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Atari Lynx and it’s hidden gems

VGEsoterica

Member
Recently I was playing some Lynx games for both a series about Dracula, and possible for doing a “season” on it.

I never had a Lynx back in the day (I was a Game Gear kid) so I have zero nostalgia for it other than knowing it existed and nobody I knew owned one.

but there are some super solid games on the Lynx. Dracula the Undead was the one I decided to do a video on, as I needed something Dracula themed, but I was also into Batman Returns, Blue Lightning, Chips Challenge, and Xenophobe.

did anyone own a Lynx back in the day? Honestly I never even saw one for sale, but considering I grew up in Vermont that might not be super surprising.

I’m just impressed with how many decent games are on the Lynx. Definitely a more fun and diverse line up than I ever expected
 
I still have my Lynx 2 that I got as a kid! I can recommend Gates Of Zendocon and Scrapyard Dog as well, the former I think still stands up now and the second one just because it's a bit random.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
I still have my Lynx 2 that I got as a kid! I can recommend Gates Of Zendocon and Scrapyard Dog as well, the former I think still stands up now and the second one just because it's a bit random.

I’ll have to check them out. I need to get a Lynx flash cart. The games aren’t the worst priced ever but I love trying before I start looking to add to my collection
 

Cattlyst

Member
I had one with Blue Lightning and a racing game - might have have been Checkered Flag (?). It was the Lynx II, the chunkier version. Didn't have it for long though, I forget why.
 

stranno

Member
Xybots is really fun and its quite close to the arcade experience.

I have never played Todd's Adventures in Slime World but 8 players cooperative looks rad.

 

Holammer

Member
My funniest Lynx memory is testing an import machine at a videogame store, the owner knew I was knowledgeable of games and asked me if he should carry it. I tried California Games and told him that while impressive, it would flop because of a variety of factors. Which it did and got a job there when I finished Gymnasium.
In retrospect, I reckon they should have spent the time and money making an actual console rather than a handheld. If that thing had higher resolution and slightly improved color capabilities, it would have been a mini-Neo Geo capable of stomping the Megadrive and SNES.
 
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VGEsoterica

Member
My funniest Lynx memory is testing an import machine at a videogame store, the owner knew I was knowledgeable of games and asked me if he should carry it. I tried California Games and told him that while impressive, it would flop because of a variety of factors. Which it did and got a job there when I finished Gymnasium.
In retrospect, I reckon they should have spent the time and money making an actual console rather than a handheld. If that thing had higher resolution and slightly improved color capabilities, it would have been a mini-Neo Geo capable of stomping the Megadrive and SNES.

I still wonder how wide the distribution on the Lynx was. I saw the Neo Geo Pocket, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Game Gear in Vermont, but never a Lynx, or a Jaguar for that matter. Maybe Atari didn't have distribution in my state. Come to think of it I never even saw an Atari computer growing up. It was Tandy, then Apple IIC, then whatever MAC was being sold in the early 90's.
 

Holammer

Member
I still wonder how wide the distribution on the Lynx was. I saw the Neo Geo Pocket, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Game Gear in Vermont, but never a Lynx, or a Jaguar for that matter. Maybe Atari didn't have distribution in my state. Come to think of it I never even saw an Atari computer growing up. It was Tandy, then Apple IIC, then whatever MAC was being sold in the early 90's.

It must've been poor, just like Sega's troubles with distribution with & after the Saturn. It was also released at the height of Nintendo's bully period.
The problem was likely exacerbated by the prevalence of mom'n pops brick and mortar stores back then, so if your distributor was shit and did not send out an army of competent sales reps, your machine was doomed to fail.
 

VGEsoterica

Member
It must've been poor, just like Sega's troubles with distribution with & after the Saturn. It was also released at the height of Nintendo's bully period.
The problem was likely exacerbated by the prevalence of mom'n pops brick and mortar stores back then, so if your distributor was shit and did not send out an army of competent sales reps, your machine was doomed to fail.

I still miss those days though. While I am hyped for Xbox Series X and PS5, I hate that "consoles" are now just PC APU's in a box. Stuff like the custom hardware on Lynx / Saturn / N64 / PS1 / DC / PS2 was way more inspiring than what we get now
 
My funniest Lynx memory is testing an import machine at a videogame store, the owner knew I was knowledgeable of games and asked me if he should carry it. I tried California Games and told him that while impressive, it would flop because of a variety of factors. Which it did and got a job there when I finished Gymnasium.
In retrospect, I reckon they should have spent the time and money making an actual console rather than a handheld. If that thing had higher resolution and slightly improved color capabilities, it would have been a mini-Neo Geo capable of stomping the Megadrive and SNES.

Yes and they could call it... The Jaguar!
 

dan76

Member
I still have mine with Pacland, a great port of the arcade game. The only other game I have is Shanghai, pretty cool for destressing.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Those gems must be hidden pretty well, because I've never been able to find a good excuse to buy one of these things.
 

Mihos

Gold Member
I have a ton of Lynx games, but my Lynx2 buttons stopped working.
I haven't gotten around to fixing it, but this thread reminded me to put it on my todo list.
 
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