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?

[@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]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@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.

[@LGR]

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

[@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

[@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

[@WingsofSuicide]

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

[@LGR]

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

[@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

[@LGR]

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

[@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

[@markofsaints5319]

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

[@tigershark132]

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

[@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

[@rockmanzeromodernday941]

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.

[@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.

[@kihro]

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

[@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.

[@LGR]

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

[@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

[@Souls4Roca]

Pikmin: "Papa is that you?"

[@AudreyDurden]

some of the BEST music EVER on a video game

[@calilovett2063]

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

[@melisslacour15]

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

[@howrylo]

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

[@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.

[@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...

[@bizzhat]

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

[@LGR]

Yup! I hope to review it someday.

[@markvergeer]

Excellent review as usual!

[@marshmllodragon]

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

[@AnubisDark]

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

[@RetroGamer2399]

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

[@AdriftForWeeks]

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

[@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.

[@tazgamerplays]

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

[@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]

Played on my NCR Comten 386SX.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@thelowmein9143]

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

[@waffleless]

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

[@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 :)

[@concertinamadrigals4058]

This was such a great way to pass the time!

[@ChairmanMeow1]

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

[@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.

[@GrandPrixDecals]

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

[@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

[@bruceaskew2107]

this game kicked ass .. thanks for the memories

[@KillingDeadThings]

This game took over my life back in 91.

[@Chaggy1978]

Yes same here! I was addicted.

[@mjonesy0007]

Oh man I was waiting the entire video for you to use the nuke!

[@sulos4646]

As child i always saw Alf in the game... The one special exit...

[@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

[@RediffusionMusic]

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

[@em84c]

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

[@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. :)

[@basicallysnake]

Take a shot each time you hear LGR say lemmings

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@GuitarAudiologist]

For what it's worth, the music was quite a bit better on the Amiga port. Playing Lemmings on my Amiga 500 was one of my first memories playing a computer game!

[@sentient_thumbnail]

So glad I found this series -- thanks for going through these! Did you ever play The Humans? Think it was released in 1992 for PC and was ported to just about everything at the time. I found it at a garage sale in 1994 but couldn't get it to run on my Win95 machine.

[@isorSOT]

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

[@LGR]

What is your source? Because every place I've looked, from fan websites to the dates on my Amiga 1.0 disks to Rockstar/DMA Design's own records to the biography covering David Jones and Rockstar titled "Jacked", says Lemmings for the Amiga was first released on February 14, 1991. I can't find a single reference to 1990, other than saying that's when they were coding the game.

[@tarrker]

I loved this game. I wish we could get another one like it. :)

[@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.

[@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.

[@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!

[@Stickywicket]

I had it on the Mega Drive. Boy howdy do I love the music in that game.

[@martinmeeser8312]

the best game ever! I was in school just thinking of how to solve these levels

[@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.

[@korblborp]

Going out with a bang!

[@LGR]

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

[@qwertyb18]

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

[@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.

[@derekprice9998]

I first played it on the Amstrad CPC 464 and then the Commodore C64 version whilst not the best versions they do hold some fond memories of being infuriated but at the same time glued to the game :P

[@BlooditeDrakan]

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

[@-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.)

[@Singular8ty]

Strangest Lemmings spin-off ever: Lemmings Paintball.... At least from the ones I know of....

[@yourfalsehope745]

As well as a bunch of others youve reviewed. I saw you have mechwarrior 2 but cannot find a video on it in your collection... was my favorite growing up. Would be curious to see it again

[@KoRnDuDe19886]

Dude! you're a video game legend!! :D

[@LGR]

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

[@IronSmithReviews]

Great review LG! I loved this game on the Amiga 500 when I was a kid. Will you be reviewing the sequel? Cheers fr all the great reviews :-)

[@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.

[@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.

[@KentuckyRanger]

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

[@J0elPeters]

I love this game. Used to play it all the time on Mac OS 7 xD

[@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.

[@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.

[@SnakePlissken73]

One of my all-time favorite games. X-Mas Lemmings is also nice. I dunno if there was a PC version. I loved the music (on Amiga).

[@MrPotatoShed]

Nice! I have a CD version of the game somewhere with a fully digital soundtrack. It's actually pretty catchy!

[@jmorzan]

Lemmings, cuanta nostalgia!!!!! como me acuerdo en mi antigua computadora 386.

[@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.