It was WAY ahead of it's time! Atari Lynx review!
Written: Jan 23 '02 (Updated Sep 27 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: The Atari Lynx is 16-bit, has real 3D hardware as well!
Cons: Eats my batteries in 3-4 hours, most games are fairly average.
The Bottom Line: I can't recommend the Lynx over the Gameboy Advance but if you loved those old Atari games from the arcade like Stun Runner then I would look into it.
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| StarSoldier1's Full Review: Atari Lynx |
ATARI LYNX (Fall 1989-1993)
The first ever colour portable system and it's 16-bit too!
"You can tell Atari is really angry now, eh?" They released a system far superior to the weak black and white Gameboy by their arch rival Nintendo, the system was called the Atari Lynx. The games for the Lynx looked absolutely incredible because of the Lynx's powerful 16-bit processor and cool 3D hardware capabilities (which was pretty amazing considering it was made in 1989). Atari was certainly ready to crush Nintendo's Gameboy in the late 80's but Atari's bad luck (like their 5200, 7800, and XE failures) would continue.
Problem number one: There just wasn't enough Lynx games to go around or the big company names like Capcom or Konami to help keep the Lynx alive in the long run. Also the size of the Lynx here is hardly considered portable anymore, its the size of four Gameboy Colour's or four Gameboy Advances (about the same size as the Sega Game Gear). If that wasn't enough the Atari Lynx could eat your battery life in under four hours, and it needs six AA's to run it too.
Although the Lynx had it problems it also had some truly unique feature like, anybody who is Left Handed will love the lynx's flip screen feature, so the unit can be reserved (name any system that supports 'Lefties') just by pressing down the option 2 button. You can also save your battery life without turning off the system by just shutting off the screen, which is great because most Lynx games do not support any back up memory and this lets you take a break from the game if needed.
Common Lynx games:
Steel Talons
Xybots
Rarest Lynx games:
Ninja Gaiden I & III
Raiden
S.I.M.I.S.
T-Tris
StarSoldier's Top Ten Lynx games:
(I only own a few of these games so some bad ones made the list too)
#1. KLAX
This is a excellent tile puzzle game with digital voices and some nice 3D graphics too. Line up colour tiles to earn points and finish your level objectives.
2. BLUE LIGHTNING
This 3D flight simulation looks and plays amazing. The Mode 7 effects are well done and background fields look really detailed. It plays similar to Sega's Afterburner but the speed is adjustable. There is no game music though so it isn't perfect.
3. NINJA GAIDEN
This plays like the original arcade game and NOT the old cheap-hits NES version, which I was never a fan of. The style of the game is similar to Double Dragon and not a action platformer. This is a very cool game!
4. MS. PAC MAN
5. NINJA GAIDEN III The ancient ship of Doom
6. STUN RUNNER
7. RYGAR
8. DOUBLE DRAGON
9. QIX
10. RAIDEN
Most Disappointing:
KUNG FOOD
The Worst:
BATMAN RETURNS
Most Underrated:
NINJA GAIDEN
Bottomline: Remember all those jealous Gameboy owners?
Buy a Lynx just to see what the first ever colour portable unit actually looks like and to see what Ninja Gaiden was like in the arcades. There's still some hardcore game developers that still make games for the ol' Lynx, visit www.telegames.com and see for yourself. If you're a fan of those classic Atari arcade games like S.T.U.N. Runner, Steel Talons, Paperboy, Klax, and others then don't miss your chance to play them on the go.
Atari Lynx overall rating: 65/100
http://www.videogames101.com
Starsoldier 2003 Ryan Genno
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Ryan Genno
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