Atari Lynx - Can't believe there wasn't a thread already!

[alexknibb]

Absolutely no-one is showing any Lynx-love on the VC forums at the moment, so I thought I'd rectify this.

One of the things people seem to forget about the Lynx was that it was way ahead of its time. In terms of technical ability, it absolutely creamed the Gameboy and the Game Gear, and had some great games including S.T.U.N. Runner, Klax, Gates Of Zendocon and Zarlor Mercenary (to name but a few I've played). It wasn't really until the GameBoy Advance that anything really beat it in the handheld graphics stakes (at least in the UK, where we didn't get the PC Engine handheld).

So what let it down? Well, the one thing that seriously scuppered it was the battery life. The Lynx would only come close to two hours on a set of four AA batteries, whereas the GameBoy could approach two months on the same, seemingly.

The second thing that completely screwed them over was listening to the focus groups. The people, sorry, morons in the focus groups reported to Atari that the original prototype was "too small" and they wanted to feel like they were getting more for their money. Seriously. So Atari beefed it up and shot themselves in both feet, their knees and hips. The first Lynx was a big beast solely to house all the air they put into it.

The final problem that scuppered the Lynx was the price point. Yes, it was light years ahead of the competition in terms of technical ability, but this made it the spiritual prequel to the PS3. Much more capable, but much more expensive than their rivals, but with far more serious drawbacks, and with a market addicted to a game which required the technical excellence of an Etch-A-Sketch - Tetris - the Lynx was always going to be shafted by the then twin powerhouses of the Big N and Sega.

All of this is a real shame, as I had some great times with my Lynx. It was a cracking machine with some really great games in its short life.

If you see one languishing in a car boot (garage if you're American) sale, don't be afraid to stump up some dough for one of these beauties. Failed systems always have a certain charm in retro gaming circles, but this is one that will still delight you to this day.

PS. Did anyone else have a Lynx? What were your favourite games for it? Do you have an opinion about the console? Don't be afraid to share it! Plus, I just bashed this out in a couple of minutes, so please add any more back-story to the Lynx if you wish.

[Dazza]

Only one kid in my neighbourhood invested in the Lynx when I was growing up. I knew about 15 Gameboy owners and maybe 5 Game Gear owners so this serves as a reminder how neglected Atari's wonder console was at the time.

I do remember a killer version of California Games being on the console, perhaps missing one or two of the events. There wasn't really too much else which grabbed my attention however at the time. I borrowed from said mate and quickly ran out of batteries so ended up stuck indoors playing on AC mains which defeated the point somewhat.

The original Lynx was as Alex says, HUGE! Everything was laid out well however which made it a pleasure to play. I liked the fact the screen could be flipped if you were left handed and mirror action buttons were included! Too big too really serve as a portable however. The Lynx v2 was much nicer I recall.

So all in all a bit meh from my memories. Nothing really stood up against the might of Nintendo's monochrome doorstop in those days. The Game Gear suffered from terrible battery life itself and for those who did import the PC Engine GT it was again the same battery draining misery. Nintendo had the right idea with the original Gameboy and with killer apps like Tetris you never felt jealous seeing your buddies playing Columns or Klax plugged into the mains!