Battlewheels (Atari Lynx)
See what makes this arena combat game so good on a handheld
LOCR Producer: Where has this game been hiding? From the moment I first played Battlewheels, it vaulted to the top of my Best Atari Lynx Games list. I saw the screen shots and I was a little skeptical. It’s easy to find games on the Atari Lynx that were just too ambitious and the results can get ugly; Choppy gameplay, confusing messes of sprites but Battlewheels doesn’t suffer from any of that.
It looks and plays great, but what really surprised us here was how deep this game goes. So many arenas and ways to customise your ride. You can hop out of the car, run around, steal other cars.
Obviously, the best part of handhelds titles is when you can dive straight into an arcade type experience, especially with these older consoles that don’t have save states. Battlewheels is arcade, you can customise your experience and really dive into the mechanics of vehicular battles, but it’s just as easy to start a quick game and fore-go a lot of the menu’s.
Fun fact: Battlewheels nearly came to the Jaguar as advertised on the back of the Jaguar box. Turns out that after completing a few 3D models, it become apparent to the Beyond Games that the Jaguar version wasn’t going to happen.
Like most Atari Lynx games, Battlewheels is multiplayer for up to 8 players and I can imagine that being the best experience ever. It’s a great game on its own, and I can only imagine how awesome the multiplayer is, but this game is a unique title you won’t on any other system, a title us Lynx owners can really rally behind.