Lemmings Collection

[toodlebug500]

Hey all! Really happy to have found a community of Lemmings fans! I first played Lemmings on a friends Atari ST and my first first Lemmings game was actually the CD-i version, which I played to death. I picked up Lemmings for Windows with Paintball eventually and hadn't played the game for a while before I recently rediscovered it again (not that I ever actually forgot Lemmings, who could!).

I think it was the cover of a recent issue of Retro Gamer that sparked my interest again, shortly after I found myself playing the PS3 version one afternoon and fell in love with the game again, I began to research the different versions of the game and thought it was about time that I bought the Amiga original for my A500 that I'd picked up a few years prior. I then caught the collecting bug and starting hunting out the different versions of game for all the consoles and computers I own. Being a keen gamer/collector of all things retro already, this became a massive undertaking due i part to the amount of systems in possession. I've been enjoying immensely over the past few months now collecting the games and it's been great to replay the games on the different formats and compare and contrast.

Here's my collection at present (excluding merchandise).

Lemmings Game Collection by Tom Parry, on Flickr

Really looking forward to chatting here about one of my favourite games of all time.

Tom

[IchoTolot]

That's a lot of Lemming games! Impressive!

I myself only played and owned original PC versions of the games: Lemmings + Oh No More Lemmings (DOS + later the "Lemmings for Windows" version), Lemmings 2+3, Lemmings 3D, Lemmings Paintball and Lemmings Revolution.

The additional platform exclusive levels I only played through with NeoLemmix and Lemmini custom packs copying them.

But I must admit I am not a dedicated gatherer of versions type of Lemmings fan and more of a level/pack-creator and custom pack player

[607]

Wow, nice!
How's the Gameboy Lemmings? I've been considering getting it for a really long time, but I'm not sure if it's worth it, as I'm more a gamer than a collector. I do like to collect things, but if I buy something, I want to have fun with it, so if the Gameboy Lemmings is considered a bad port, I won't get it.

[exit]

From watching videos on youtube, it looks to be quite unappealing. It's in a four color grayscale and seems to be quite laggy. Not sure why you'd want to play it.

[ccexplore]

It's not terrible per se given that it's on the Gameboy (so obviously some limitations automatically apply like no colors and slower speed), but even with tempered expectations, I think it will still likely disappoint compare to say eg. the Sega Game Gear version, and certainly to all the versions on more technologically capable platforms like non-handheld consoles and PCs.  If you don't mind the legality of it, it shouldn't be too hard to download and try out on an emulator, that's how I experienced that port.

Here are some screenshots of some of the earlier levels in that port:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080125053450/http://www.deveria.com/alexis/lemmings/lemmings/gb/gbcodes.html

Unsurprisingly, a lot of the levels are basically same as the ones in the PC etc. versions; this is pretty much expected across any ports of the game.  You do get some unique levels in this port but IMHO, nothing noteworthy.  Instead of 30 levels per rating, there are just 25 for a total of 100 levels.

Due to likely technical limitations, things tend to move slightly slower compare to regular ports on the PC and non-handheld consoles.  Also most actions are aligned to a tile grid, meaning that when you assign a skill, it doesn't take effect immediately until the lemming has walked and reached the next tile (if you try out the game you'd know what I mean; some people experience it as "laggy" but it really isn't once you realize what is actually going on and adjust your playing accordingly).  And angles of mining and builder are 45 degrees.  So nothing major, but it will certainly feel a little diminished compare with other ports.  Experiencing it on an emulator is probably a good way to help you decide.

(To be quite honest though, you still actually play anything on the Gameboy in this day and age? )

[grams88]

That is quite impressive Toodlebug. A long time ago I had the lemmings for windows and paintball which I think were the same disk but it got scratched to bits and eventually it never worked what so ever but I did get another copy as I felt that it had to be done.

[Clam]

I think it was the cover of a recent issue of Retro Gamer that sparked my interest again

Here's the cover in question (I presume )



Very impressive. Bonus points for the dirt tileset (notoriously hard to use) and the sideways climbers

[toodlebug500]

Thanks for checking out the collection

That is said Magazine cover! Taking that issue camping with me today, never bought it when I originally saw it but once I started collecting had to pick it up, also the recent Lemmings Ports book, which should arrive in the post today but I don't think it will arrive before I leave sadly.

I've been playing the Game Boy version recently and I can't really recommend it. At first it seems ok but as the levels get more complex the game's flaws become more apparent and make the game rather difficult to play. For example there's a delay when assigning a skill to a Lemming, which can make things rather tricky. Also the Builders and Miners have a different angle which they build and mine at respectively, which will take some getting used to. The visual depictions of building and mining also refresh in chunks, so rather then seeing each step of a bridge being built or a mine being dug you suddenly see that the lemming has built serval steps or dug further down than you expected.

So there's a lot of adjusting to do and things are rather small and tricky to see and when several Lemmings clump together they start to disappear.Despite the issues it's playable and the musics fine but the core gameplay takes a bit of a hit in the downscaling, particular levels are just really hard to play.There's also less Lemmings on screen.

[607]

Okay, thanks for your thoughts on the Gameboy version.
I don't have a Gameboy, but rather a GBA SP Tribal Edition. Gameboy, GBC and GBA games can be played on it, and it has great feel, colours, and lighting. Probably one of the best handhelds out there. But anyway: judging from your thoughts, I think I'd rather shift my attention and money to some other interesting games before going for this one. But if you ever see a cheap copy that ships to Europe, I'd be pleased to here. I wonder if the GBC version is any better.

[toodlebug500]

I'd say if you find it cheap, it's considered a reasonable port despite the flaws and it's not a particularly expensive game by any means. I'd certainly recommend it over the Game Boy Color version, which is apparently worse, more expensive and doesn't have any of the original music!

I'd agree with you on the merits of the Game Boy, it's a fantastic handheld, especially the SP. If you're interested, my friend Mat does reviews of Game Boy games over at https://www.youtube.com/user/Boyographic

My favourite portable Lemmings would have to be the PSP version, it's very nice indeed!

[namida]

In terms of portable versions, from what I can gather the Game Gear version is more or less identical to the Master System version. That version was my first introduction to Lemmings, and definitely well done; it's missing a few levels from the original (but on the flipside, has new ones to replace them), and some of them lose significant important details of the original versions (Tricky 19, Mayhem 16/27, etc), and no level has more than 20 lemmings; but as a whole, especially given the limits of the system it's on, it was really well done!

[toodlebug500]

Agreed namida, the Master System version is great. And from what I've played of the Game Gear version I'd be inclined to agree with you, if only my Game Gear worked properly, then I could actually play Lemmings on it, as it is I get a few levels in and it turns itself off.

[namida]

You sure that's actually a fault? From what I hear, Game Gear isn't too impressive in terms of battery life...

I remember reading about exactly how the Master System pulled off some of its feats. You might've heard (or even played) the NES version; this is a console of similar power to the Master System. But, it has limitations similar to the Gameboy version - tile based, 45 degree bridges, etc. I won't go into too much detail here, but there's some genius workarounds going on in the Master System version to avoid similar limitations there.

[Flopsy]

Embarassingly, the Game Boy port of Lemmings was my 2nd ever port of Lemmings after the Amiga version. It was many, many steps backwards!

The NES version is exactly the same as this port pretty much apart from a few mechanic differences. Levels are exactly the same, just color palette differences.

If I recall correctly, Mayhem 4 on Game Boy Lemmings is unsolvable, using the NES Mayhem 4 solution, the climbers just fall down the other side of the wall they climbed and go splat.
I've never been able to solve the level so I just have the Mayhem 5 code written down so I skip it.

It's a nice collection above, a lot of the most popular ports are up there. It's too bad some of the more recent Lemmings games are download only now and you are unable to collect a material release, feels like the end of an era.

[ccexplore]

It's been a while since I played the GameBoy and NES versions, I'll have to go back and see what Mayhem 4's like.  I was able to solve every level in both versions, though I certainly will believe you when you said a solution in NES version doesn't work on GameBoy version, since I know I've encountered a few myself.

The NES version is actually worse in some ways.  It is mostly very similar to the GameBoy version, but the lemmings walk a bit faster if I recall correctly  And there was one level on NES I particularly remember where I think it has high save percentage (much lower on the GB version) and a high effective release rate, except the high release rate doesn't match the low release rate number shown on the pre-level screen (suggesting it was probably a bug and got set higher than intended), making the level pure hell to execute (nearly to the point of impossible)*

Those two versions was interesting to me as a curiosity and a somewhat-sadistic-at-times challenge, but yeah, not exactly the ports to recommend for normal, fun play.

*Some of the details described may be slightly off due to memory from long ago, the main point is that there is a noticeable discrepancy in one of the numbers shown on the pre-level screen vs the actual effect experienced when you play the level, and the overall result was a nearly impossible level that probably wasn't intended as such.