A RetroMo view of the Lynx

Ok, so the Lynx was HUGE, had horrid battery life, and an astonishingly bad button layout, but it had Klax. KLAX!

 

The Senor has many fond memories from his youth: GI Joe, his grandma's chicken fajita nachos, his girlfriend Liliana Gonzalez, Menudo. He also remembers the Atari Lynx, the world's first portable videogame system with a color screen. Although it was eventually de-clawed by Nintendo's little taquito, the Game Boy, the Lynx successfully managed to find its audience. That audience may have been nothing more than foolish collectors that loved to play with large black objects (hey now), but nevertheless, fun times were had with the likes of Batman Returns, Robo Squash, Klax, Rampage, and a host of other quality gems. But much like most of Atari's experiments, the Lynx was unfortunately put to sleep.

The system was originally created by Epyx, makers of the popular California Games. Supposedly, the Lynx was completed in 1987, and for whatever reason, Epyx rolled it out at the 1989 CES. The company enlisted the help of Atari, which swiftly changed the name of the system (it was originally called Handy) and prepared to unleash it on a populace that had re-embraced videogames.

Lynx had a hell of a lot going for it. Not only was it backed by Atari, which was still a rather popular name at the time, for better or worse (probably worse), but its 3.5 inch backlit screen was an attention grabber and the unit draws from an available palette of 4,096 colors. Plus, it was and possibly still is the only system that allows the gamer to play lefty or righty, meaning that for the first time in their dreary existences, left-handed people could almost feel normal.

Considering that the Game Boy had a black and white screen that was roughly half the size of the Lynx's, Atari's new toy was truly ahead of its time. With that being said, it should have sold like a fresh stack of Johnny Cakes, except that it had one small problem, that being the Game Boy's existence. Nintendo's hand held debuted at about the same time with three important things on its side. First, it was published by Nintendo, the company that single handedly resurrected the fallen videogame industry, so right away, consumer perception may have doomed the Lynx since Atari symbolized the disappointing 80's crash. Second, it also didn't help that the Game Boy was sold for less than $115 while the Lynx sold for a hefty $190, give or take. Finally, and this was the real hot tamale in the weak digestive system, the Game Boy had Tetris, the greatest puzzle game in the history of puzzle games.

It also didn't help that the Game Boy came with Tetris. Lynx had California Games, but let's not be stupid. California Games is no Tetris. Also, the Lynx consumes batteries like Jaws eats drunken sea captains. You're looking at four to five hours max on six AAs. And (I keep thinking of shortcomings), the Lynx is big as hell. You're not just going to whip one out in tight quarters and be comfy with it. I enjoy having my hands spread out (the Game Boy's set up tends to cramp the fingers), but the Lynx is a bit over the top, as in it takes more than three DS Lites stacked on top of one another to equal its thickness.

Realizing that its original model was a bit too extreme, Atari decided to remodel the Lynx and release a different version, and thus, the Lynx II was born. Let's take a gander at it.

As you can see, the Lynx is the epitome of American design (as in insanely huge). There's plenty of real estate for people with Andre the Giant sized meat claws. The d-pad is larger than most (if not all) of its competitors (past and present), the screen is a decent size, allowing the user to hold the system comfortably instead of close to the face, and all of the buttons are within reach. It's not the most ergonomic of designs, but everything just feels conveniently placed on the Lynx.

Ok, so let's take a closer look at the center of the system. In the middle is the screen, which, it pains me to say, kind of sucks. The resolution on the Lynx is just awful. It was awful when it was first released, and it's even uglier in 2006. That's not to say that the Game Boy's is any better, but it's not what I envision for $190.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's examine the buttons.

First, we come to the left side. For whatever reason, the developers decided to create two buttons for powering on and off the system, hence the On and Off buttons, which are just plain stupid. They serve their purpose, but why the hell would anyone do that? Anyway, then there's the Backlight button that's pretty much useless. Seriously, you can never see anything, even in good light. Just some truly awkward decisions here. I appreciate the Backlight button's purpose (to conserve battery life I hope), but it doesn't work.

On the right we have the downright goofy buttons. The Option 1 button is the Turbo function, but it doesn't work in all games. Then things get a tad bit confusing. The Lynx's manual makes reference to a Pause button, but no such animal is described on the system. It's actually the button just below Option 1. And, the buttons do things when pressed at the same time. Option 1 and Pause restarts a game, and Option 2 and Pause flips the screen upside down so you can play left handed. As for Option 2, it's sort of like Option 1 in that it does...umm...stuff. The manual says Another optional button used in some games to give you even more capabilities and control. Option 2 may, for example, allow you to use certain objects or turn the music on or off. Hmm...thanks Mr. Vague, enemy of Captain Obvious.

 

The top of the Lynx contains old friends, some of the same ones on other portable systems. From left to right there's the brightness knob, AC power plug, the COMLYNX jack (allows you to connect up to 16 other Lynxs for multi-play), the headphone jack, and finally, the volume control. And as a side note to COMLYNX shenanigans, while up to 17 people can play at the same time, I've never seen a game that supports this number.

Ah yes! The Lynx's bottom. Yup, this is where the batteries go. A piece of plastic slides out, and...you put the batteries in there. That is all.

Here's a great side of the Lynx! The back! The read end! It's badunkadunk, and believe me when I tell you that the Lynx has quite the J-Lo booty. On its left and right are rubber hand grips (I bet J Lo doesn't have those) and dead center is the cartridge slot.

Let's take a good look at these carts. The Lynx's games are about as thin as the Turbo Express' HuCards. There's also a lip near the top that allows you to easily yank games out of the device. So they're just like Game Boy games except without the plastic shell.

A system is made by its games, so it pains me (not really) to say that this was another one of the Lynx's Achilles Heels. As you're about to see, there are definitely good games for this system such as Blue Lightning and Ms Pac Man (not pictured), but there weren't enough of them. Atari and its fellow publishers couldn't crank out enough hits to compete with the Game Boy. But here are some of its best games as well as a few that, while they've been slammed by other writers, are still close to my heart.

 

Ninja Gaiden:

Want star power? How about the arcade version of Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden? The original plays pretty well on the Lynx, with plenty of hockey mask wearing psychos to pummel. Like most games, it's hampered by the mediocre screen, but this is definitely a solid pickup that's worth your time.

Rygar:

Lots of people hate on this game but I enjoy it. This old school side scroller casts you as Tecmo's legendary hero, complete with [snicker] Diskarmor. Unlike Ninja Gaiden, the colors aren't as washed out, and the game's a lot easier, as the sprites are much larger than poor Ryu, who is small and often invisible when surrounded by lots of enemies.

Gauntlet:

A decent port of the arcade classic, the key feature being able to play with the Lynx held vertically, though it also appears that that's the only way to play. But if you crave frantic monster mashing and dungeon crawling on the go (and you've taken a Lynx with you), Gauntlet is an essential selection.

Batman Returns:

For a time, this was the one game that was supposed to save the Lynx from utter damnation. Atari managed to snag the Batman license and crafted a pretty good side scrolling beat-em-up that's on par with the one available for the Game Gear. Battle the Penguin and Catwoman in your battle to save Gotham from...Penguin and Catwoman.

Robo Squash:

Think of it as a pseudo 3D version of Pong. You smack this red ball back and forth against either the computer or a friend, the goal being to make your opponent miss. When this happens, the ball explodes and red goop covers a portion of the screen, further blurring their vision. Get them to miss three red balls and their screen cracks. The depth of field is impressive and the game is just lots of fun. Robo Squash...for the win!

Rampage:

A quality version of the popular arcade game, not the best, but certainly decent enough to warrant a purchase. Select from one of three monsters and then terrorize various cities, smashing buildings and consuming little army dudes.

Roadblasters:

Blaze down highways blowing up street slime in a race to cross the finish line before you run out of fuel. This is probably one of the best home conversions of Roadblasters that you'll find, and I highly recommend picking up a copy. The graphics are impressive, the action is non stop, and there's a shortage of racing games on the Lynx, so be sure to get this one!

Kung Food:

This is arguably one of the worst games for the Lynx, but it stands out simply because it's so ridiculous. Essentially a Double Dragon clone, you play as a genetically mutated weirdo that must travel throughout his refrigerator and beat the hell out of the evil carrots, peas, tomatoes, and ice cubes that are running amok. The collision detection could be a bit better, as it's difficult to hit things, but overall, I dig Kung Food. Its gameplay isn't the worst that I've experienced, and its zany story is quite entertaining. The Senor...he's likes zany stories.

KLAX:

There can't be a Lynx article without KLAX. This enjoyable puzzle game charges you with grabbing colored tiles and placing them into groups of three. The tiles march down this conveyor belt of sorts, and you're supposed to pick them up before they fall off. Like Gauntlet, the game is played vertically, and as an added bonus, there's actual voices, something that wasn't seen much back in the day.

Chip's Challenge:

An interesting puzzle game in which you play as this nerdy kid that has to collect a bunch of computer chips in order to clear a given stage. In his way are monsters and other obstacles. Chip's Challenge + KLAX= The beginning of a great Lynx library.

Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop:

Another side scrolling adventure, this one starring a take no prisoners police officer that plays by his own set of rules. Dirty Larry catches a lot of criticism and rightfully so since the AI is rather cheap, but the game is quite amusing, as there are a few bizarre enemies, most notably the guys that set themselves on fire and the fat chicks. Worth owning just for those reasons alone.

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I like the Lynx. I think its designers had some good ideas, and some of the games are pretty decent. But it's nowhere near as cool as the Turbo Express, Game Gear, and most importantly, the Game Boy. Sadly, it's just another Atari system that never took off.