The Atari Lynx Handycast

[LynxHandyCaster]

Got your diskarmor? Got your Sun Weapon? Got your Tiger Power? Got your Red Orb? Got Milk? Good, because EPISODE 24: Rygar, yet another arcade port on the Atari Lynx, is now available everywhere!
https://atarilynxhandycast.net/episode24

[TrekMD]

I'm almost done listening to the latest episode!

[Justin]

19 hours ago, LynxHandyCaster said:

Got your diskarmor? Got your Sun Weapon? Got your Tiger Power? Got your Red Orb? Got Milk? Good, because EPISODE 24: Rygar, yet another arcade port on the Atari Lynx, is now available everywhere!
https://atarilynxhandycast.net/episode24

@LynxHandyCaster Welcome to the forums Mark, we're glad you're here!   We created an "Atari Lynx Handycast Podcast Feed" in the Blogs from the automated RSS feed to help bring attention and highlight your Podcast, but it appears to have stopped updating. You're welcome to take it over:

 

[LynxHandyCaster]

23 hours ago, Justin said:

@LynxHandyCaster Welcome to the forums Mark, we're glad you're here!   We created an "Atari Lynx Handycast Podcast Feed" in the Blogs from the automated RSS feed to help bring attention and highlight your Podcast, but it appears to have stopped updating. You're welcome to take it over:

 

Thanks for letting me know, Justin. In case you have an incorrect feed for my podcast, here is my RSS feed: https://atarilynxhandycast.net/feed/podcast/ 

Please let me know if there are any changes I should make to my feed settings to make it update. Thanks 👍

Mark

[LynxHandyCaster]

6 minutes ago, LynxHandyCaster said:

Thanks for letting me know, Justin. In case you have an incorrect feed for my podcast, here is my RSS feed: https://atarilynxhandycast.net/feed/podcast/ 

Please let me know if there are any changes I should make to my feed settings to make it update. Thanks 👍

Mark

Or the feed address could be: https://atarilynxhandycast.net/?feed=rss

[LynxHandyCaster]

Well, it's that time again...

...now is the time to submit your text and/or audio feedback for the next game that I'll be covering on the Atari Lynx HandyCast,

Hard Drivin'.

 

Please comment here or send all feedback to the following by October 26:

[email protected]

Atari Age Forums (LynxHandyCaster)

Discord (The Atari Lynx HandyCast)

Facebook.com/AtariLynxHandyCast

Instagram (@lynxhandycast)

Reddit (u/LynxHandyCaster)

Threads (lynxhandycast)

 

Thanks, all you beautiful Lynxters!!!

[TrekMD]

@LynxHandyCaster, time for me to get writing some feedback! 

[Justin]

On 10/18/2024 at 6:56 PM, LynxHandyCaster said:

Well, it's that time again...

...now is the time to submit your text and/or audio feedback for the next game that I'll be covering on the Atari Lynx HandyCast,

Hard Drivin'.

 

Please comment here or send all feedback to the following by October 26:

[email protected]

Atari Age Forums (LynxHandyCaster)

Discord (The Atari Lynx HandyCast)

Facebook.com/AtariLynxHandyCast

Instagram (@lynxhandycast)

Reddit (u/LynxHandyCaster)

Threads (lynxhandycast)

 

Thanks, all you beautiful Lynxters!!!

 

When CD games first came out on home video game systems, the first games we saw were titles like Sewer Shark on Sega CD and It Came From The Desert! on TurboGrafx-CD. They looked absolutely revolutionary compared to the games we had been playing, with cinematic cut scenes interspersed between gameplay in sequences that made the game feel like a little movie.

In magazine ads and TV commercials these games looked unreal — but after a few minutes you realize these games aren’t much fun to play, and within a week you’d be back to playing Super Mario Bros 3. Seeing those iconic cinematic screenshots in the store or showing these games off to a friend was a novelty, they looked incredibly impressive but didn’t hold up well over time as being fun to play.

I view Hard Drivin’ on the Atari Lynx in much the same way. It’s a technically advanced game that looked incredible in screenshots but ultimately fell short in terms of playability.

I played Hard Drivin’ and Race Drivin’ in the arcade in 1990-1991. I’d save my quarters for a chance to sit in that immersive cockpit, complete with force feedback steering and a stick shift with working clutch, and experience the most advanced driving simulator I’d ever seen. Navigating the loop-the-loop was the main attraction, and successfully pulling it off required both speed and skill.

It was mind blowing to read that outstanding arcade game was going to be released on Atari Lynx. It looked like a marvel. I thought “no way can you replicate a game like that on a handheld.” I fully expected the Lynx release to be a watered-down imitation that looked nothing like the real thing. I was wrong. When I saw the game in Lynx brochures and ads, it looked exactly like the arcade. “How is that possible?” It just blew me away. For whatever its shortcomings, Hard Drivin’ on Atari Lynx was a cool attempt at trying to do something amazing. It was really impressive and looked lightyears beyond the green and grey blocks of Tetris on Game Boy. It became one of those games you put in when showing the Lynx off to friends because it made the Game Boy look like small potatoes.

Hard Drivin’ isn’t great to play though. The game feels very sluggish, the response time is off, everything feels very slow. You really have to get the timing down in order to steer though the course, and time your speed going around corners and over jumps. It has a sense of numbness, like you’re not in control, and whether it’s driving or playing video games, that’s the worst feeling you can have for either. Playing Hard Drivin’ feels like one of those weird dreams where you’re driving your car, apply the break and nothing happens. 

The biggest problem is there’s not much to the game. You’re limited to two courses, and the novelty of the original game is missing because so much of it had to do with the driving features of the arcade cabinet itself. There are other outstanding Lynx racing games like S.T.U.N. Runner, RoadBlasters, and Checkered Flag that all have a lot going on, with a myriad of different courses, objectives, stellar graphics, and fast response time.

Is Hard Drivin’ worth picking up for the Lynx? I say yes, go ahead and grab it just to have it. It’s not more fun to play than games like S.T.U.N. Runner or RoadBlasters, but it’s a neat looking game putting out 3-D looking graphics on a handheld system and that was really impressive.

[LynxHandyCaster]

On 10/21/2024 at 2:30 PM, Justin said:

 

When CD games first came out on home video game systems, the first games we saw were titles like Sewer Shark on Sega CD and It Came From The Desert! on TurboGrafx-CD. They looked absolutely revolutionary compared to the games we had been playing, with cinematic cut scenes interspersed between gameplay in sequences that made the game feel like a little movie.

In magazine ads and TV commercials these games looked unreal — but after a few minutes you realize these games aren’t much fun to play, and within a week you’d be back to playing Super Mario Bros 3. Seeing those iconic cinematic screenshots in the store or showing these games off to a friend was a novelty, they looked incredibly impressive but didn’t hold up well over time as being fun to play.

I view Hard Drivin’ on the Atari Lynx in much the same way. It’s a technically advanced game that looked incredible in screenshots but ultimately fell short in terms of playability.

I played Hard Drivin’ and Race Drivin’ in the arcade in 1990-1991. I’d save my quarters for a chance to sit in that immersive cockpit, complete with force feedback steering and a stick shift with working clutch, and experience the most advanced driving simulator I’d ever seen. Navigating the loop-the-loop was the main attraction, and successfully pulling it off required both speed and skill.

It was mind blowing to read that outstanding arcade game was going to be released on Atari Lynx. It looked like a marvel. I thought “no way can you replicate a game like that on a handheld.” I fully expected the Lynx release to be a watered-down imitation that looked nothing like the real thing. I was wrong. When I saw the game in Lynx brochures and ads, it looked exactly like the arcade. “How is that possible?” It just blew me away. For whatever its shortcomings, Hard Drivin’ on Atari Lynx was a cool attempt at trying to do something amazing. It was really impressive and looked lightyears beyond the green and grey blocks of Tetris on Game Boy. It became one of those games you put in when showing the Lynx off to friends because it made the Game Boy look like small potatoes.

Hard Drivin’ isn’t great to play though. The game feels very sluggish, the response time is off, everything feels very slow. You really have to get the timing down in order to steer though the course, and time your speed going around corners and over jumps. It has a sense of numbness, like you’re not in control, and whether it’s driving or playing video games, that’s the worst feeling you can have for either. Playing Hard Drivin’ feels like one of those weird dreams where you’re driving your car, apply the break and nothing happens. 

The biggest problem is there’s not much to the game. You’re limited to two courses, and the novelty of the original game is missing because so much of it had to do with the driving features of the arcade cabinet itself. There are other outstanding Lynx racing games like S.T.U.N. Runner, RoadBlasters, and Checkered Flag that all have a lot going on, with a myriad of different courses, objectives, stellar graphics, and fast response time.

Is Hard Drivin’ worth picking up for the Lynx? I say yes, go ahead and grab it just to have it. It’s not more fun to play than games like S.T.U.N. Runner or RoadBlasters, but it’s a neat looking game putting out 3-D looking graphics on a handheld system and that was really impressive.

Good points all, Justin. Thank you so much for your insightful feedback; I'll be sure to include it in the episode. Cheers! 🙂

[Justin]

1 hour ago, LynxHandyCaster said:

Good points all, Justin. Thank you so much for your insightful feedback; I'll be sure to include it in the episode. Cheers! 🙂

Happy to contribute!

Hard Drivin’ is one of the games I grew up with on Lynx. I bought it new as a kid and still have it in my collection today. Out of all my original Lynx games, Hard Drivin’ is one that got played the least — but I never regretted getting it, I never hated it and I never traded it away. There’s some value to it in the novelty.

I also still own my original copy of It Came From The Desert for TurboGrafx-CD. It looks nice on my shelf but only gets played occasionally. Not sure what that says about me 

Best wishes on the next episode! The Lynx deserves to be celebrated, you’re doing a wonderful job with the Handycsst and I hope you keep it going for years to come.