player option btw, if you had two mice connected.

[@Ron-np9rp]

The soundtrack for the Lemmings is burnt into my brain so badly that I sometimes hear it when I sleep. Sometimes in the middle of the night I wake up and all I can hear is that first level theme over and over. I actually think that warning at the front of the box isn't a joke.

[@barefootanimist]

This was such a great way to pass the time!

[@LGR]

What, are you a Time Lord or something? I can say for certain that the GTA we know today would not have happened if it weren't for DMA Design's success with Lemmings. It's what popularized them and got the attention of R*. Sure, someone would've made some kind of open world crime game eventually, but it wouldn't have been Grand Theft Auto. I'd suggest reading the book "Jacked" by David Kushner to get a clearer understanding of what all happened to result in the unique experience that is GTA.

[@JoeBee9]

Also, I do have to say that I actually like the music for the DOS version better than the other ports. They somehow managed to make it catchier because the adlib instrumentation is more appealing in my opinion (although not with all songs unfortunately). Also, wonder if anyone has heard of or tried the game gear port. The Menace, Shadow of the Beast, etc levels were all replaced with special "Sega" themed ones.

[@markvergeer]

Excellent review as usual!