Atari Lynx handheld system review - Gamester81
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Here is my review over the Atari Lynx handheld system. This is one of the first handheld systems that I ever owned.
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I love this system! I remember when the Game Boy came out, I asked my parents for one for Christmas and then one day my family went to the mall and I saw a Lynx in Kay-Bee Toys...I told my parents I wanted it instead. My parents asked if I was sure and told me that if they got that for me, thats all I could get because of the price difference. I didn't care. My brother thought I was crazy for asking for the Lynx b/c it was an Atari system and Atari was pretty much dead. I still didn't care! Come Christmas day, I was shocked that my parents came through and got me a Lynx! I took it to school with me and a bunch of my friends and classmates had gotten Game Boy and they were jealous over my Lynx! Probably a little TOO jealous because I didn't have it long before it got stolen! Later on down the line (as in last year) I ended up buying both a Lynx 1 and Lynx 2 system and still play it to this day! (screen sucks on them though, i wanna get an LCD mod on it)
Just replace the capacitors..
There was actually a third type of Lynx cartridge it was still flat but it had these two like little lippy things on the back to help you take the game out easier
I love my Atari Lynx, really glad I have that new LCD replacement on that thing with the additional VGA out connector. It is interesting to see how good the original games really were, with the new LCD you can see all the details of the game graphics now.
Great video man the joke about the cougar was funny
my best friend at the time, 90 had this when we grew up in the middle east! i'll always remember how big it was and he had bill and ted which was a very weird game! lol i had to buy this console when i got elder, not the best but still pretty cool to own with some decent games
Always was interested in the Lynx. Def. would want a model 2 though, model 1 looks janky as hell. Great video as always broski!
Hm! I like both really.
Imagine having RGT watch your video game reviews 😂
@@savaget2058 man Gamester81 is like one of the OG retro channels I’m discovering! I saw a video where he actually introduced RGT!
36 years old my older brother's 40,we had everything but the neo geo.Damn it feels good to see Gamester videos.
I loved my lynx. That version of Rampage is probably the best one. Also I used to play Slime World and Electro Cop. Great system.
John, let us know when you start the kickstarter campaign for the atari COUGAR, the older gaming system with a loose cartrige slot aimed at young men!
Man I remember borrowing the Lynx MK1 from a friend for a while and I loved it. So underrated for its time. Looking at this reminded me how impressive it was with the sprite scaling and the colour. California Games was great, I spent hours playing that. I think I'm gonna have to pick up a system very soon for my collection! Thanks dude.
GREAT review of the Atari Lynx!!! I LOVE that you appreciate the AMAZING (for the time) graphics of Blue Lightning!!! Your review was EXCELLENT!!!
I get so happy from watching your videos! You seem like a really sympathetic guy. Keep the great content coming!
A handheld from that time doing sprite scaling.
That effect looks beautiful with the jet game.
Impressive.
the Lynx looks awesome with the updated Mcwill screen and the Lynx SD cart with all games
The Atari Lynx, man that brings me back! I had all three of the major handhelds at the time and yes the Gameboy and Gamegear were awesome but it was something about having a 3rd option and I guess the Atari name being attached to it that made this system so fun and intriguing to me. Thanks for this video, it was a blast from the past!
Absolutely love the Lynx! The best handheld of its time!
I ended up finding the Second model in a local Op-shop for $5 Australian. Came with 2 games and a nifty carrying case. And it still works perfectly!
i would love to see some more reviews on the stuff you covered years and years ago, just due to the better camera, presentation and your skill level has definitely increased as well. Maybe a turbo express review again.
Had a friend bring his Game Boy into work to show me it. Didn't leave me impressed at all with its murky looking green screen. Later I bought the Atari Lynx model 2 and bought a second for my brothers too. Overall was a nice video games system. No regrets as got a lot of gaming hours out of the Atari Lynx platform for many years.
I bought a nos lynx system back around 2000 from a company that bought a lot of ataris old stock. I'm still impressed with it and I wish I wouldve been into handhelds more back when it was new its a system that I know I would have been asking for Xmas :)
Good system, I was very impressed when I played it back in the day at a kiosk. I really wanted one but never did get it.
I used to have a Lynx model 2 and a handful of games, but mostly played BMX and Surfing in California Games. Got all the games on a PSP emulator now, and BMX and Surfing are still my favorites.
Thanks for the review, this was fun, I always wondered why you would flip the screen, and what the extra buttons were for. The Cougar joke was great...
You were lucky to have this as a kid man! I’m assuming from the “81” in your name you were born in 81? Me too. No way I could afford a lynx, though I always wanted one lol. I DEEPLY miss the simple(by today’s standards) games of that era like California Games! They were SO advanced! California Games keeps company with Skate Or Die in my memory banks lol. Idk if they can out the same year or maybe just the half pipe similarities. I love your videos man! I wish I would’ve got into you back when you were doing these vids :(
I grew up playing it. my brother was a big time Atari fan.
Was a good console this John, more as a competitor to the Sega Game Gear on the lux end of handheld consoles of the era, great vid.
Damn it feels good to see the Gamester!
The atari lynx was the bomb in 1989, with even some features even the snes and genesis lacks,such as sprite scaling,sprie distortion etc,,,,polygon rendering, left,richt hand feature,huge link network feuture.
The lynx was a beast.
Still have both of these. California Games, Gauntlet: The Third Encounter, Rampart and especially Steel Talons still get some love now and again. Nice review. Damn it!!!! I just realized my xenophobe cartridge is missing. Pretty sure I left it next to the late 90s.....
Awesome review John! I love all the details you mention in your reviews.
I owned one back in the day.. i got it for christmas.. i had 1 game for it.. until i sold it.. BUT MAN!! I had forgotten how amazing the gfx were... forget handheld comparisons.. it looked good compared to the current gen consoles at the time.. amazing..
The display on the lynx was really good. I think Gamester did the best he could but it's still distorted a lot of the time, I used to have one of these and a game gear for comparison so from first hand experience I am saying the display was really nice for it's time.
The display also still has sharp color, I remember seeing an AVGN where he was doing a hand held with an active display but something was wrong like it was left on too long or sitting out in the sun which caused pigment damage.
Great review, dude!
+richeeese Thanks man.
+Gamester81 seriously man, been watching your channel for years now and I can always rely on a solid review with no gimmicks. Keep em comin!
+Gamester81 I had a dream about the lynx It was weird and cool at the same time.
Thanks for the review! I need to pick up one of these if I can ever find one in the wild!
I have never once cared about the Lynx. This video makes me want one. Good stuff, G81.
More proof that good games beat a more powerful console. Just like the dialed-in well-tuned car usually beats the car with 10% more HP.
Howdy good sir! Been a subscriber for a while, but my first comment =P Great episode on the Lynx! I didn't know too much about it. Such a great system for it's time. Definitely ahead of the game. If it had just had a better price point Im sure it would have done so much better. Keep up the great work!
Now I really want to pick up one of these devices.
I was always curious about this system back in the day. The graphics looked really good. I didn't have the money for it though, and with the Gameboy destroying the competition, I figured it wouldn't last too long.
I grew up with both and I like the 1st one better cause of how much louder it was
Best...handheld...EVER! So far ahead of its time.
I used to have the second version, the screen looked better than on the camera here and the games were quite impressive for their time. 16 bit and in color was better than both GameBoy and GameGear as they were 8 bit systems. It's so sad it didn't do better on the market but it was huge and ate the batteries for breakfast.
Viking Child was my favorite, you had to use different tactics for different enemies, you could collect and buy special weapons and powers (it actually used the middle buttons for more actions) and it was just better and more complex than anything else I've played at the time. Chips Challenge was a great puzzle game with a hidden Mandelbrot Set (!) rendering code where you could zoom in and pan around - it just blew my mind and looked beautiful on the screen.
Game Gear was basically a handheld version of the Master System so it really wasn't anything special or different from the console. It still had a few fun games though. The Lynx being it's own thing made it more enjoyable to me.
+Formulka Great recommendation on Viking Child.
+Formulka If only they had managed to get that battery life sorted.. they would have pissed on gameboy.
+Formulka Yes, Viking Child was another great game.
i love the lynx my dad bought one. had no idea it was so expensive on release
I need to play that Air Zonk-esque type game one of these days.
Great video brother John 👍🏿👍🏿🤙🏿🇺🇸
if this system had more developers and a longer shelf life, AMAZING games would have come out for it. these were really just 1st gen games and that was it. what a great system, way ahead of its time. the battery life and entry price to market really hurt it unfortunately. btw john, you should have added in the end of the video that there are NEW homebrew games being made for this system such as zaku i.ytimg.com/vi/PaplyLUt2dk/maxresdefault.jpg
scir 91 Blue Lightning was so stunning. The 3D was amazing
Zaku does look awesome on it. I have it.
How slow are you? He literally did mention that and showed Zaku at 4:41.. wtf..?
Need more videos bro! Let's go!
Atari Cougar pmsl. Nice one, I'd buy that!
i remember that i wanted a game gear for my birthday and my dad bought me a lynx model 2. came packed with batman returns which was hard as hell. but did eventually beat it. my older brother had the lynx model 1 so we had alot of games between us. some games that you should check out would be switchblade 2, viking child and electrocop. they are ones i didnt see in your collection there.
Ohh that paint rubbing off! Mine did that too. Rechargeables were the way to go. It had really loud speakers. I really pissed my bus driver off as a kid. I had scrap yard dog, chips challenge, and batman returns.
Looks like a solid gaming handheld to me.
Only thing that'd annoy me in a way - other than the poor battery life - is how the Lynx seems to be another of those systems that use to have uncovered contacts so that anyone can touch these and make the game go nuts.
Love your channel jhon. Keep on the great content. A channel for hard core gamers :)
I was watching this at work and literally laughed out loud. I would buy the Atari Cougar!!
That music from rampage is identical to the music in chips challenge
I remember when the original Lynx came out. I was drawn to the fact that i twas color but the HUGE size of the gen 1 system and the lack of any notable games at the time, my interest in it died out very quickly and was basically an afterthought.
not too long ago i sold about 20 sealed lynx games on ebay for like 100 bucks and that was after i had the listing up there for atleast a couple months
the only system that had a good arcade port of ninja Gaiden.. And it was a good one!
it had some great games on it, as far as i can remember.looking better then other handheld games, although it had more details on screen, it was also abit pixeled. but i enjoyed the system.Also liked scrapyard dog.
The Lynx was more expensive than the Game Boy, but the games were cheaper. When I was young, I had an Atari Lynx with over 20 games while my brother was 8 with his Game Boy. Personnal favorite Dracula, Xenophobe and Stunt Racer.
I had the gameboy and was die hard nintendo kid... however, i always wanted to own a color handheld ... olive and black left a lot to be desired ... but that battery life though.
haha couger. and the cartridge slot is very loose. nice one bro!
👏👏👏👏Bravo Master,👌 good videosystem
(love memories💘).
I wanted one back in the day, but at the end of the day, I'm glad my parents did not buy me one, and got me a SEGA Game Gear instead, because despite it only being an 8-bit portable master system, I think the games overall were better, and I got around the battery life issues of the Game Gear by having 2 rechargeable battery packs, a car adapter, and multiple AC adapters that came with the battery packs.
was always thinking of this thing...wondering why didn't I ever get one cuz I had the Gameboy and the game gear gonna have to hunt me up a lynx and the adapter
The Atari Cougar sounds nice, but I think they should come out with the Atari Liger. It can be the size of two launch-era PS3s put together.
I recently got a Lynx. Any games you could recommend?
+Robert Santellan (Your Geeky Tipster) Zaku is my favorite game on the system. It's an unofficial release but it's still kinda rare.
The Obsolete Geek Thanks for the tip!
you should look into an LED swap for the backlight so it drains less power. (pretty common game gear mod, don't know if it's possible with this though)
Still want to add a Lynx to my collection.
whats the best thing about hooking up with a cougar? she sends you home with a fruit rolls up and juice box. ;)
What about a lynx?
S.T.U.N. Runner on the Lynx was the definitive home port, this game did NOT get the love it deserves.
Great System
More longer videos pls. :-)
Stun Runner! that is the only game I remember
How did you wear through the colour on that thing? The battery life, game library, and enjoyment to be had just isn't enough to make this possible. I CALL HACKS!
I did a double take recently and noticed Atari flashback 6 has just been released. Let us know your opinion and thanks for another informative video.
have you ever tried Gamegear?
i have 3 Gamegears still each one still in great condition, they are my siblings which they left them at my mothers house when they moved out, i came across Lemmings, terminator and various other cartridges :)
BEST version of California Games on the Lynx.
Didnt you already do this I am just asking cause I sent you those turtle dvds and N-Gage games and you also talked about the Atari Lynx as well
+JasonRelaxation Yeah, but it was seriously years ago, and I missed a lot of info on my first review.
Heya John you meminded me form this video, in the Arcade I ALWAYS play MX Pacman with just my right hand! (Being right handed and it has no buttons, I play way better with joystick with right hand for Ms PAcman. Even thugh all other games I use left hand. Try it if u see a MS pacman machine or a Mame Cabinet and let me know how it was!
Technially the SUper Nintendo could not zoom and rotate sprites. It oculd only do mode 7 on a full LAYER, layer 7. They would often program layer 7 to APPEAR to be a huge sprite, though technically it is a full screen layer.
Atari Cougar? Really? The cartridge slot might be loose but the controller port is tight!
Question:
Do you know anyone online that fixes old hand held systems? My model two Atari lynx will not turn on at all.
I really wish Atari concentrated more on the Lynx and waited a year on the Jaguar to work on it's flaws, likes making it a CD base system
Funny.. I'm am a lefty but never considered D pad on the right. Just the thought of it seems difficult!
It's crazy how good this looks compared to the Game Gear.
The Atari Cougar joke 😂😂
I did not know it was running two 16-bit processors and a 32-bit sound chip. That thing power wise should smoke a Sega Genesis and Snes. You honestly need a Sega CD to match the hardware in raw horsepower. It's a damn shame Atari hadn't given us the ability to connect this to a TV and made a separate controller for it. Had they simply done that it likely would have led the 4th generation and given its hardware they could have displayed the picture on a TV just fine. Think about it...this could have been the freaking Switch in 1989! I jumped on the Sega Genesis bandwagon in '89 completely. Had Atari done this...I don't know what I would have done. Also thinking about the price, the Lynx was competitively priced if you look at the $189 price point of the Genesis and TG-16.
I had the small Lynx growing up! That was one shitty system ahaha! We had California games and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Growing up I was always confused why Gameboy was so much better? The games were in black and white! Ahaha unfortunately it doesn't work anymore, I do have the games though!
my parents never had the budget for one of these when i was a kid so i was stuck with a shitty no color gameboy, i damn sure wanted one tho..
The gamegear battery life was five to six hours not three I've owned six or seven of them over the years and all average about six hours I've had one that only lasted five but my current gamegear has lasted over ten hours so far and is still going I don't know why they are lasting so long but I'm not complaining.
Atari Lynx was better than Gameboy and Gamegear in every way except one, advertising.
Man I wish I could have lived back in the day of the gameboy, game gear and lynx. Now all these little bastards do is sit on their phones texting edgy messages and watching videos, or play those retarded phone games that should only be played for like 2 minutes. Seriously I get made fun of for having my game gear or gameboy at school. It's a sad world
Why not use rechargable batteries?
We always used rechargables for our Game Boys, because those things seemed to eat batteries like crazy too. I can't imagine wasting regular batteries on a Game Boy, much less a Game Gear or Lynx... We didn't have a Lynx, but we had a Game Gear. Yeah, pretty terrible battery life.
*****
We just kept a charger out in the garage that could charge like 16 batteries at the same time. We kept it full. Whenever you need a change, just go out there and swap them out.
Worked fine, even for the Game Gear. On a long car trip we'd just bring a bag with a couple extra sets.
I can't imagine using regular batteries... that'd cost a small fortune.
Technically weren't all the previous Atari controllers designed with ambidexterity in mind?
Lol the Atari cougar and nice lynx collection
Do they have a flash cart for the lynx?
I hate to ask this, but I know you are a classic game system review'er .. and collector buuuuuutt. I own something called a SG-1000 and SG-1000 II as well as a SEGA Pico, and was wondering if you also owned/had/or could do a review on them. i'm not sure if they are really all that well known or not buuuut figured id pass on the thought lol
+Fatcat Online I own a Sega SG-1000 II and did a review years ago on it. I also own a Pico, and I think that would make an interesting review too. Thanks for the recommendations. Fun fact is the SG-1000 is similar hardware to the ColecoVision, which is my favorite console. ;)
+Gamester81 that's a cool little fact about the SG-1000.
batman returns full addiction
Could rechargeable AAs compensate for longer gameplay on both the Lynx and the Nomad (even if those types of batteries have 2200mAh)?
+BlueComet001 Yeah, but problem with rechargeables back in the 1980's/1990's is that they hardly lasted very long.
+Gamester81
I think I'll keep that in mind, but thanks for the info!
+BlueComet001 NO they lasted about 1/2-3/4 time and took all day to charge. Don't miss that at all.
+Aaron Bateman
Noted.
As a lefty gamer, I can say flipping the unit to play 'left-handed' would be awkward as balls
Technically impressive, almost on par with the Game Boy Advance, but definitely too ahead of its time.