Top 3 Atari Lynx Games
There’s a lot to enjoy on the Atari Lynx. I want to share it with everyone. Let me highlight a few favorites
The Atari Lynx was a behemoth. Both the technology included but also, the size, weight and price. Considering it was released before the Nintendo Game Boy, the technology blows it out of the water. And some of the unique games for the Atari Lynx were set to impress.
Atari had a lot of problems in the late 80’s and early 90’s. They really got behind the power they offered in the Lynx and Jaguar systems. It was misguided. Unfortunately, power comes at a cost for the consumer. And without much third-party support, both systems had a small library compared to the competition.
Retrospectively the Atari Lynx is a lot of fun to collect for. There’s some great, unique titles on the system. I wanted to put together a list of the 3 Best Atari Lynx games to start a collection with. If you’d rather watch an older review on the Atari Lynx system itself, you can check out the review here.
The Atari Lynx’s closest competition was from Sega and their Game Gear. Both systems are extremely powerful, so go ahead and check out our Sega Game Gear Review here and compare some of their best games.
Top 3 List Rules
So the rules. I wanted my best of list to be unique to the system (even if they’re ports, they need to be unique ports). Not currently available via a Virtual Console or eShop (to the best of my knowledge). Still fun to play today and varied (each game representing a different genre).
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If you picked up a Lynx and these three games, you’d have a great little library to build on. With some of the best Atari Lynx games to show off what the system was capable of achieving.
One thing I’ve really enjoyed about the Atari Lynx specifically is how unique it’s game library is. Although the Atari Lynx boasts a much smaller library than the Sega Game Gear, every game on the Lynx was specifically made for the system.
Finally, this list (and my whole collection) consist of officially released ports. If you’re interested in the Homebrew and BETA scene, the Atari Lynx certainly has a few ‘unofficial’ games worth looking into.
One of the more impressive homebrews I’ve seen is a game called Zaku. While I haven’t had the chance to play it myself, I really recommend checking this game out at the website. The artwork is really beautiful and I love the color palette and the expressions in the animation.
So.. Onto the list.
Ninja Gaiden
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This is a port of the arcade original game. At the time the Lynx was released, Ninja Gaiden Arcade ‘may’ have been the only console port at the time (with the bulk of alternative ports available on different personal computers).
This is one of the first games I sought out for the Atari Lynx and I was very impressed. It’s a really hard game but like most Beat ’em ups, there’s a pattern to winning.
I was impressed with the stages that have been included, the amount of different enemies, weapons and power-ups. The Atari Lynx supported plenty of characters on screen and even though the frame rate is a little choppy, it’s a very playable version of the game. Easily the first recommendation for anyone after an Atari Lynx.
Ninja Gaiden is also one of the lucky Atari Lynx games to come packaged with a fold out poster. On the other side, there’s a cartoon strip containing the story for the game (along with plenty of spelling and grammar errors). If you prefer the action of the NES side-scrolling Ninja Gaiden games, Ninja Gaiden 3 was also released on the Atari Lynx.
Robotron 2084
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Another port of a classic arcade game with the Lynx’s unique widescreen view. I love the way the play field has been set up. The game plays fast and the concept is simple enough to pick up and play.
I wanted to have a game in my list that was super easy to play but difficult to master. Foregoing a puzzle game like Klax, I felt like Robotron 2084 is a little less ported (and a lot more fun).
There have been plenty of arcade ports for the Atari Lynx. Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, Defender, Rampage! Honestly, they each have their own merits. Robotron 2084 is the least graphically impressive game on my list, the gameplay, speed and intensity make up for it.
Battlewheels
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When I saw the back of the box for Battlewheels, I was expecting to be disappointed. It looked great but I was convinced it must be unplayable.
Battlewheels is a total blast. Lots of customisation options with the vehicles themselves, or go into battle on foot and try and steal a vehicle! Plenty of different arenas and solid Lynx controls. You can either set yourself up for a grueling tournament or play a single round, alone or with (up to 8) friends.
Sprite scaling became really popular in a lot of Game Boy Advance games. I was very skeptical how it’d work for a game like Battlewheels on the Atari Lynx. It works really well. This is a real hidden gem.
Interesting bit of trivia. Battlewheels was developed by Beyond Games. The company responsible for producing Ultra Vortek (one of the best Atari Jaguar Fighting titles). In addition to Ultra Vortek, they were also working on a version of Battlewheels for the Atari Jaguar. Battlewheels for the Atari Jaguar was also featured on the box for the system. However, the game was scrapped very early into development. There’s no prototype screenshots or extra information about the title.
So these are my picks for the Best Atari Lynx games but I did throw in a bonus game;
Bonus Game – Batman Returns
This is a very common game for the Atari Lynx, known for its extreme difficulty. I suggest checking out the cheat codes for this one. But with a little help, the game plays well, stages look great and it was a lot of fun. Bringing Batman to the tiny screen in his biggest adventure yet.
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Franchises are a bit of a rarity on the Atari Lynx but the Dark Knight really works well here. The stages are dark, the animation is great and he comes loaded with plenty of Batgadgets. Including acid for throwing at those pesky penguins.
If you’re going to attempt this game, the best advice is run! The bad guys will quickly mob you when you stand still. Make sure you keep moving forward, hit the health power-ups when you can and if you’re too proud to use the unlimited health cheat, at least use the level skip cheat as a password alternative.
It’s a brutal game but I love the tie-ins with the movie. Without any recognisable mascots, Batman Returns was actually a pack-in title for the Lynx 2.
So that’s my take on some of the best Atari Lynx games but there are a lot of memorable games for this system. One exclusive I really enjoyed, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, is worth mentioning. But I didn’t want to accidentally review my entire Lynx library for the video. I wanted a concise, short list of very unique games that are still fun to play.
If you like your handheld gaming, you might like to check out the Sega Game Gear system review with my pick of exclusive games worth checking out.
