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Lemmings

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Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time. The behavior of the creatures in Lemmings is based on the supposed behavior of real lemmings, who by urban legend are believed to go on migrati...

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Developer
Ocean Software

Released on
1992

Size
1 Player

Version
NES

Requirements
Nintendo Entertainment System

Downloads
Platform

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Lemmings was one of the most popular computer games of its time, and several gaming magazines gave it some of their highest review scores at the time.

The behavior of the creatures in Lemmings is based on the supposed behavior of real lemmings, who by urban legend are believed to go on migrations en masse that eventually lead to disaster. The basic objective of the game is to guide lemmings through a number of obstacles to a designated exit. In order to save the required number of lemmings to win, one must determine how to assign a limited number of eight different skills to specific lemmings that allow the selected lemming to alter the landscape, to affect the behavior of other lemmings, or to clear obstacles in order to create a safe passage for the rest of the lemmings.

Lemmings

Overview & History

Originally conceptualized by DMA Design and released by Psygnosis in 1991, *Lemmings* made its way to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1992, courtesy of Sunsoft. Transporting the legendary puzzle-platformer to Nintendo's aging 8-bit hardware was a monumental technical feat. The premise is delightfully bleak yet charming: dozens of mindless, emerald-haired rodents continuously drop from a trapdoor and march blindly forward to their doom unless you intervene. Armed with an assortment of specialized skills, your mission is to guide a designated percentage of these suicidal critters safely across hostile, multi-tiered caverns to an exit hatch before time expires.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The NES version brilliantly adapts the mouse-driven PC classic into a functional D-pad experience. You navigate a crosshair across meticulously crafted, side-scrolling subterranean stages, selecting individual lemmings to bestow life-saving occupations. The toolkit features iconic abilities: assign a Climber to scale vertical walls, a Floater to deploy a tiny umbrella for safe descents, a Blocker to halt and turn around fellow marchers, or a Bomber to sacrifice a unit and blast through terrain. You can also command lemmings to carve horizontally as Builders or vertically downward as Diggers and Miners. With 120 uniquely structured levels spanning fun to "Taxing" difficulties, success demands split-second timing, precise resource management, and strategic terraforming of the puzzle environment.

Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move crosshair across the screen
Action Keys: Select skill and assign task to targeted Lemming / Fast-forward action
Enter: Start / Pause