History Behind Atari Lynx Purchase
For all my love of Nintendo, Atari still holds a special place for me since its systems (Atari 2600 and Atari 7800) had the first video games I played. Although I will buy just about anything Nintendo-related, I wouldn't touch one thing initially -- the Game Boy. With its black and white screen, I decided to go with the color Atari Lynx. (Obviously, I have since added Game Boy to my collection.) One of my friends also had a Lynx, which didn't make it as bad as of a purchase as it could have been. It was a cool little system, with decent ports from the arcade and other platforms, and it had some great link-up games. I got my system and my first game, Todd's Adventures in Slime World, at Toys "R" Us on March 25, 1991. The system was $99.99 and the game was $34.99. I used to have a few more games -- Ninja Gaiden, Slime World, Scrapyard Dog, Lynx Casino, etc. -- but I eventually sold some of them, which is something I regret now.
Retrospectively, if you consider the battle among the Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, NEC TurboExpress, and Atari Lynx, I would argue that the Atari Lynx came in second place. To this day, it's still my favorite portable gaming system from that era. It was vastly superior to the Game Boy for many years, and it had some great ports of Atari's arcade games.
For me, I'll always view the Atari Lynx as that bridge between my Atari initiation to the video game world and what became my ultimate video game passion: Nintendo.
Retrospectively, if you consider the battle among the Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, NEC TurboExpress, and Atari Lynx, I would argue that the Atari Lynx came in second place. To this day, it's still my favorite portable gaming system from that era. It was vastly superior to the Game Boy for many years, and it had some great ports of Atari's arcade games.
For me, I'll always view the Atari Lynx as that bridge between my Atari initiation to the video game world and what became my ultimate video game passion: Nintendo.
What lies below is a listing of my Atari Lynx collection along with some history behind the system's purchase. One thing to keep in mind is that these are all the games I currently own. I've actually had other games throughout the years. But I got rid of some of them for whatever reason. Please also note that all of the games listed below are actual cartridges. I am neither into getting emulators for the classics nor am I into pirating the latest games.
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If you're familiar with my opinions, then you know how much I appreciate a good two-player game—especially cooperative games. Gauntlet: The Third Encounter is my favorite Atari Lynx game for just that reason. My friend and I used to play this game for hours. This is a great cooperative game that lets you fight independently yet requires communication.
I became interested in Xybots because I played it in the arcades first. Once again, it is a great cooperative game. The port from arcade to Lynx turned out to be a very satisfying conversion. My friend and I each have the game. Interestingly, although the game is cooperative, it has competitive elements at the same time, so it's a lot of fun.
As one of the first games for the Atari Lynx, Warbirds was a technical marvel. Moreover, this flight simulation excelled because it was realistic yet not too complicated. Warbirds is quite enjoyable in the one-player missions, as the goal is to try to shoot down the computer. The game is taken to a new level, however, when you link up with a friend!
I still remember playing this game for the first time and hearing some of the clearest voice samples I ever heard in a video game. That was 1990. Obviously, times have changed. But Klax has stood the test of time. It's a very unique concept in that you have to sort color tiles coming off a conveyor belt by catching them. I very much enjoy the game.
Apparently, I've always liked racing games with weapons, because RoadBlasters was my favorite arcade game for some time. I remember playing it on vacations, at malls, and everywhere I saw it. Since the NES version didn't do the game justice, I was very happy when it was ported to the Atari Lynx. And what an excellent port! Highly recommended!
- Checkered Flag
- Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
- Hard Drivin'
- Klax
- RoadBlasters
- S.T.U.N. Runner
- Warbirds
- Xybots
The following bulleted points are some random notes and thoughts about the Atari Lynx. In the list, you will find information about the system and games that I could not place anywhere else.
- I want to make these games part of my permanent collection: Todd's Adventures in Slime World and Ninja Gaiden.
- Most likely, I always will have fonder memories of the Atari Lynx than the Nintendo Game Boy. This handheld is somewhat bulky, but it has better games than the original Game Boy.
Copyright © Scott McCall. All Rights Reserved. ™ and © for all products, characters, and indicia related thereto which are contained herein are owned by the companies who market or license those products.
1. Gauntlet: The Third Encounter
2. Xybots
3. Warbirds
4. Klax
5. RoadBlasters
Honorable Mention: Todd's Adventures in Slime World and Hard Drivin'