I just got the PSP version of Lemmings really cheap, so in honor of one of my favorite 2-D puzzler game series, I thought I’d give a brief rundown on each game in the line. Let’s go!

I’ve been mostly a console gamer, but there have been three times in my life that I preferred PC games over consoles, believe it or not. The first time was when we got our Apple ][+. It was our first computer and I was about in Kindergarten or so. That computer provided a better arcade at home experience than the Atari 2600 did at the time. While neighbors were complaining about the crappy version of 2600 Pac-Man, I was happily playing Pac-Man clones that was pretty close to the arcade, like Tax-Man and Snack Attack. There were other great Apple games I loved as well, such as Spare Change and Aquatron.

The next time I was really into PC games was when LucasArts (then LucasFilm Games) was making all sorts of fun point-and-click adventures. My favorites were Zack McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Maniac Mansion, Sam & Max, etc. Other companies did some good ones, too, later, like The Adventures of Willy Beamish, which was pretty close to what you’d get with an interactive cartoon.

The last time I was really into PC games was the summer before the SNES came out. NES games were slim pickings by then, but a trip to the old PC game store Babbage’s saved me from summer boredom.

Lemmings
When I saw this on display back then at the store, I was floored. Here was a creative (at the time) puzzle game on the PC with cute characters (I love the Lemmings, they look like Fraggles). Back then, game stores would set up PCs with the latest game on it for people to try, which I guess they don’t do that now. The Lemmings display even had a cardboard cutout that I so wanted to steal. But don’t worry, I would never do that. Anyway, I knew I had to have that Lemmings game, so I saved up my money and got it. I was disappointed that the PC Lemmings didn’t look at good as the Amiga version that was on display at the store. Luckily the SNES version that I got later was based on the Amga version, with the better graphics, sound, and awesome yet brutal two player mode.

For those who don’t know what Lemmings is, it’s a puzzle game where you have a group of dumb green-haired critters called Lemmings who you have to get to the exit, but the Lemmings are so dumb they’ll walk off of cliffs and into danger. But you can give Lemmings skills to help them overcome these obstacles, so you have to figure out where and how to build bridges, climb walls, etc. Lemmings was actually somewhat violent, as traps can decapitate them and you can even make Lemmings blow up and pieces of them fly everywhere. Now, since the Lemmings are only a few pixels, the violence isn’t too graphic. Interesting to note that the same people who make GTA games now, they made Lemmings back then. Lemmings is probably one of the games that have been ported to the most consoles, alongside others like Tetris.

Winter Lemmings
Back when Shareware was popular, some games would have holiday themed expansions with snowy levels and stuff. Jazz Jackrabbit was one such game that did this (that was an awesome game, I wouldn’t mind seeing that on Xbox Live). They also did it with Lemmings. The Lemmings wore Santa hats, the levels were all snowy, and Christmas music played in the background. I’m not really sure how I got this game, but I know it was pretty short.

Oh No! More Lemmings
This was pretty much an expansion pack for the first game. New levels and graphics and music, and that’s pretty much it.

Lemmings 2: The Tribes
The real sequel to Lemmings had 12 different themed Lemmings (called tribes) with levels to match. So you had space levels for the space tribe, circus levels for the circus tribe, etc. Lemmings 2 also carried over Lemmings you saved from the last level, so if you only saved two in the first stage, you’d have only two in the next. The problem with Lemmings 2 is it had too much. Part of the charm of the first game was the simplicity. You only had 12 skills to work with in the first Lemmings game, but in the second you had 60 skills. But some of these were hard to use, especially the ones where your mouse cursor changed into a fan to blow the Lemmings around. That was hard to do.

Lemmings 2 was one of the first ‘limited edition’ games I bought. For the first run of the game, you got a Lemmings 2 story book that was ripe with British humor. I still have that book. Soon after Lemmings 2 came out, they had a ‘Lemmings fan club’ that I joined, simply so I could get the free Lemmings pin. They had a newsletter, too. This was before the Internet came about. I still have that pin, too. I wish that I had gotten the SNES version of Lemmings 2, though, as it looked much better.

Lemmings Chronicles
I always had a hard time installing Lemmings games on the PC for some reason. So some Lemmings games I didn’t play as much. Such was the case with Lemmings Chronicles, or Lemmings 3. I know it had 3 tribes to work with: Classic, Ninja, and Egyptian. And the graphics were larger and more detailed. And some of the skills you could use were unlimited, like jumping and you didn’t have to blow up Blockers, just change them back to normal. And that’s all I really remember about Chronicles. I didn’t play it as much.

Lemmings 3-D
This was one of the first PlayStation games that I was interested in, but I never did get it because I didn’t get a PSOne until a year or two later. I had the PC one, though, and again, it barely worked on my computer. It had very early rudimentary 3-D graphics and a hard to control camera. Interestingly enough, commercialism was present in Lemmings 3-D because the candy levels had Jelly Belly jellybean signs and the game came with a packet of Jelly Bellies. But I never ate them. I did like the soundtrack to Lemmings 3-D though.

Lemmings Paintball
This really didn’t have much to do with Lemmings at all. It was just paintball with Lemmings. You commanded your Lemmings by clicking your mouse in 3-D overhead isometric playfields. It wasn’t the best game in the world, but I bet it would be kind of fun as an Xbox Live game. I think Lemmings Paintball was an early online game as well.

The Adventures of Lomax
This is the only Lemmings game I don’t own. It was a 2-D platform jumping game and Lomax was a Lemming knight hero. It was a lot like other European 2-D platformers like Rayman. Aside from Lemmings-like characters, I think the only thing this had in common with other Lemmings games is that you could use Lemmings related skills. But I don’t really know. I only played a demo of it on the PC.

Lemmings Revolution
I got this game for less than 20 bucks a few years ago. It brought back the basics of Lemmings gameplay, but it still didn’t seem as fun or inspired. It had 3-D graphics, but the game was 2-D in nature. The puzzles were just wrapped around a cylinder, like some of the mazes in Pac-Man: Adventures in Time. The thing that made me stop playing this game was a beginning cutscene that was like, five minutes long that would happen every time you started the game, and you couldn’t skip it.

Lemmings PSP
And this is the most recent Lemmings game. I didn’t get it right away because I didn’t want to play full price for a game I’ve already got. It’s pretty much the same game as the first one. There are a handful of new levels, but most are just reworks of old levels. The new 3-D graphics are OK, and I like how you can zoom in for more detail. But the music is pretty bland, gone are the charming tunes from the first game. Though they did have remixes of the Can Can Dance and She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain like the first game did. I wonder if they changed the Shadow of the Beast reference levels? Supposedly you can make your own levels and upload and download user designed puzzles like how you could with Mega Man Powered Up. Lemmings PSP is pretty much the same game as before, but it’s still good fun if you’ve never played it. I read somewhere that they may come out with a Lemmings game on the PS3 Online Store. Is that true?

And that’s all I’ve got for now. Do you like Lemmings games? –Cary

Tags: Misc