Top 25 Lynx games of all time

[moff000]

I have just purchased a Lynx and looking forward to trying some of these games as the only one i can recall playing is chips challenge.

[+davidcalgary29]

I have just purchased a Lynx and looking forward to trying some of these games as the only one i can recall playing is chips challenge.

 

There are really only five games or so to avoid in the entire Lynx library, so you're going to have some great times. And I see that Hard Drivin' made at least one "best of" list, so not everyone despises it.

 

I'd still avoid Tournament Cyberball, Basketbrawl, Hockey, and Hyperdrome, though.

 

I've enjoyed seeing how the top games have shifted positions in the past decade or so. After 28 years of Lynx gaming, I'd pick...

 

1. Klax -- the definitive Lynx title

2. Alpine Games -- for its unparalleled gfx

3. Lemmings

4. S.T.U.N. Runner

5. Rampart

6. Chip's Challenge

7. Loopz

8. Toki -- why is this one off the list??? It's a great port!

9. Xenophobe

10. Electrocop

[LynxHandyCaster]

I have just purchased a Lynx and looking forward to trying some of these games as the only one i can recall playing is chips challenge.

 

 

Welcome to the hobby, moff000!

 

I know you'll enjoy collecting and playing with the Lynx, as nearly all of the games have something fun to offer. And checking this thread is a good start, as the Top 25 lists from many different "lynxsters" can give you a broad selection from which to choose your first games to start your collection. Most of the games are also still a bit affordable, too; NOS CIB copies of some of the lesser games can still be had for less than US$20 each. Finally, the best thing about collecting for the Lynx is that there are so many great Lynx collectors and players on Atari Age, many of whom are much more of an expert than I am, who can help you along the way. So...

 

...Eat. Sleep. LYNX. Repeat.

 

-MillipedeMan

a.k.a. Mark

 

[moff000]

Thanks for the welcome guys! I got back into retro gaming recently and bought the Atari flashback portable and put a load of games on to a SD card and i love it!

I have owned Atari 2600,Nes,Snes, Sega Genesis, N64, but i never bought an Atari lynx. So it will be a new experience!

The lynx came with these titles:-

Kung Food

Jimmy Connor’s Tennis

Turbo Sub

Pit-Fighter

Batman Returns

Hydra

Viking Child

World Class Fussball

Hard Driving

Excellent adventure

Scrapyard Dog

S.T.U.N Runner

Gates of Zendocon

I'm on the list to get the Lynx multi card in another thread also!

Edited March 8, 2018 by moff000

[LynxHandyCaster]

Thanks for the welcome guys! I got back into retro gaming recently and bought the Atari flashback portable and put a load of games on to a SD card and i love it!

I have owned Atari 2600,Nes,Snes, Sega Genesis, N64, but i never bought an Atari lynx. So it will be a new experience!

The lynx came with these titles:-

Kung Food

Jimmy Connor’s Tennis

Turbo Sub

Pit-Fighter

Batman Returns

Hydra

Viking Child

World Class Fussball

Hard Driving

Excellent adventure

Scrapyard Dog

S.T.U.N Runner

Gates of Zendocon

I'm on the list to get the Lynx multi card in another thread also!

 

There are some good games in that list: Turbo Sub, The Viking Child, Hydra, S.T.U.N. Runner, and Gates of Zendocon are a few of my faves. Scrapyard Dog is okay, but certainly not the killer app Atari was hoping it would become. And Kung Food is okay, too, if I'm honest - its collision-detection is terrible, but it's definitely kitschy and engaging. I don't care for Hard Drivin' as it's INCREDIBLY slow and blocky; Batman Returns is near impossible to win; Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures is a sentimental favorite of mine because it's the first Lynx game I ever got; and I've never played Pit-Fighter, World Class Fussball/Soccer, or Jimmy Connors' Tennis.

 

Once you get the multi-cart, you can pick and choose from all of the available titles at will. Again, congrats on becoming a newly minted Lynxster, mof000...and enjoy!

 

...Eat. Sleep. LYNX. Repeat.

-MillipedeMan

a.k.a. Mark

Edited March 8, 2018 by MillipedeMan

[+davidcalgary29]

...and I'm going to follow that post by putting a plug in for Scrapyard Dog, which is awesome. If it's not a top-ten system game for me, it's only because the best games on the system are that good.

 

It's a great lot. Aside from Pit Fighter, of course, which is not the Lynx's finest moment.

[PFG 9000]

Scrapyard Dog is awesome. I'll never understand why it's not ranked higher on many lists. The gameplay is totally solid, the level designs are varied, it's a long game with lots of warps and secrets, giving it good replay value, and it works well on the small screen. There are quite a few weapons you can use for a sidescrolling platformer, and they have a good variety in attack styles which gives the gameplay good depth. Most of the enemies are some sort of dog or other animal, but they all look different and attack differently, again giving it gameplay depth. The levels are mostly horizontally scrolling, but some are also vertically scrolling, some are warp mazes, some are shmup-like, some are boss rushes - there's just a ton of variety with this game. And every level is bursting with secrets. I've been playing Scrapyard Dog for decades, but I'm confident I still haven't found all of the secrets. Really, if you haven't given Scrapyard Dog a decent shot, and you enjoy sidescrolling platformers, you owe it to yourself to sit down with it and see how good it is.

 

Also, I seem to like Kung Food much more than most Lynx fans. Yes, it's not brilliant, but there's plenty of fun to be had. The graphics look really good on the Lynx. Once you get the moves down, it's pretty playable. The gameplay doesn't have the depth of something like Streets of Rage, but for a handheld beat-em-up from the early 90s I think it's pretty good. Some of the enemies seem cheap when you first encounter them, but almost all of them have weaknesses when you approach and attack them in the right way. I never did find a great way of killing the flies and spiders, but I was able to tackle them well enough to beat the game. Once.

[Crashtest33]

Very interesting lists from everyone.

Got my first Lynx for my 7th birthday in 1989.

Best games as follows:

1. Lemmings - An astounding game on all platforms, played it first on the Commador Amiga and Atari ST. Works well on the Lynx.

2. Xenophobe - A classic platform custom made for the small screened Lynx.

3. California Games - Amazing gameplay and soundtrack

4. Alpine Games - Actually better than all the above but not an original title. Best graphics on the Lynx ever!

5. Cyber Virus - Best use of the sublime Battle Wheels engine and a great game!

6. Stun Runner - Fast paced and hard to complete. Great Arcade action!

7. Blue Lightning - My 1st Lynx game bundled. A nostalgic soft spot.

8. Todds Adventures - A wonderful Lynx port. Insightful, engrossing and slick. No sticky gameplay and a game that could have taken the Lynx further.

9. Zaku - Bold, new and action packed. Rocks the Lynx to the Max!

10. Paperboy - Just a great arcade classic on any format but works beautifully on the Lynx.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Crashtest33

[sirlynxalot]

Hard Drivin is awesome as a technical showcase for the lynx, its basically a 3D polygon racing game on something with the same cpu as the NES! It is possible to get used to the lag/controls and become good at it. But yeah, it's certainly not a smooth or good playing 3d game when compared to 3d games of the mid 90s and beyond

Edited June 16, 2018 by sirlynxalot

[Twoface2]

Hard Drivin is awesome as a technical showcase for the lynx, its basically a 3D polygon racing game on something with the same cpu as the NES!

 

 

Steel Talons is the better polygon showcase. It runs more fluidly (more fps).

[Video]

I like hard drivin, especially bitd. It's just once dedicated 3d support came out like 32x or fx chips, you got games that looked similar (I actually love the simple unshaded polygon look), but ran way smoother. It just didn't hold up as well, but I sttil liked it. I still play the snes version from time to time.

 

I'd agree steel tallons is a better 3,d showcase for lynx, so I chose that for my top ten list.

 

Now I need to take the op list and get my game on.

[LordKraken]

A much better 3d showcase in my opinion is Warbirds. Sure it's not full-polygon based (clouds and other planes are plain sprites), but you do fly in a real 3 world populated with 3d objects (the land, the mountain/pyramid, etc)... and the engine is actually super fast and smooth! Other than that, Steel talons if definitely more enjoyable technically speaking than hard drivin.

[louisg]

1.) Xenophobe

2.) Warbirds

3.) Battle Wheels

4.) California Games

5.) Pac-land

6.) Xybots

7.) Toki

8.) Blue Lightning

9.) Rampart

10.) Crystal Mines II

 

I have probably forgotten some game that I totally dig, but here's my list off the top of my head

[Flojomojo]

The title is funny to me. It could also be

 

One-third of all the Lynx games released between 1989 and 1993

[louisg]

Naww, there are 73 games to choose from! Yeah, it probably should've been a top 5 lol

[Video]

Well, just grab the top five listed then

 

Disappointed where lemmings ended up, but I guess that's not everyone's type of game LOL. If it wasn't for loading times, I'd love the psp game, but ugh was it really necessary to load a minute or so between levels on a game that could fit in its entirety in system ram?!

[UHATEIT]

No love for Tournament Cyberball in this thread? Or Electrocop?

[+davidcalgary29]

No love for Tournament Cyberball in this thread? Or Electrocop?

Well, I agree with 50% of that.

[LordKraken]

I actually enjoy Tournament Cyberball, even though it was slow and quite broken - there is no way to do a run, you're always blocked, so only passes work, which limit the strategy quite a bit.

 

Ohh and It is also lacking a championship or at least an arcade mode (like many sport games of that time, hockey has the same problem too. I don't rly understand developers from those days by the way. Were they like "Hey single game mode is working, well it's good enough let's not implement the easy part that's gonna make the game great"!?).

 

But at the end that game was still a decent alternative to "american football" (as we call it in europe) and it's not like we had much choice anyway

Edited October 15, 2018 by LordKraken

[mvirtuale]

It was hard to choose the 10 best games! They are all very beautiful.

 

1- Blue Lightning

2- California Games

3- Championship Rally

4- Toki

5- Ninja Gaiden

6- Crystal Mines II: Buried Treasure

7- Gauntlet: The Third Encounter

8- Double Dragon

9- Basketbrawl

10- Pit-Fighter or LynxOps

Edited November 3, 2018 by mvirtuale

[Damon Plus]

I didn't know this thread was still getting replies and votes. I'll try to update soon.

[+davidcalgary29]

I didn't know this thread was still getting replies and votes. I'll try to update soon.

 

You'd better. Wyvern Tales is now top-ten for me.

[+davidcalgary29]

Polite request for updated list.

[louisg]

My picks:

 

Battle Wheels - absolutely brilliant multiplayer game that's fun 1-player or with friends

 

Xenophobe - one of those games that I can't put down once I start. I like it more than the arcade version.

 

Warbirds - solid multiplayer WWI dogfighting game that compares *very* favorably with the computer sims of its era. It's not as deep as Red Baron on computer, but is a lot more fluid, and has a great manual full of history and all the details they modeled (like how the rotation of the engine affects turning).

 

Xybots - Before we had Wolfenstein and Doom, we had Xybots! This game blew me away in the arcade, and I've always been stoked to have a version on the go.

Toki - one of the best home ports of the obscure-but-fun arcade game.

 

Pac-Land - one of the best ports of the side-scrolling platformer that started it all. Yes, even before Super Mario Bros! Namco showed where to take your mascot character and Nintendo followed. SMB is probably the better game, but Pac-Land was the trendsetter. It's probably a better game than Toki, but I've got a soft spot for Toki.

Blue Lightning - shows off the system and is mad fun. It makes for a better home game than Afterburner did while retaining the arcade style instead of opting for a pure simulation (albeit with a more methodical pacing).

 

Roadblasters - the controls are a little twitchy (I wish you could set your turning speed), but it's an awesome port. It IS let down by recycling the select music for the adrenalin-pumping end-of-level from the original, but it's a great Roadblasters on the go

Rampart - the best home port of Rampart next to the DOS one

 

STUN Runner - the difficulty is a bit uneven from race-to-race, but it's a technical marvel and easily one of the better home ports

I can't totally decide on the order. It fluctuates a bit with my mood

Runner-ups:

Crystal Mines 2: I loved the first set of levels that resembled Boulderdash the most, but it lost me later. It gets very hard very suddenly. I have the DS one with all the additional stages which I keep meaning to dig into. My opinion on this could change if the harder stages click for me.

California Games: It's such a good version of California Games, but I end up not playing it that much. Maybe I'll go back to it someday and re-evaluate it.

Rygar: I really enjoy this one! I'll take it over TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan for sure. Maybe a bit too shallow to make the top list, but it's good.

I really need to try Qix and APB. APB I tried on emu and didn't like not being able to set a cruising speed, but maybe I'll get used to playing it with the pedal taped down. Qix looks like a great port but I don't own it.

Edited January 18, 2019 by louisg

[+davidcalgary29]

APB is a great game, though. You need to give it a chance on real hardware before making a final decision about playability.