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After the release of the original Lemmings, the series went off in a few different directions, including changing the way you controlled the lemmings entirely for the third game. This fourth game, the first time DMA Design wouldn’t be involved with the series, brings the gameplay back to the basics set by the first game. You’ve got the original eight abilities, like Blocker, Climber, and Floater, along with a new power, Turner. The levels are in 3D now, and the path the lemmings take often splits into forks, so you’ll want to place a turner down so the lemmings will go the way you want them to. The 3D works fairly well, even if you might have trouble getting used to controlling the camera. The way the camera system works is that you’ve got a bunch of cameras set up across the level, and you’re free to switch between them and rotate their view at any point. A few levels have places where the camera can’t go, however, and for these, you’ll need to use Virtual Lemming. This will put you in a first-person perspective of the lemming you use it on, and you’ll need this in places where your camera won’t reach. Overall, besides the 3D, this basically plays like classic Lemmings. There are some really difficult puzzles as you go on, and there’ll be plenty of times when you’ll need to blow the lemmings up and start again. The game also gives you a few tutorial levels to get used to the new 3D elements, which is good if you’re more used to the two-dimensional games. If you’re a fan of the series, the change in dimension is definitely worth getting used to.

On the SNES, Mega Man X was probably one of the best action platformers you could find for the system, and a fantastic update of the original series. It updated the concept of the original games, where you would play through a series of levels, killing bosses to get their powers for use on later bosses, and gave the new Mega Man some extra abilities, as well as adding more of a focus on the story. At the first glance, the game plays rather similarly to the NES versions. You’ve still got the buster, which lets you shoot off rapid fire volleys or more powerful charged shots at the enemy robots. X does get a few new moves, though, like being able to cling to walls and jump off of them, which he can use to climb up horizontal surfaces. There’s also special upgrades hidden across the level, which do things like increasing X’s maximum health, giving him the ability to break certain blocks, or dash across the ground. And of course, at the end of each stage, you’ll come across a boss with their own power you’ll be able to use for yourself. An interesting touch is that when you clear certain stages, others will change slightly, sometimes opening up hidden areas. The DOS version is fairly close to the SNES original, with a very nice feature letting you save your game to disk instead of using passwords. Unfortunately, the MIDI music sounds a lot worse compared to the SNES’s sound chip, and the Ride Armour mechs that X could ride around in are gone entirely. Overall, you’d probably be better off just playing the Super Nintendo version, if you happen to have one. But, if you don’t, it’s hardly an awful port, especially compared to the horrendous Mega Man games for DOS that came before it.

In One Must Fall, you take control of one of 10 giant robots (11, counting the playable final boss), piloted by one of ten characters each with their own agenda for fighting. Since the robots are controlled by brain waves, there’s nobody actually in them, you’re free to smash them up as hard as you want. You can even pull off fatalities on your defeated foes, which, since they’re robots, means that this is a great game for any age. You have one button for punching, and one for kicking, the strength of which is determined by the direction you’re holding. The controls, simple as they are, work great, and it’s easy to pull off combos just like in Street Fighter with enough practice. And of course, you’ve got a good assortment of special moves for each robot to make them unique. There’s also a neat feature where you can be attacked by certain elements of the arena, like fighter jets, or spikes that pop out of the background. If you prefer a more traditional match, however, you can turn these off. Besides the arcade and versus modes, there’s also a tournament mode. Here, you take control of a newcomer who uses money you get from winning fights to upgrade the speed, strength, and skill of your robot. Doing especially well will reveal hidden opponents (including a certain other Epic character) for you to fight, which can earn you secret upgrades if you beat them. Even better, you can save your profile to disk and put it up against another players to see how your robot stacks up against theirs. The game also contains several advanced gameplay options that can be turned on and off at will, including Rehit Mode, which completely overhauls the game’s combo system, allowing huge juggle combos to be performed on your opponent. One Must Fall is probably the best fighting game you’ll find for DOS, and it absolutely wipes the floor with any Street Fighter port you’ll find for it.