Or is this Lemmings game conversion an elaborate prank?
If you were around in the 1990s then you would know Lemmings. A cute arcade puzzler requiring a very strategic mind, the game was published by Psygnosis in 1991, and developed by DMA Designs.
While considered an Amiga game, Lemmings eventually appeared on pretty much every platform you can name, even the Commodore 64.
Now, if you’re like me and once owned (or still own) a Commodore 64, you’ll probably look down your nose at the Commodore 16 and its Plus/4 revision. But in recent years, this stripped back, cheaper system has had a few surprising games.
Could Lemmings be the latest?
Footage has emerged of a demo of Lemmings running on a Plus/4. Show this to anyone in 1991 and you’d be dismissed as a crank (albeit one with excellent graphic animation skills).
But in 2023, things are quite different. While this has been written off by some as an elaborate April Fools joke, something about that explanation seems off. An update on Games That Weren’t reveals that a 1993 technical preview of the Plus/4 version was released online back in 2020. This is how it looked:
It’s not a joke: Lemmings on the Commodore Plus/4 is real.
(After all, who would make that joke? How could the five people likely to find it amusing be tracked down?)
No, this seems to be the real deal, but while it also seems to be still in development, it could be a while before (if ever) we see a finished Lemmings for the Plus/4. But it’s happening, with the game rewritten and relying on screen memory. Click the video below to see the difference:
In the meantime, you can download the Lemmings preview or play it in your browser.
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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.