First we are taking a look at Evercade 13: The Atari Lynx Collection I. This was a machine I never owned but one of my mates did, and he liked to show it off every chance he got. This was good for me as I got to play on it quite a bit. It is nice to finally have my own set of games to play on the go, and on the big tv too - Which is something I never thought I would be able to do at the time. How have these games aged? Are they as good as I remember? Are there any games in this set I actually played back in the day? Lets find out.
Here is the ranking of my favourite games on the Atari Lynx Collection I. As usual you can watch the video here, or just beneath are my thoughts on each of the titles:
17: Gordo 106 - 1993 - Platformer
I couldn't get on with this game at all. I'm usually a fan of platformers, but there was just something about this game, or maybe a lot of things. I didn't really like the style of the game, the controls or level layout. I loved the little animations where he let the animals out the cage, but it had some very strange ideas including holes in the ground that send you to a hell like dungeon level where sometimes (I could be missing something here?) there doesn't appear to be a way out.
16: Power Factor - 1993 - Action
I had great difficulty with controlling this game which may be apparent in the video (It is!) I was hoping to really enjoy this when I looked at the titles and notes in the booklet, but the weird ideas for controls just left me frustrated. I am guilty of probably not giving this game long enough, but there are so many more enjoyable experiences on this cart I never got round to giving it a bigger bash after the initial few hours playing it.
15: Jimmy Connors' Tennis - 1993 - Sport
Another game I was looking forward to trying. Playing real sports tennis on the previous Atari collection reminded me how much I loved tennis games. Unfortunately, I am rubbish at this game - I mean really rubbish! I can barely ever return a shot, and I miss serving quite a few times as well. The video footage is short because it's too embarrassing to show how utterly rubbish I am at this game. But saying that, I keep going back now and then to try and improve my timing. I like the animations and presentation of the game, and the audio is pretty funny, it was quite the novelty back then to actually hear voices in a game.
14: Basketbrawl - 1992 - Action
Basic fun. Basketball, but you can beat the crap out of the opposition. Also the intro music is catchy as hell. Not much more to it really.
13: Malibu Bikini Volleyball - 1993 - Sport
Not being a massive fan of Volleyball I still had some fun with this game, it plays decent enough, and looks good on the handheld. As with many Lynx games it can look a bit messy on a big tv but that doesn't ruin it at all. Sports games are always hard to rank for me as they are probably my least favourite type of game to play (though there are a few notable exceptions that we will no doubt see in the future on the Evercade - giving you a clue here would probably be sensible.)
12: Super Skweek - 1991 - Puzzle
I usually love these types of games, and though it is fun enough, I found the areas too large and complicated for what they needed to be. Also the controls are a bit off and the character slides around a bit too much when you are trying to be precise.
11: Remnant: Planet Wars - 2000 - Space Shooter
Now this is a game I thought I would totally adore and it is a lot of fun., but it doesn't really go anywhere and is pretty much the same from start to finish. While I did have a lot of fun with this title, I wish more had been added to the basic game loop.
10: Cybervirus - 2002 -FPS
A basic first person shooter with a scifi theme. Limited but enjoyable, and impressive considering the hardware it was made for.
09: Megapak Vol.1 - 2008 - Miscellaneous
This feels like those demo discs I used to have for the amiga with a collection of random simple but fun games and the odd music or tech video - and that's kind of what you get here. The games are very basic (I only show two of them in the video) There's even a hidden text adventure if you complete enough rounds of a word guessing game. I enjoyed this set much more than I thought I would which is why it made it into the top ten.
08: Awesome Golf - 1991 - Sport
Being only the second golf game so far on the Evercade, made this game a refreshing change - though there are no ninjas here! I find the real game of Golf quite boring, but I do love playing the video game equivalent. My favourite being the Psone series Hot Shot / Everybody's Golf. I'm also quite fond of playing a few rounds in Yakuza 3. For a Lynx game this looks and plays really well, and kept me coming back a fair few times.
07: Dracula: The Undead - 1991 - Adventure
Being greeted with a digitized image of Christopher Lee on the opening screen got me quite excited thinking this may have some leaning towards the Hammer Horror version of Dracula, but alas the image hasn't got much to do with it as the Dracula within this story is nothing like Mr Lee's interpretation. However, I loved this point and click adventure game. The sepia coloured pixel design really adds to the atmosphere and it looks gorgeous on the handheld, but just as with many Lynx games the visuals don't hold up quite as well on a big HD tv screen.
06: Loopz - 2004 - Puzzle
Puzzle games, when interesting enough can grab hold of me and not let go for hours. This feels like a cross between Pipemania, Tetris, and the building part of Rampart - and it pulls it off really well. Not much more to say about this except its easy to pick up and a lot of fun.
05: Shipyard Dog - 1991 - action
Save the Dog! I was in from the start, how dare some devilish dude steal my dog. I found the first few levels a bit awkward but the further I got I really appreciated the look and design. The controls are a bit wonky, but the visual style really won me over in the end - Plus the need to save the damn dog!
04: Ishido: The way of Stones 1990 - Puzzle
Its hard to convey in the video the enjoyment of this puzzler. When you first start out it seems you have this huge area and can pretty much stick any piece anywhere as long as its either matching the colour or pattern of the tile next to it. However, as the play area gets more and more crowded you realise there is much more at play here, you really have to plan early on else you can completely stuff things up for the end game. I really loved this title.
03: Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure - 1992, 2003 - Puzzle
This game reminds me of a fair few games I played on the spectrum and commodore 64 growing up. It's just like boulderdash, except you have weapons. At first I thought this would make the game less fun as you could shoot everything from a distance, making everything all too easy. I was wrong. As the levels progress they become more complicated, and as much thought is needed as was in the original games this bases itself on. I think I still prefer Boulderdash though.
02: Xump: The Final Run - 2019 - Puzzle
I love the variety of puzzle games on this set. This game is an absolute gem as long as you learn to control and time your movement so you don't overshoot and fall off the narrow paths. The game could use a bit of tightening here, but apart from that (and it is something you do get used to) the game is pretty perfect.
01: Super Asteroids & Super Missile Command - 1995 - Shoot 'em up
I'm not surprised really, are you? As soon as I saw there were "Super" versions of Asteroids and Missile Command on the cart I did get pretty excited. Of course there is the fear that if they fiddle too much with the basic idea they could ruin what made the original so enjoyable. Thankfully, this is not the case. Both games are an absolute delight. Missile command even has a shop between levels to upgrade weapons etc and it only adds to the fun. If this cart is in the Evercade, it almost guaranteed I'm playing one of these two games.
Final Thoughts
As it turned out, none of the games I remembered playing were on this set. But that's a good thing as it means they were all brand new experiences for me. Have Lynx games aged well? Mostly yes. Of course when playing on a television some of the games transform into a bit of a visual mess, but not all and it still gives them a certain charm. None of this is an issue with the handheld screen and the games on the whole look and play great.
I had a genuinely interesting and enjoyable adventure going through this set of games, and I am interested to see how the Lynx Collection II fares - which will be my next Evercade post. Until next time my friends, be seeing you x
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