Lynx Lounge

[Justin]

Great episode BTB! Chip's Challenge is awesome, definitely in my Top 3 favorite Atari Lynx games. It compares really well to The Adventures of Lolo on NES. Chip's Challenge is a fantastic puzzle game that exists in a cool little world, it was hard not to play it for hours. The Lynx version far exceeds the Chip's Challenge that made it to PC, which made the Lynx look outstanding by comparison.

 

Here's to Dave Needle 

[btbfilms76]

Launching this Thursday - we can't wait for Friday.

 

[btbfilms76]

Blast off!

[Justin]

Awesome episode! These Epyx titles for Lynx were incredible. They really showed off the Lynx and blew everything else out of the water. You're right on when you say that if you wanted to show the Game Boy kids a game that would shut them up, stop them in their tracks and just go "holy moly" Blue Lightning was it. It's hard to comprehend that Lynx was doing this sort of scaling and graphics on a handheld, long before SNES. Outstanding game! One of my absolute favorites and a must-have for every true Lynx aficionado. 

[The Professor]

Blue Lightning is one of the best games of that era for any system. Play Top Gun on NES then come play Blue Lightning on Lynx and it'll knock your socks off. It was uncommon in flight games to have that ability to fly so high above the clouds and sow low to the ground, to roll the jet and spin around with so much precision. Atari used Blue Lightning as its in store retail demo at Toys R Us, Montgomery Wards, Software Etc. and other retailers using a special demo card:

 

 

[btbfilms76]

Blue Lightning is one of the best games of that era for any system. Play Top Gun on NES then come play Blue Lightning on Lynx and it'll knock your socks off. It was uncommon in flight games to have that ability to fly so high above the clouds and sow low to the ground, to roll the jet and spin around with so much precision. Atari used Blue Lightning as its in store retail demo at Toys R Us, Montgomery Wards, Software Etc. and other retailers using a special demo card:

 

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This is really good stuff, thanks for sharing.

[btbfilms76]

It's Friday - who's ready for some RoadBlasters?!

[btbfilms76]

Not sure If you've covered or have plans to look at Viking Child at any point?.

 

I'm firing the question of IF UK Press claims developers had been planned as a TRILOGY over to someone who worked on the game (well, Unseen64 will be on my behalf), so if anything comes in, i'll let you know and you might be able to use the info?.

 

Sounds good, I will be covering that game after the Arcade block Im doing for the Lynx.

[Sabertooth]

RoadBlasters: Power that Rules the Road!

 

I love many of the mid to late-80s Atari Games releases but this is easily among the best. In fact, it's one of my Top 5 Atari branded titles.

 

You hit the nail on the head with the Mad Max reference. I was a huge fan of the second Max movie, Road Warrior. This definitely captures that high speed car combat feeling in a way that other games have not. As you say, the Lynx version is missing the steering wheel and pedal but it was a tremendous port at the time. It wipes the floor with other contemporary home versions and its on a handheld! Just amazing.

 

I'm looking forward to the arcade block. Stun Runner, XYbots, Xenophobe, Hydra, Joust, Robotron, Super Asteroids/Missile Command, PacLand, Guantlet, Ms. PacMan, PaperBoy... So many great conversions on the Lynx! If you were an arcade fan, it was definitely the handheld to own.

[btbfilms76]

Lynx Road Blasters is indeed utterly superb, but the weak sound in some areas lets it down somewhat, which is why i personally prefer the Mega Drive version as i find it does an even better job of replicating the coin-ops visuals, music and superb controls.

 

No doubt, but think of this... Road Blasters on the go.  Can Sega do that?

[btbfilms76]

Erm, via the NOMAD, i'd have to say they could and indeed did, but years after Atari :-)

 

You're right, I forgot about the Nomad.

[btbfilms76]

Paperboy anyone?  

[Justin]

I like the hat 

[btbfilms76]

Who is ready to blast some Robotrons? I am but not on this platform, this is good port but 7800 please.  I stink at this version, give me that twin stick goodness!!

[btbfilms76]

Yet another superb video.

 

Made even more so by being so totally honest with your look at the game, the Lynx hardware was technically superb to handle Robotron, but it has a rather crippling control scheme deficit when it attempted to handle things like dual stick controls.

 

Developers did the best they could and tried to provide a control method best suited to everyone, but it could never really hope to replicate the coin op.

 

I also love your honesty when pointing out Atari sadly couldn't compete with the offerings Sega and Nintendo were coming out with for their handhelds.

 

I loved my Lynx Mk 1 and Mk 2, but like yourself, in all honesty I bought far more games for my Sega Game Gear.

 

Atari often seemed to convert games just because they had a name attached and from a technical stand point, Lynx could handle the conversions far, far better than other systems, but this did not mean games were suited to handheld play...

 

Dracula and Shadow Of The Beast..no save game option or password option or list too much on small screen and Lynx control set up.. Hard Drivin.

 

It's very refreshing to see someone who's a passionate Atari fan do a completely honest look at its software, via their You Tube channel, rather than slamn other formats, make false claims and false suggestions.

 

Your doing fantastic work here.

 

I look forward to the next video.

 

Thanks so much!  Having a good time putting these together and walking down memory lane.  Trying to keep the fan boy vibe out of the show, these are all my games from when I was growing up so you're gonna hear the good the bad and the ugly... Hard Driving. Thanks again for your positive review of the show, just trying to keep it real.

[btbfilms76]

It's the 90's and there is time for Klax. 

 

And check out the Klax review on the blog page 

http://www.atari.io/klax-lynx-lounge/

[Justin]

Great episode BTB! Mega THUMBS UP for the way you broke down the Tetris story and Tengen on NES. It’s not the easiest thing to explain to people. This was masterful. 

[btbfilms76]

Rygar on the Lynx Lounge - get out them tight red pants!

[Justin]

New episodes for Lynx Lounge, The Jag Bar and 7800 Avenue all get an extensive blog post! BTB's review of Rygar is up on the blog here!

 

http://www.atari.io/rygar-atari-lynx-lounge/

[btbfilms76]

Fantastic video.

 

Loved your comment about going from NES to Lynx version.

 

You try going from C64 to Lynx versions,as was my case

 

Fantastic to hear your a fellow Rattan fan as well.

 

Ill have to check out the C64 version.  Too bad the Lynx never got a Karnov port, another one of my favorites, on my Tandy 1000 of course.

[The Professor]

I forgot about Rygar. The Lynx was really good with arcade ports wasn't it

[btbfilms76]

Wimp free zone!!

[nosweargamer]

I think "guilty pleasure" is a good way to sum up the game.

 

I was invited to go on The Retro League Podcast a few months ago when they were talking about 1 on 1 fighters and I actually chose the Lynx version of Pit Fighter to talk about, since I wanted to bring up Atari in some way, especially the Lynx, which often doesn't get much attention on multi system podcasts.

[btbfilms76]

Yet another fantastic video and I love the personal recollections of what the game meant to you..

 

And as always you give a very balanced view of the game itself, on the Lynx.

 

Thanks so much.

[btbfilms76]

UK magazines C+VG,Zero and The One claim Amiga version features Sprite Scaling..

 

 

If this is true i'd guess Amiga is using clever coding routines where as Lynx is using the hardware..

 

The characters seam to be staying the same size, it almost looks like the floor and crowd are moving but not the actual characters.