On the level
The early levels aren’t too demanding and I remember completing these with comparative ease and very few fatalities. These starter levels are a good introduction to the game and, after playing for ten minutes, I was hooked. Lemmings has four difficulty levels, fun, tricky, taxing and mayhem. I remember the mayhem levels being über-challenging, with lemmings being released at a merciless rate.
Compulsive ramblers
Once I had rescued the required number of lemmings I could advance to the next level. Amiga knew I didn’t want to have to re-play each level every time I came back to the game, so at the end of each level I am also given a code for the level I have just completed. Of course, this got hacked and I remember these codes getting passed out.
Cheating saves lives, apparently
The graphics and sound effects were charming, with my green-haired, blue jumper wearing lemmings making cute yells of 'Lets go!' as I began each level and 'Oh no!' just before exploding.
Lemmings is the perfect example of a game that has a brilliantly simple premise, excellently executed, leaving me infuriated and addicted.
RockStar's hairy roots
After reading this I know you’re going to spend next Saturday trawling through your nearest car boot sale for a second hand Amiga – which will undoubtedly be bundled with a copy of Lemmings – to again experience one of the best computer games ever. ®
Reg Hardware will be revisiting memorable titles from gaming's illustrious past every fortnight
Developer DMA Design
Platforms Amiga, Atari ST, Sinclair Spectrum, PC
Year of release 1991
More Info Original copies of Lemmings can still be found for ready money on eBay and retro gaming enthusiast sites for around £10-15, with collectible editions showing at silly prices. Unofficial DMA Design Lemmings history site. Lemmings for PS2 and PSP info here. ®
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Lemmings
COMMENTS
AI in game is terrible
The AI of units in this game is terrible,they just walk right off cliffs and other environmental hazards like they don't even see them.
Lemmings History
Disclaimer: I am one of the original DMA Design guys - I'm one of the faces in the Lemmings end screen. I kind of doubt the "drunk old dude" story in Edinburgh was real, none of the guys who developed the game were remotely like that and I'm pretty sure the animator was teatotal. I've even had an experience where some stranger in a pub told *me* that he created Lemmings. Sure.
I remember when the "Satanic" letter came around, purely because the level was built in the shape of "666". Further irony, the level designer on that one - Mike Dailly, who happened to create Lemmings in the first place - is rather more devout than many.
Anyway, Mike's DMA history site is at www.dmadesign.org and my own DMA site (newer and not as much there at the moment) is at www.dmadesign.net
Steve Hammond
Lemmings is sinfully good fun
I worked in the games industry at the beginning of the nineties, and one of the more amusing things stuck to our office's wall-of-fun was a copy of a letter that was doing the rounds of the games companies, passed on by various guys who know a guy at DMA Design.
The first three-quarters of the letter explained how the writer had bought Lemmings for their two sons, how much they loved it for its "educational possibilities" and how wonderful the whole game was...
...Then it got a bit excitable.
Apparently everything was fine until they got to the Hell-themed levels. Satanic content? Not actually the problem. The real problem was that you were saving the Lemmings from Hell, and only through the acceptance of Our Lord Jesus Christ can you be saved from eternal damnation and by rescuing the Lemmings from their presumably justified fate, DMA Design were assuming the powers of GOD HIMSELF and risking their very own immortal souls. But other than that, it was a splendid game and the writer hoped very much that there would be a sequel, with his comments taken on-board.
It should go without saying that the letter came from a location a wee bit to the west of the UK.
It should also go without saying that DMA Design paid great heed to the fellow's comments and none of their subsequent games have been anything but good old-fashioned uncontroversial family fun.
DHTML Lemmings
No need for an Amiga ... www.elizium.nu/scripts/lemmings/
I'm sure most people here know that already though...
Ok so how many people dug a pit to trap them all before suiciding them ? ;)
Awesome game but did get hard towards the end.
Plus this was back in the day when few people had the internet so no falling back to google and youtube for guides... if you were lucky there was a mag guide or your mates knew what to do.
