The Lynx was made by game developers who knew what kind of system they wanted. It's incredibly unique: (virtually) infinite sprites, ROM loaded completely into memory for all sorts of tricks, fast RAM, and fairly good math support. In that sense, it's extremely modern. The Lynx hardware documentation is a very fun romp through a passionate team's work, and they don't hold back on having a very personable narrator. Easily my favorite handheld in almost every way.
David Morse, RJ Mical and Dave Needle designed the Commodore Amiga before this. The hardware is similar, the big difference is the slower processor (the Motorola 68000 was in computers, but too expensive and used up too much battery power for a handheld). One of the ironies of the Atari Lynx was that in order to develop the games properly, you really needed to use a Commodore Amiga to get it right. I heard that to complete a lot of these games, Atari had to buy Commodore Amigas to finish the game development.
When I was a kid back in 1992, I went into a Montgomery Ward and they had all the lynx games in the sales bin on clearance for $2.. so I spent my $20 I had saved. Over night my lynx library grew from 2 games to 11 😊
Just a little FYI, the original Lynx first party games did NOT have a curved lip and they were VERY difficult to pull out of the cartridge slot, they had a little bit of a texture on them that was supposed to make them easy to grip, but they weren't. They switched to the curved lip after the Lynx was on the market for a little while and it was a gigantic and welcome improvement! The first editions of some early games have the textured grip and were replaced with curved lips for subsequent production runs. EDIT: added a missing word
I had a Lynx back in the day. It was a good system, especially for the day. It’s problem (IMO) was that about 80% of the games had a very unpolished feel to them. I’ve heard that when it was discontinued everything went deep clearance, and you could pick up the Lynx for $30, and games for as low as $3 each via an ad in the back of a game magazine.
There are certain consoles that I owned when they came out and was (and still am) bitter they never did better. The Lynx was one of them. I used to love playing Qix, Warbirds, and Turbosub.
Nice video! What's disappointing to me is that we got, for the first time ever, legal Atari Lynx emulation courtesy of Digital Eclipse's Atari 50, except there are only six games and absolutely NO Epyx titles in the package. It's like making a Genesis collection without Sonic games.
@@GregsGameRoomunfortunately they couldn't. Epyx went bust during the Lynx's lifetime and had to finish their contracted work for the Atari Lynx before being wound up. Atari were offered the company then, and decided against it. Epyx was then asset stripped and about half of their titles were bought by Bridgestone Media Group, which is basically just a copyright holder company that makes it's money re releasing stuff. The rest of their titles are all over the place. It was actually thought that Atari already owned the Lynx titles they made from the bankruptcy terms until Atari 50 was announced and they clarified they didn't. No one is 100% sure who owns a lot of the Epyx games. System 3 did some Epyx remakes for the DS and they weren't all Bridgestone licenses.
I have never heard Joust called "Among Us Balloon Fight", but will actively refer to it as such from now on. And hearing you compare Shadow of the Beast to Oddworld is definitely a charming comparison. It fits. Also, that hacky sack (footbag) dance was HILARIOUS!
Although there are many games based on the movie “Batman Returns,” the Lynx one actually IS exclusive/unique to the platform. Loved this video, love your library reviews and love the “Yeah, FrameRater” returning. Thanks for your hard work.
A charming little system. It’s basically a mini portable Amiga and for the time that’s really cool. It was basically doomed right from the start against the gargantuan monster that was the Game Boy and that kinda sucks because there’s a lot to like with the Lynx, even if it’s library doesn’t have nearly as many mind blowing hits like Pokemon or the Sonic games. Bless them for trying though, love me some Shanghai and Stun Runner
It had everything but money, third party developers (all of these were developed by Atari or their subcontractors), and good marketing. If they had figured out how to get adults to buy it it would have done a lot better - the library is self-evidently aimed at an older demographic than the Game Boy’s. Also, Tetris.
The Lynx would have done well if made today. David Needle, RJ Mical and David Morse made great hardware, but it was expensive. Today, you can get away with the best technology and still win because there are that many hardcore gamers out there. In the 1980s, Hiroshi Yamauchi and Jack Tramiel sold their products based upon retailing a product for a certain price point, and hardware got watered down just to make the product for that specific price. Epyx wanted to make a good machine and didnt go by that budget, and ran into financial problems as a result. Sam Tramiel (now running Atari after his father semi-retired) needed to sell a new product and this was the result. Atari made their money mostly by suing Epyx into oblivion and taking Epyx intellectual property and Epyx went bankrupt as a result.
They should've made the pinball game into one that uses the systems vertical mode. It just makes more sense, pinball games are taller then they are wide and when holding the lynx vertically you have identical buttons for each thumb.
STUN Runner sadly has a really frustrating bug - you lose speed equally on the outside of a curve as the inside, so it’s the fastest to stay in the center of the track.
That's the problem with "look we've made a portable Amiga in 1989!" It basically ate through batteries because of that. A hell of an achievement though.
Damn it Frame, you might've just convinced me to check out another system like you did with the 3DO. I didn't expect the Lynx's library to be this high quality.
You have no idea how happy I am to see this series return. :) I actually owned a Lynx back in the day. I played the hell out of the Ms. Pac-Man on the Lynx - I was in love with the arcade game and the Lynx version was at the time the closest you could get to playing the arcade game at home. I loved the system . . . but unfortunately the D-pad on mine got jammed and I can't play it anymore. In any case, I think it's a true tragedy that the Lynx didn't do better. It was ridiculously advanced for its time and had some great games, but unfortunately, in addition to the higher price, it didn't have any "system sellers" like Mario or Pokémon.
Thanks for the upload, dude. I've never held a lynx and never will, but your laid back style and humour makes any subject you cover really chill to unwind to.
2:47 Is that a young Tobey Maguire? Also great video as always FR. So happy to hear the "Yeah, Framerater" back. Makes me want to try and submit one if that option is still around.
Watched the vid,i didnt knew atari lynx had such a varied library. Shame tough they dont have saves. Otherwise a console ahead of its time. Great list,hope ngpc is on ur list
Steel Talons is one of the oddest conversions I've ever seen. In fact it was one of the more odd arcade games, in that it was a high-fidelity flight simulator (high fidelity for the time - I'm sure DCS fans are spluttering over their coffee at that remark) but in the arcade. Polygon based, it was probably (definitely) too much to ask of the Lynx, and way way too niche for the arcade. Still, given free-plays, etc., I'd have one in a home arcade, esp. considering "the knocker" which was a mechanical hammer inside the cabinet that would simulate you getting hit by S-60 or other AA fire by actually rapping on the wooden interior of the cabinet!
There's an easter egg in Battlezone 2000: if you go in the tank selection menu, then press "option 1" two times and "Restart" you will discover a whole game hidden.
Awesome! Can’t wait to check this out. The Lynx is an amazing system! (I also agree about how many good-great games are on the system. I maintain that the Lynx has the best ratio of good games of any Atari system.)
100%, and it was the only handheld version besides the Genesis version on Sega Nomad until the arcade version came to Evercade. The Virtual Boy got 3D Tetris, but that has different rules and a much different feel.
huh, you know what BattleWheels reminds me of? Quarentine for DOS and 3DO, like granted you arent a taxi driver in an open world post apocalyptic dystopian city, but the UI its very similar to Quarentine.
The California Games surfing minigame was surprisingly awesome! Best version of that minigame across all platforms, and could probably still stand on its own as, say, a phone game. The version of Shadow of the Beast is very different from all other releases with the same name. Pretty much an entirely new thing, but still very trial-and-error, with tons of ways to screw yourself over later on. The Lynx game is still a lot more forgiving than others though. Todd's Adventure in Slime World was another game I played a lot, though pretty sure the game is rather monotonous, as I can barely remember any detail about my time with it.
When I played the surfing mini game, I was able to do the max flips (more than quadruple). The game would call it 'unreal'.... My adult self can't do this again if I tried now
It's still such an amazing machine. Also, the Lynx 1 sits perfectly in the hands, it's a superior machine that deserved much more attention and ports. Nothing could match its hardware until the GBA. Many of these titles would be impossible to port onto the Gameboy or Game Gear.
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 I have both and do enjoy my Turbo Express, but the hardware scalability of the Lynx is truly impressive when used fully. The PC Engine holds a sweet spot in my heart.
Nice video and brings back some good memories of my lynx mk2. One day it just wouldn’t turn on after only one year of ownership. Chip’s challenge was a nice little number. I also had the game boy and although it was not as fancy as the lynx, the games to me anyway, were way better on the gameboy.
Like the Amiga and most of the UK during the 8-16bit era : you can have the best tech, but if nobody knows how to design good games, it doesn't matter. Just look at what equivalent pc got in the UK vs the X68000.
Ah what a perfect timing for me to release this video. Honestly idk why but i just love these types of videos and i can almost watch them in one sitting.
I picked one up years ago that came with California Games and Ninja Gaiden, but my favorite was the one game recommended online - Gates of Zendocon. Really fun horizontal shmup.
The sheer hugeness of the Atari Lynx always amuses me. It's like a third the size of the kid playing it in the ad, he might as well just pull an entire television and Nintendo out of his vest at that point.
The Lynx's link capability was amazing. In the 6th grade, a friend of mine acquired two Lynxes from his mom's boyfriend and we spent a lot of time playing Xenophobe and BattleWheels in link mode. I'm pretty sure BattleWheels must have been my first ever first-person deathmatch experience. He also had Todd's Adventures in Slime World and I think we tried that in link mode, too.
I still have my Atari Lynx from back when it was new. The AC plug has been ripped out from being tripped over, but it still works with batteries. I have Blue Lightning, Todd's Adventure in Slime World, California Games, and Gates of Zendacon. Good fun!
@@Jajuka81it’s a special USB to comlynx adapter. Be careful not to plug it into the headphone jack! That can fry the whole thing. AtariGamer sells a headphone plug cover to prevent that mistake.
regarding the ambidextrous thing: i can only think of one other system with ambidextrous controls... the V-Smile, where the joystick can be physically moved to the other side of the controller
Good video as always FrameRater, but I feel like I remember Raiden being on the Lynx as well. Or I may be getting it confused with the Jaguar version. Either way, great stuff as always!
You can also get some of these games on the Evercade via the two Atari Lynx Collections. Volume 1 has more titles, giving it better value, but volume 2 has the better library of games. I don't know if there ever will be a volume 3, but chances would be pretty slim given what's left to work with.
I’ve had a Lynx 1 for several years now, and I really love it. It’s built solidly and the battery life is not nearly as short as people will tell you, although it isn’t awesome. And despite being a fairly wide console, I find it incredibly comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Today I finally got a Lynx 2, and I found that indeed the speaker is quite a bit quieter, the buttons are spaced a tiny bit further apart, and the d-pad, feels a different - not bad, just different. That said, it is much more compact and easy to lug around, plus the headphone jack gives you true stereo, which I don’t think the original did. I can’t fairly compare the screens because my 2 has been modded, however the original version had a backlight switch to increase battery life, which is an advantage over the model 1. Ultimately, I think both models are really top-notch and it just comes down to personal preference. I don’t think you can go wrong either way.
The over sensitive steering ruins Hard Drivin' and the slow frame rate, Steel Talons. If you have to play a home version of Steel Talons, the Atari Falcon one is the one to go for.
Great video, Great system. I always thought this was way better than Gameboy. The problem today is everyone compares it to what we have now, which isn't fair. Back in the day it was a really great system, I know it cost a lot more, but you got a lot more. It has many great features, one I have never seen repeated and that's the fact you can play right or left handed! I love mine, I still have it and own over 75 games for it. I just bought the upgrade screen. And believe it or not, my favorite game ... "Shanghai". Thanks, George
The miss pacman port is so funny to me. They really ported a tate screen arcade game to a system intended to be played oriented both ways and only gave you a wide-screen option to play it in, resulting in insanely squished and adorable visuals
Blue Lightning is either named for the Blue Angels, or Blue Thunder, a movie about a super advanced helicopter that was the first of a bunch of “cool helicopter” shows most famous for Airwolf.
Great history lesson/library coverage didn't know about the handheld prototype (images helped) as much. Other than Wonderswan with many buttons too is cool but the Lynx is the only one I can think of for the left/right hand options. Used to the black Lynx boxes in my local game store (never owned a Lynx it came out before I did so obviously I think it's cool from what researched). The screen looks good for the time. The library is fair not the best but actually impressive. I enjoyed the Atari 50 releases though it's why I bought the collection was to play Lynx/Jaguar games. Always thought vertical Lynx, Wonderswan and Vita game/minigames were interesting. Not something expect but interesting design. Had seen ishido and Pinball Jam boxes and had no idea what they were like so good to know. Not surprised old tennis games can be hit and miss on movement/ball distance gauging. Some memorable games. Dinolmypics (fair idea but got confused most times), Volleyball and Scrapyard are fine games, the others are interesting though so would have to check them out. The ambitious are pretty cool for the time.
Amazing how far we have come, Battlezone 2000 had some of the best graphics in 1995 for a handheld. Now I'm playing Starfield on my Steam Deck and I don't even have to buy triple A batteries in bulk.
The Atari Lynx is kinda underrated. While the screen is stupidly blurry, expensive, and the battery life is short, it’s pretty impressive to see a portable console made in 1989 have a (kind of) 16 bit screen, a backlit screen, a left handed option, and most impressively…a mute button!
@@GregsGameRoomJohn Carmack had started converting Wolfenstien to the Lynx, but the Tramielsl family were late paying him his first milestone payment so he pulled the plug on it.
Yo! the "yeah, framerater" is back
Feels like the universe tilted I bit more towards harmony today.
kino is back on the menu
Yo! Is this racist
Nature is healing!
@@JamesChessmanIn what world is that racist
The Lynx was made by game developers who knew what kind of system they wanted. It's incredibly unique: (virtually) infinite sprites, ROM loaded completely into memory for all sorts of tricks, fast RAM, and fairly good math support. In that sense, it's extremely modern. The Lynx hardware documentation is a very fun romp through a passionate team's work, and they don't hold back on having a very personable narrator.
Easily my favorite handheld in almost every way.
@naturalcreature6317the gameboy ruining handheld gaming sure is a take alright
@naturalcreature6317LMAO
They later helped make the 3DO, another well designed console.
I'd rather eat the rotten a hole of a roadkilled skunk and down it with beer.
David Morse, RJ Mical and Dave Needle designed the Commodore Amiga before this. The hardware is similar, the big difference is the slower processor (the Motorola 68000 was in computers, but too expensive and used up too much battery power for a handheld). One of the ironies of the Atari Lynx was that in order to develop the games properly, you really needed to use a Commodore Amiga to get it right. I heard that to complete a lot of these games, Atari had to buy Commodore Amigas to finish the game development.
When I was a kid back in 1992, I went into a Montgomery Ward and they had all the lynx games in the sales bin on clearance for $2.. so I spent my $20 I had saved. Over night my lynx library grew from 2 games to 11 😊
Love these full-library run-downs! Also, the "Yeah, Framerater" shout is back, heck yeah!
Just a little FYI, the original Lynx first party games did NOT have a curved lip and they were VERY difficult to pull out of the cartridge slot, they had a little bit of a texture on them that was supposed to make them easy to grip, but they weren't. They switched to the curved lip after the Lynx was on the market for a little while and it was a gigantic and welcome improvement! The first editions of some early games have the textured grip and were replaced with curved lips for subsequent production runs.
EDIT: added a missing word
There are multiple versions of the flat cart, one with a little right angle ridge that is fine and one with just the bumps which is a major PITA.
I had a Lynx back in the day. It was a good system, especially for the day. It’s problem (IMO) was that about 80% of the games had a very unpolished feel to them. I’ve heard that when it was discontinued everything went deep clearance, and you could pick up the Lynx for $30, and games for as low as $3 each via an ad in the back of a game magazine.
That's was pretty much the problem with the Jaguar as well. It felt like 80% of the games were unpolished or didn't have much content in general.
There are certain consoles that I owned when they came out and was (and still am) bitter they never did better. The Lynx was one of them. I used to love playing Qix, Warbirds, and Turbosub.
Nice video!
What's disappointing to me is that we got, for the first time ever, legal Atari Lynx emulation courtesy of Digital Eclipse's Atari 50, except there are only six games and absolutely NO Epyx titles in the package. It's like making a Genesis collection without Sonic games.
Atari should buy Epyx like they’ve been buying other companies lately. Microprose and Stern.
@@GregsGameRoomunfortunately they couldn't.
Epyx went bust during the Lynx's lifetime and had to finish their contracted work for the Atari Lynx before being wound up. Atari were offered the company then, and decided against it. Epyx was then asset stripped and about half of their titles were bought by Bridgestone Media Group, which is basically just a copyright holder company that makes it's money re releasing stuff. The rest of their titles are all over the place. It was actually thought that Atari already owned the Lynx titles they made from the bankruptcy terms until Atari 50 was announced and they clarified they didn't. No one is 100% sure who owns a lot of the Epyx games.
System 3 did some Epyx remakes for the DS and they weren't all Bridgestone licenses.
“An hour more of battery life” Wow a whole hour in total! That’s an improvement
You staying strong to review the Atari Lynx library gives the ultimate impression that Atari Lynx deserves so much better!
I have never heard Joust called "Among Us Balloon Fight", but will actively refer to it as such from now on.
And hearing you compare Shadow of the Beast to Oddworld is definitely a charming comparison. It fits.
Also, that hacky sack (footbag) dance was HILARIOUS!
Although there are many games based on the movie “Batman Returns,” the Lynx one actually IS exclusive/unique to the platform. Loved this video, love your library reviews and love the “Yeah, FrameRater” returning. Thanks for your hard work.
I could only complete the game with cheats. If you look up the way to do your cheats, you'll never complain about any other cheat code again
A charming little system. It’s basically a mini portable Amiga and for the time that’s really cool. It was basically doomed right from the start against the gargantuan monster that was the Game Boy and that kinda sucks because there’s a lot to like with the Lynx, even if it’s library doesn’t have nearly as many mind blowing hits like Pokemon or the Sonic games. Bless them for trying though, love me some Shanghai and Stun Runner
Atari should have kept at it with portable gaming. Imagine if they were the ones to create Angry Birds...
It was initially pitched to Nintendo.
In the 90s, i had a friend who had a Lynx and we used to play War Birds on it. I remember being blown away by it back then
The Lynx may not have had what it takes to take-on the Game Boy, but it was a very well-made system with a strong library of games in its own right.
It had everything but money, third party developers (all of these were developed by Atari or their subcontractors), and good marketing. If they had figured out how to get adults to buy it it would have done a lot better - the library is self-evidently aimed at an older demographic than the Game Boy’s. Also, Tetris.
The Lynx would have done well if made today. David Needle, RJ Mical and David Morse made great hardware, but it was expensive.
Today, you can get away with the best technology and still win because there are that many hardcore gamers out there. In the 1980s, Hiroshi Yamauchi and Jack Tramiel sold their products based upon retailing a product for a certain price point, and hardware got watered down just to make the product for that specific price. Epyx wanted to make a good machine and didnt go by that budget, and ran into financial problems as a result. Sam Tramiel (now running Atari after his father semi-retired) needed to sell a new product and this was the result. Atari made their money mostly by suing Epyx into oblivion and taking Epyx intellectual property and Epyx went bankrupt as a result.
It just wasn't the same without the YEAH FRAMERATER
Just got myself a Lynx and a flashcart. It's pretty cool.
They should've made the pinball game into one that uses the systems vertical mode. It just makes more sense, pinball games are taller then they are wide and when holding the lynx vertically you have identical buttons for each thumb.
It’s a fun game but the frame rate (lol) and physics could have used some work.
That lynx carry bag is too rad
The Virtual Boy exclusive Space Squash is so similar I have to believe either they shared personnel or at least Robo Squash directly inspired it.
STUN Runner sadly has a really frustrating bug - you lose speed equally on the outside of a curve as the inside, so it’s the fastest to stay in the center of the track.
It's so cool that you can play these 71 games on a can of Lynx deodorant.
I love these complete library videos man!
Ah yes, the console with a Marlboro edition that also went through batteries faster than any handheld console ever.
Like the system's owner, it goes through three packs a day.
That's the problem with "look we've made a portable Amiga in 1989!"
It basically ate through batteries because of that. A hell of an achievement though.
Yep. 14 minutes of gaming bliss.
Glad you're getting/feeling better. Love these videos Frame!
wow, I never realized the Lynx had this many good games on it
I was just playing Dracula The Undead yesterday and now a Lynx library video? Good stuff
Damn it Frame, you might've just convinced me to check out another system like you did with the 3DO.
I didn't expect the Lynx's library to be this high quality.
It's "high quality" alright. You gotta be high to see the quality.
@@nunyabusiness9013 Joke landed flatter than the Lynx's screen.
I hope you do more full libraries!
You have no idea how happy I am to see this series return. :)
I actually owned a Lynx back in the day. I played the hell out of the Ms. Pac-Man on the Lynx - I was in love with the arcade game and the Lynx version was at the time the closest you could get to playing the arcade game at home. I loved the system . . . but unfortunately the D-pad on mine got jammed and I can't play it anymore. In any case, I think it's a true tragedy that the Lynx didn't do better. It was ridiculously advanced for its time and had some great games, but unfortunately, in addition to the higher price, it didn't have any "system sellers" like Mario or Pokémon.
Ishido the Way of Stones was NOT a Lynx exclusive. It was on MANY platforms actually.
Ok, I'll trim that.
Thanks for the upload, dude. I've never held a lynx and never will, but your laid back style and humour makes any subject you cover really chill to unwind to.
Your delivery is improving, it sounds enthusiastic and caring! Keep up the great work!
I think this series is the best one on your channel
Wow, there's a surprising amount of good games for this. Thanks for another Console Library video Frame!
EDIT: 45:58 The pig stream was too powerful
2:47
Is that a young Tobey Maguire?
Also great video as always FR. So happy to hear the "Yeah, Framerater" back. Makes me want to try and submit one if that option is still around.
I SAW TOBEY MACGUIRE IN A LYNX COMMERCIAL!
I knew Paul Rudd did the SNES commercial, but I never knew this.
I wish the original name of the handheld was kept. I wanna have fun with a Handy.
Watched the vid,i didnt knew atari lynx had such a varied library. Shame tough they dont have saves. Otherwise a console ahead of its time. Great list,hope ngpc is on ur list
Yes! I have been waiting for a full Lynx review. Hope you're feeling better.
Steel Talons is one of the oddest conversions I've ever seen. In fact it was one of the more odd arcade games, in that it was a high-fidelity flight simulator (high fidelity for the time - I'm sure DCS fans are spluttering over their coffee at that remark) but in the arcade. Polygon based, it was probably (definitely) too much to ask of the Lynx, and way way too niche for the arcade. Still, given free-plays, etc., I'd have one in a home arcade, esp. considering "the knocker" which was a mechanical hammer inside the cabinet that would simulate you getting hit by S-60 or other AA fire by actually rapping on the wooden interior of the cabinet!
Scrapyard Dog was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it better than the 7800 version. Glad they added it to the Atari 50 collection
That's the only decent game on there I think.
@@Vulpas I enjoyed Viking Kid and Toki, too!
@@BabusGameRoomBeach volleyball is good as well
There's an easter egg in Battlezone 2000: if you go in the tank selection menu, then press "option 1" two times and "Restart" you will discover a whole game hidden.
Slap Fight MD is the only other game I know of where a second, larger (!!) game is “hidden” on the cartridge.
Awesome! Happy to see another new Console Library. Def my favorite segment on this channel. Any ideas on what you will cover next?
Probably gonna continue GameCube.
@@FrameRaterCool! Look forward to it.
@@FrameRater Great, that's an awesome one
@@FrameRater WOOHOO!
Awesome! Can’t wait to check this out. The Lynx is an amazing system! (I also agree about how many good-great games are on the system. I maintain that the Lynx has the best ratio of good games of any Atari system.)
It’s true!
Scrapyard Dog on the Lynx was developed concurrently with the 7800 game by a different team. They started from the same storyboards but that’s it.
Xybots is one of the most underrated arcade games of all time.
Actually got me interested in some games I otherwise would've never heard about. Nice video!
Block Out is pretty great actually. Loads of variety in level dimensions and block complexity. Very very much reccommended.
100%, and it was the only handheld version besides the Genesis version on Sega Nomad until the arcade version came to Evercade.
The Virtual Boy got 3D Tetris, but that has different rules and a much different feel.
Glad to see you feeling better.
Also I missed videos like these.
I first started watching you when you did a video playing every neo geo pocket game. Nice to see this format again
Loved my Lynx, it wasnt until the Gameboy Advanced came out that anything better for portable play came along.
huh, you know what BattleWheels reminds me of? Quarentine for DOS and 3DO, like granted you arent a taxi driver in an open world post apocalyptic dystopian city, but the UI its very similar to Quarentine.
You made this tuing look super dope
The California Games surfing minigame was surprisingly awesome! Best version of that minigame across all platforms, and could probably still stand on its own as, say, a phone game.
The version of Shadow of the Beast is very different from all other releases with the same name. Pretty much an entirely new thing, but still very trial-and-error, with tons of ways to screw yourself over later on. The Lynx game is still a lot more forgiving than others though.
Todd's Adventure in Slime World was another game I played a lot, though pretty sure the game is rather monotonous, as I can barely remember any detail about my time with it.
When I played the surfing mini game, I was able to do the max flips (more than quadruple). The game would call it 'unreal'.... My adult self can't do this again if I tried now
It's still such an amazing machine. Also, the Lynx 1 sits perfectly in the hands, it's a superior machine that deserved much more attention and ports. Nothing could match its hardware until the GBA. Many of these titles would be impossible to port onto the Gameboy or Game Gear.
The portable PC Engine could give it a run for it's money, doing in software what the Lynx did in hardware.
@@thefurthestmanfromhome1148 I have both and do enjoy my Turbo Express, but the hardware scalability of the Lynx is truly impressive when used fully. The PC Engine holds a sweet spot in my heart.
I DIDNT KNOW TOBY MAGUIRE WAS IN THE LYNX ADVERT!?
I feel forever indebted to Epyx because they invented the Fastload for C64.
There was a rumored SNES remake of Gordo 106 supposedly in development but it got scrapped.
You brought back the "yeah framerater" in the intro!!!!
Nice video and brings back some good memories of my lynx mk2. One day it just wouldn’t turn on after only one year of ownership.
Chip’s challenge was a nice little number.
I also had the game boy and although it was not as fancy as the lynx, the games to me anyway, were way better on the gameboy.
Like the Amiga and most of the UK during the 8-16bit era : you can have the best tech, but if nobody knows how to design good games, it doesn't matter.
Just look at what equivalent pc got in the UK vs the X68000.
Ah what a perfect timing for me to release this video.
Honestly idk why but i just love these types of videos and i can almost watch them in one sitting.
Been a long time Frame Rater. Good to watch your review. Have a good day mate
I picked one up years ago that came with California Games and Ninja Gaiden, but my favorite was the one game recommended online - Gates of Zendocon. Really fun horizontal shmup.
The sheer hugeness of the Atari Lynx always amuses me. It's like a third the size of the kid playing it in the ad, he might as well just pull an entire television and Nintendo out of his vest at that point.
The Lynx's link capability was amazing. In the 6th grade, a friend of mine acquired two Lynxes from his mom's boyfriend and we spent a lot of time playing Xenophobe and BattleWheels in link mode. I'm pretty sure BattleWheels must have been my first ever first-person deathmatch experience. He also had Todd's Adventures in Slime World and I think we tried that in link mode, too.
Viking Child has poor enemy collision detection as well. It is really not fair on top of being too slow. It’s a shame, there’s a lot to like about it.
It's also missing the RPG elements from the ST and Amiga versions and superb in-game music from the GB version.
I still have my Atari Lynx from back when it was new. The AC plug has been ripped out from being tripped over, but it still works with batteries. I have Blue Lightning, Todd's Adventure in Slime World, California Games, and Gates of Zendacon. Good fun!
You can power it through the Comlynx port!
@@KeenRetroGames Oh, that's cool. I'll have to try to find a power adapter and give that a try. Thanks for the tip!
@@Jajuka81it’s a special USB to comlynx adapter. Be careful not to plug it into the headphone jack! That can fry the whole thing. AtariGamer sells a headphone plug cover to prevent that mistake.
I actually prefer Lynx Joust to the arcade these days. It plays faster and once you get the handle of it you don’t lose control nearly as much.
regarding the ambidextrous thing: i can only think of one other system with ambidextrous controls... the V-Smile, where the joystick can be physically moved to the other side of the controller
Good video as always FrameRater, but I feel like I remember Raiden being on the Lynx as well. Or I may be getting it confused with the Jaguar version. Either way, great stuff as always!
It is, but was only available via direct order.
I think Lynx Casino can count itself *very* lucky for being called spectacular :)
You can also get some of these games on the Evercade via the two Atari Lynx Collections. Volume 1 has more titles, giving it better value, but volume 2 has the better library of games. I don't know if there ever will be a volume 3, but chances would be pretty slim given what's left to work with.
I’ve had a Lynx 1 for several years now, and I really love it. It’s built solidly and the battery life is not nearly as short as people will tell you, although it isn’t awesome. And despite being a fairly wide console, I find it incredibly comfortable to hold for long periods of time. Today I finally got a Lynx 2, and I found that indeed the speaker is quite a bit quieter, the buttons are spaced a tiny bit further apart, and the d-pad, feels a different - not bad, just different. That said, it is much more compact and easy to lug around, plus the headphone jack gives you true stereo, which I don’t think the original did. I can’t fairly compare the screens because my 2 has been modded, however the original version had a backlight switch to increase battery life, which is an advantage over the model 1. Ultimately, I think both models are really top-notch and it just comes down to personal preference. I don’t think you can go wrong either way.
Dracula is literally half a game. Atari made them cut it in half to fit on a 1 Mb rom. Sadly the missing half seems to be totally lost.
wow didnt know there was so many lynx exclusives and thanks for noting that
What ever happened to the neo geo pocket color video?
I just bought a good condition Lynx off of ebay and it works great. I think it's the best hand-held console of the 90's.
Hard Drivin and Steel Talons are quite experimental titles for the Lynx but are by no means a playable game.
The over sensitive steering ruins Hard Drivin' and the slow frame rate, Steel Talons.
If you have to play a home version of Steel Talons, the Atari Falcon one is the one to go for.
Wow I didn't know there was a Lynx 2. Crazy.
Great video, Great system. I always thought this was way better than Gameboy. The problem today is everyone compares it to what we have now, which isn't fair. Back in the day it was a really great system, I know it cost a lot more, but you got a lot more. It has many great features, one I have never seen repeated and that's the fact you can play right or left handed! I love mine, I still have it and own over 75 games for it. I just bought the upgrade screen. And believe it or not, my favorite game ... "Shanghai". Thanks, George
Ishido is one of my favorite puzzle games of all time. It is more of a meditation exercise than a “puzzle game”.
Love these console libraries. Glad to see another one
The miss pacman port is so funny to me.
They really ported a tate screen arcade game to a system intended to be played oriented both ways and only gave you a wide-screen option to play it in, resulting in insanely squished and adorable visuals
Very nicely done, I love these videos :) Hard work on a 10 hours script wow!
Dracula in the dracula game looks like the late Sir Christopher Lee.
Blue Lightning is either named for the Blue Angels, or Blue Thunder, a movie about a super advanced helicopter that was the first of a bunch of “cool helicopter” shows most famous for Airwolf.
Dude, your videos are always really good and interesting. Cheers!
Hold the fucking phone. Was that Tobey Maguire????
As a UK resident who has visited America and Japan I can confirm that awsome golf has the soundtracks right
I think if the only other version of a game is on the Jaguar CD, you can call it a Lynx exclusive.
Great history lesson/library coverage didn't know about the handheld prototype (images helped) as much. Other than Wonderswan with many buttons too is cool but the Lynx is the only one I can think of for the left/right hand options.
Used to the black Lynx boxes in my local game store (never owned a Lynx it came out before I did so obviously I think it's cool from what researched).
The screen looks good for the time. The library is fair not the best but actually impressive.
I enjoyed the Atari 50 releases though it's why I bought the collection was to play Lynx/Jaguar games.
Always thought vertical Lynx, Wonderswan and Vita game/minigames were interesting. Not something expect but interesting design.
Had seen ishido and Pinball Jam boxes and had no idea what they were like so good to know.
Not surprised old tennis games can be hit and miss on movement/ball distance gauging.
Some memorable games.
Dinolmypics (fair idea but got confused most times), Volleyball and Scrapyard are fine games, the others are interesting though so would have to check them out.
The ambitious are pretty cool for the time.
Amazing how far we have come, Battlezone 2000 had some of the best graphics in 1995 for a handheld. Now I'm playing Starfield on my Steam Deck and I don't even have to buy triple A batteries in bulk.
The Atari Lynx is kinda underrated. While the screen is stupidly blurry, expensive, and the battery life is short, it’s pretty impressive to see a portable console made in 1989 have a (kind of) 16 bit screen, a backlit screen, a left handed option, and most impressively…a mute button!
Hey Framerater, your lists are the fucking BEST man! You RULE
I still have my original LYNX from launch (Now with a modern LCD and a rom cart)
It's a shame it didn't get more 3rd party attention back in the day.
I liked the "Kona and Suba" Guinea Pig cameo. 💜
I was pretty sure that either/both of Doom/Wolfenstein 3D had Lynx variants, but they weren't covered here. Am I mistaken?
There's some homebrews, but nothing official.
@@GregsGameRoomJohn Carmack had started converting Wolfenstien to the Lynx, but the Tramielsl family were late paying him his first milestone payment so he pulled the plug on it.
Great overview of the system and its games. I had one in the early 90s great system, just a shame they didn't have more 3rd party support