Already officially ported in 1992, a new Commodore 64 Lemmings port is being previewed by its developer on X, and looks somewhat better than the original…
Lemmings on the C64 was quite the technical feat. Developed in 1992 but held back towards the end of the C64’s initial lifespan, the game naturally didn’t look as good as the Amiga version, but the fact that it featured the same level of playability was enough to raise eyebrows of surprise. Along with Creatures and Turrican 2, it was one of the better titles from the Commodore 64’s final years.
But some graphical sacrifices were made beyond the obvious strip back of 16-bit to 8-bit. Colour scheme aside, the game area was presented in a box, which added a challenge:
There was also a feeling that perhaps a bit more could have been done with the palette, if not the size of the play area. So, when I saw Jörg Karwath (@joeyvc64) was working with some collaborators on a new version of Lemmings on the Commodore 64, I was astounded at how pretty it looked.
This isn’t the first time a new version of Lemmings for C64 has been attempted. A demoscene Lemmings was produced in the mid 1990s — compare and contrast with the above:
Being a demo, it was unplayable, but had superior graphics to the official game.
But not to Jörg Karwath’s version! Here’s another clip:
Will this Lemmings version be released?
Well, it’s too early to say. While Karwath has released several updates on X, it is just a work in progress. He seems to be doing it for fun, and while he has previously released a clone of Mars Patrol for the Commodore 64, there is no indication that this is going to ever appear.
Although obviously, we hope it will materialize one day, it would be great if it could include the maps for the various Lemmings sequels, too.
In the meantime, don’t forget that there is also a version of Lemmings for the Commodore Plus/4.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.