Ports Games that deserved to have a lynx port.

[Prosystemsearch]

Alien vs predator should have been released. Also, atari should have made an adapter cart that allowed the Jaguar to play lynx games. It also wouldn't have hurt to have a port to the Lynx of Enix games as well as King of fighters '94, and Phalanx.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Prosystemsearch

[108 Stars]

Hence me referring to Zelda 1, There's very little z-sorting going on in that game. Introducing an angled view is of course a lot of fun to work on, but once you have it working it means that you'll have to draw all the stages with that in mind which increases the size of the project considerably. Talking man-hours here

Just wanted to step in with my non-existent knowledge of what z-sorting even is.

About the angled view (seeing all walls around you, not just the one north) I imagine that shouldn't be that much of a problem. Sure, it means more tiles, unless it is easier to just flip/mirror tiles using the Lynx hardware. In that case you would only need one wall and could flip it.

But the things like movable blocks don't need to be correct in perspective. It's not like they are actually warped on other systems to have an accurate perspective when moved throughout the room. They are either that stylized top-down-view from the center, but with the sides visible, or stanndard top/front view all the time like the characters.

 

Just for fun I made a little mock up.

 

On the left we have micro-Zelda with tiles of just 8x8. It looks minimalistic, but I'd argue that in it's own way it would still look nicer than NES Zelda. On the right I did the 16x16 version. Link is also as big as on NES, but looks much better imo.

 

On each we have Link, the walls in the typical perspective, and a block to push that doesn't need to be changed in perspective (EDIT: accidently erased the block in 16x16, but it's essentially the same as 8x8 anyway XD).

 

I agree that the lack of height on the Lynx screen confines the space a bit, but seeing that such a project would not be a port, but a clone the game could be designed around that. You can design rooms accordingly, and even flip screen in a single room if necessary, with the bad guys not following maybe.

 

Or what about using tiles of maybe 12x12? The middle ground between Micro Zelda (allowing bigger game area on-screen) and NES-Zelda (maybe too zoomed in on Lynx).

 

Edited June 23, 2014 by 108 Stars

[LX.NET]

What would 10x10 bring? That would make the original maps fit the screen (16x10 blocks) exactly. Any chance of doing a mockup on that with no 3D-ish look and feel, but mimicking the original graphics? (Talking Legend of Zelda here)

Edited June 23, 2014 by LX.NET

[108 Stars]

Sure, I could try a 10x10 mock-up as well.

But keep in mind that the original Zelda also had that pseudo 3D look in interiors, so for a similar look it would be neccessary

 

 

Of course you can always dismiss that look and just go for the more typical JRPG look like Wyvern Tales.

[+FujiSkunk]

My votes are for Marble Madness, Road Runner and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Lynx has an awesome selection of Atari Games arcade ports, and these are about the only three missing to make the library the best it could be. Maybe Blasteroids too...

[Prosystemsearch]

Commando would have been great. As would Shining force.

[108 Stars]

My votes are for Marble Madness

Here you are, courtesy of Matthias Domin, available since 1997/1999.

 

http://www.mdgames.de/lynx_eng.htm

 

It could definitely need some extra polish with nicer graphics, menues etc, but it is Marble Madness nonetheless.

[sd32]

 

metroid-vania styled ninja game thats been in the back of my mind..

That sounds awesome Ninjabba! All your projects do!

[sd32]

TailChao, whats your current project?!, i havent heard anything about it.

Zaku was so impressive, i cant even imagine what you will come up with next!

[108 Stars]

Its been on my wishlist for years now.. or that metroid-vania styled ninja game thats been in the back of my mind..

That sounds awesome Ninjabba! All your projects do!

A similar idea has been floating in my head too. And more than that, I have lately gotten the idea to combine a Metroidvania style game with Demon's/Dark Souls on Lynx. It's in my head, amazing possibilities, but it's only there...^^

Edited June 25, 2014 by 108 Stars

[+FujiSkunk]

Here you are, courtesy of Matthias Domin, available since 1997/1999.

 

http://www.mdgames.de/lynx_eng.htm

 

It could definitely need some extra polish with nicer graphics, menues etc, but it is Marble Madness nonetheless.

 

Cool, I definitely will check it out. Thanks!

[Lynxpro]

My votes are for Marble Madness, Road Runner and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Lynx has an awesome selection of Atari Games arcade ports, and these are about the only three missing to make the library the best it could be. Maybe Blasteroids too...

 

We should've also had Atari Games/Tengen Tetris.

 

Screw you, Nintendo!

[Prosystemsearch]

Astroblaster, A Solaris remake, Jinks, Dragons, Lair, and Dragon Quest games if Enix weren't so damn afraid to work on other consoles in the US!!

[woolfman]

More Adventures in any way! Something LucasArtsy, like Sam&Max, or DotT perhaps...

[Lynxpro]

My votes are for Marble Madness, Road Runner and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Lynx has an awesome selection of Atari Games arcade ports, and these are about the only three missing to make the library the best it could be. Maybe Blasteroids too...

 

You're missing 720 Degrees. Kieren of Retro Gamer stated over at one of the Atari Facebook groups that Atari Corp's Chicago development office had done a port of 720 Degrees and was about 90% finished when it was cancelled [i presume when the Lynx was abandoned]. Road Riot 4WD was also being worked on. And Telegames was going to market the finished port of Namco's/Atari Games' Rolling Thunder after the death of the Lynx and Atari Corp but apparently Namco wanted too much money in terms of royalties to make it worthwhile releasing it.

 

At least the Lynx benefitted from having most of Atari Games' arcade titles converted to it. The 7800 was not so lucky and the Jaguar certainly didn't get enough of them as well, most likely due to some licensing spat between the two companies that Time Warner ended up intervening over and Atari Corp had to grant shares to Atari Games to settle the dispute.

[108 Stars]

You're missing 720 Degrees. Kieren of Retro Gamer stated over at one of the Atari Facebook groups that Atari Corp's Chicago development office had done a port of 720 Degrees and was about 90% finished when it was cancelled

I'd take that with a grain of salt coming from him ... He is a banned AA member known for misinformation. and has a very bad reputation around here. Not saying 720 was not in development, just saying that looking at Kieren's past he is not a very reliable source. There's the fan in him that likes to turn wishful thinking and vague rumors into facts.

 

This all may sound terribly negative, but I never had beef with him personally. Some of my friends did. Just saying he is not exactly someone whose statements should be taken as fact. He is an Atari fan, and especially a Lynx fan, and his knowledge seems to mostly come from everything he has read and heard over the years.

 

For stuff like that I'd always want actual comments from the people involved back in the day.

 

Same with Rolling Thunder being finished. I know it was announced, but with the only screenshot in existence being from the title screen I doubt it was very far in development.

 

I pieced together these bits of games from a catalogue LX.NET scanned. These are all the unreleased games from it that are not available as ROM or repro card today. I like to think that if there was much to show of RT, they would have shown gameplay instead of a title screen.

 

Edited July 4, 2014 by 108 Stars

[LX.NET]

Same with Rolling Thunder being finished. I know it was announced, but with the only screenshot in existence being from the title screen I doubt it was very far in development.

Don't know about how far it was along, but I do know that there is at least one other catalogue that has two or three screenshots of Rolling Thunder gameplay. I guess I might have to do some more scanning to show the shots. Stay tuned.

Wait, ..

I already scanned one of the magazines: Atari Adventure. http://atarilynxdeveloper.wordpress.com/resources/galleries/advertorials/#jp-carousel-932. Check out page 12. If the other magazines/advertorials have other pictures I will scan them. Also note GeoDuel, GridRunner, 720 degrees in the list. It is remarkable that these are all in a list of games ("Coming in 1991") that have actually been released. It begs the question of how far along they were, as the other were finished in 1991. Mmm...

[108 Stars]

Thanks a lot, Alex! Now this is something that I can trust.

 

Geoduel can be bought unofficially, I think someone on AA posted his impressions with it not too long ago.

 

But Rolling Thunder really thrills me. I think the Lynx desperately needs a Contra/Probotector style game, and RT fits the bill quite well. I have part 2 for the Mega Drive, good fun.

 

Someday either the ROM must be found, or a homebrewer must tackle such a project.

Gadget UK already did the same for the unreleased Cabal by doing Lynx OPs. And I believe he wasn't even aware that such a game had been canceled back in the day.

Edited July 4, 2014 by 108 Stars

[Lynxpro]

I'd take that with a grain of salt coming from him ... He is a banned AA member known for misinformation. and has a very bad reputation around here. Not saying 720 was not in development, just saying that looking at Kieren's past he is not a very reliable source. There's the fan in him that likes to turn wishful thinking and vague rumors into facts.

 

This all may sound terribly negative, but I never had beef with him personally. Some of my friends did. Just saying he is not exactly someone whose statements should be taken as fact. He is an Atari fan, and especially a Lynx fan, and his knowledge seems to mostly come from everything he has read and heard over the years.

 

For stuff like that I'd always want actual comments from the people involved back in the day.

 

Same with Rolling Thunder being finished. I know it was announced, but with the only screenshot in existence being from the title screen I doubt it was very far in development.

 

I pieced together these bits of games from a catalogue LX.NET scanned. These are all the unreleased games from it that are not available as ROM or repro card today. I like to think that if there was much to show of RT, they would have shown gameplay instead of a title screen.

 

 

Interesting. I'm not

 

Thanks a lot, Alex! Now this is something that I can trust.

 

Geoduel can be bought unofficially, I think someone on AA posted his impressions with it not too long ago.

 

But Rolling Thunder really thrills me. I think the Lynx desperately needs a Contra/Probotector style game, and RT fits the bill quite well. I have part 2 for the Mega Drive, good fun.

 

Someday either the ROM must be found, or a homebrewer must tackle such a project.

Gadget UK already did the same for the unreleased Cabal by doing Lynx OPs. And I believe he wasn't even aware that such a game had been canceled back in the day.

 

 

And I'm not disputing anything you said.

 

This is what he said regarding 720 Degrees on the Lynx over at the Atari Lynx Fans Facebook group:

 

"The Lynx version was near complete according to STUN Runner programmer D. Scott Williamson, so no idea why it wan't released. Here is a screenshot: …It was just licensed from Tengen, game was being programmed in house at Atari's Chicago development studio. … It's strange because while near complete versions of Road Riot, Relief Pitcher and Lynx Poker have found their way out many other Atari developed games like Geo Duel, Cabal, Robot Monsters, Rolling Thunder and Space War haven't despite them all being shown to people at some point. I very early beta of Vindicators did turn up but the actual complete game is lost and Telegames supposedly had a complete version of Rolling Thunder but never released it due to cost of licensing."

 

So I guess the only way to find out if his information is accurate is to contact D. Scott Williamson about 720 Degrees and someone who formerly worked at Telegames regarding Rolling Thunder.

[108 Stars]

As I said, I never had trouble with him myself, but he is kind of infamous around here, and in old threads you can find the history that made him so unpopular here. That's why I said to take it with a grain of salt; as a Lynx fan he has read much about it for many years, but it's not necessarily all 1st hand information. May be truth to it, or may be rumor will. It hasn't been a very popular decision on Retro Gamer's part to have him as an editor (after he complained here on AA about the magazine having no clue of Atari).

 

Luckily, D.Scott Williamson is on AA, so we can ask him ourselves.

Edited July 4, 2014 by 108 Stars

[LX.NET]

I did some extra scans of a magazine/advertorial/folder that has some nice pictures of unreleased games.

http://atarilynxdeveloper.wordpress.com/resources/galleries/folders/

 

Rolling Thunder: http://atarilynxdeveloper.wordpress.com/resources/galleries/folders/#jp-carousel-1063

[Lost Dragon]

The trouble with going purely off screens shown in magazines or press shots etc is they are often very miss-leading.There was talk about Cal Games II being near finished, yet screens shown were from the DOS version and i spoke to Ex-Epyx coder a while back who said things between Atari and Epyx were so bad, it's very unlikely work ever started on Lynx version.

Also mentioned this in it's specific thread, but you cannot take a press ad for Hellraiser and say it was coming on Lynx, when no coding ever started.

The screens of Rolling Thunder and Cabal i've seen look far too High Res.to be TRUE Lynx shots, Lynx was a superb system, but it suffered from a low res screen, so mocked up shots by Atari just to generate press/consumer interest, sadly seem all too common.

I'd have loved to have seen the Bitmap Bros port ST/Amiga:Xenon 1+2, Speed Ball 1+2, Gods etc to the Lynx, it seemed the ideal platform and those games ideally suited to handheld play.

[Lost Dragon]

This might be of interest:

 

Thalamus/Arc Development's Richard Underhill was working on Restrictor (for the Amiga, planned release Winter 1990, C64 version to follow etc), but project sadly died when Thalamus collapsed.Game was described as a cross between: R-Type, Galaxy Force and Afterburner.

 

During games development, Richard talked of how he wanted to bring the game to the Atari Lynx (which hardware wise did indeed seem ideally suited i feel), crying shame the Amiga vrsion never appeared as it looked promising and ideally suited to the Lynx hardware.

[Lost Dragon]

Also, if we could'nt get NARC, we could of have a clone:Access/US Gold's Crime Wave could have been ported from ST/Amiga....

 

I'd also have liked to have seen Metal Masters (infogrames).

 

And i was always very surprised Creative Materials/US Gold's 'Rotoscope' games (Operation Harrier and Rotox) never made it across, i'd of thought the Lynx hardware was ideally suited to handle these.

 

As for press reports:If you look at UK mags, you'll see both Ace and Zero claiming Bob Armour was busy working on 7800 Gauntlet-completly untrue, he never touched it/it never happened and Ace claiming Data East were about to enter the 16 Bit console market with hardware based on their coin-op's, only time i ever heard such a claim and nothing ever came of it.So you wonder where news came from a lot of the time.

[Lost Dragon]

This thread reminds me:There was 'talk' from certain source that Jeff Minter was working on Star Raiders 2000 for the Lynx, which in terms of concept, sounds mind blowing, but....

I've never seen Jeff talk about it in ANY of the many press interviews he's done over the years, he won't reply to emails i've sent asking about it (crying shame i'd not heard the claim when i met him in person years ago, i'd of asked him right out) and never found a shred of evidence to support the claim.

Can anyone one on Atari Age confirm such an undertaking was started?.