2018
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
A FPS for the Lynx! They shouldnt have even bothered! The graphics are ugly, the sound design is barebones, the controls are loose, the enemies are spongey and shoot at you from their crotch, its never completely clear what you are doing at any given point.... This is an absolute failure on every single account and should never have been unearthed on the general public at any given point.
A FPS for the Lynx! They shouldnt have even bothered! The graphics are ugly, the sound design is barebones, the controls are loose, the enemies are spongey and shoot at you from their crotch, its never completely clear what you are doing at any given point.... This is an absolute failure on every single account and should never have been unearthed on the general public at any given point.
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
I presumed foolishly that because we're out of the official releases and onto aftermarket stuff, some of the quality would go up but absolutely not.
Here we have a first person spaceship game with inverted controls that feel slow and imprecise, shooting that feels slow and dull and enemies that have no hit-indicators so often it just feels like you're fruitlessly firing away at nothing. Its a dull mess of a game.
I presumed foolishly that because we're out of the official releases and onto aftermarket stuff, some of the quality would go up but absolutely not.
Here we have a first person spaceship game with inverted controls that feel slow and imprecise, shooting that feels slow and dull and enemies that have no hit-indicators so often it just feels like you're fruitlessly firing away at nothing. Its a dull mess of a game.
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Eh. I mean I cant exactly say these are bad by any means, both the ports of these arcade games are certainly fine and dandy and work well if you absolutely have to play these on a Lynx but there's something kind of cold and clinical about them, be it the weird slow stage transitions in Super Asteroids or the barebones sound design.
Again, I'm not saying these are 'bad' at all and clearly this was a sort of hail mary on Atari's part for the Lynx but its so by the numbers and soul-less.
Eh. I mean I cant exactly say these are bad by any means, both the ports of these arcade games are certainly fine and dandy and work well if you absolutely have to play these on a Lynx but there's something kind of cold and clinical about them, be it the weird slow stage transitions in Super Asteroids or the barebones sound design.
Again, I'm not saying these are 'bad' at all and clearly this was a sort of hail mary on Atari's part for the Lynx but its so by the numbers and soul-less.
1993
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Another rubbish Lynx platformer whats new. Again the camera is zoomed in too much and despite there being more of an attempt at variety level wise (looking at you Junkyard Dog), as a whole the game still is really clunky thanks to jumping thats too heavy and enemies that pop out of nowhere with barely enough time to give a reasonable reaction.
Another rubbish Lynx platformer whats new. Again the camera is zoomed in too much and despite there being more of an attempt at variety level wise (looking at you Junkyard Dog), as a whole the game still is really clunky thanks to jumping thats too heavy and enemies that pop out of nowhere with barely enough time to give a reasonable reaction.
1993
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
I swear this collection is trying to lure me into an early grave. What is this nonsense? Giant sprites that take up almost the entire room, a camera thats swings about awkwardly and enemies that often fire offscreen at you so usually you realise its just best to tank all the damage willy nilly.
The controls are a pile of crap too, why with the Lynx setup, did they take a page from Amiga and decide 'Oh yes, up to jump, that feels good'. Its awful, the jumping is floaty and uncontrollable and the hovering feels just as bad.
Literally the only thing stopping this from being 0.5/5 is I occasionally like some of the graphics and the whole thing has a cute Duke Nukem classic vibe. Thats it.
I swear this collection is trying to lure me into an early grave. What is this nonsense? Giant sprites that take up almost the entire room, a camera thats swings about awkwardly and enemies that often fire offscreen at you so usually you realise its just best to tank all the damage willy nilly.
The controls are a pile of crap too, why with the Lynx setup, did they take a page from Amiga and decide 'Oh yes, up to jump, that feels good'. Its awful, the jumping is floaty and uncontrollable and the hovering feels just as bad.
Literally the only thing stopping this from being 0.5/5 is I occasionally like some of the graphics and the whole thing has a cute Duke Nukem classic vibe. Thats it.
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Bleh. On the surface this feels like it should tick all the boxes, the graphics seem fine, theres 'fancy' digitized voice and it all looks the part but the gameplay itself leaves so much to be desired thanks to the slow nature of hitting.
Most tennis games you expect some level of lock-on or some level of speed but the time between hitting to swing and the actual swing taking place isnt synced up well at all, resulting in the game struggling to even let you get basic hits in.
Even when you actually manage to get a serve in, making a game of it is still impossible due to the game's perspective often making it impossible to accurately judge where you can hit from.
Sure its pretty.... but thats about it.
Bleh. On the surface this feels like it should tick all the boxes, the graphics seem fine, theres 'fancy' digitized voice and it all looks the part but the gameplay itself leaves so much to be desired thanks to the slow nature of hitting.
Most tennis games you expect some level of lock-on or some level of speed but the time between hitting to swing and the actual swing taking place isnt synced up well at all, resulting in the game struggling to even let you get basic hits in.
Even when you actually manage to get a serve in, making a game of it is still impossible due to the game's perspective often making it impossible to accurately judge where you can hit from.
Sure its pretty.... but thats about it.
1990
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
I hated the 7800 version of this, in fact I hated it so much, it currently is last in my evercade game ranking. This? This is MUCH better with some rather fun and easy gameplay, running around, punching your opponent and scoring baskets. Its a fun little thing.
But the problem is its a little thing, there isn't really enough here to keep anyone's interest going for very long. The game as a whole is pretty easy and the rounds go on for slightly too long so by the time you've finished even just two stages, theres already the urge to just move onto something with substance behind it.
I hated the 7800 version of this, in fact I hated it so much, it currently is last in my evercade game ranking. This? This is MUCH better with some rather fun and easy gameplay, running around, punching your opponent and scoring baskets. Its a fun little thing.
But the problem is its a little thing, there isn't really enough here to keep anyone's interest going for very long. The game as a whole is pretty easy and the rounds go on for slightly too long so by the time you've finished even just two stages, theres already the urge to just move onto something with substance behind it.
1990
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Eh. I couldn't gel with this at all. The graphics are cute-ish but a little on the ugly side, the music is annoying as can be but the biggest crime that this game commits is having controls that feel like you're skating on ice with a shopping trolley. Skweek speeds along with zero friction and it feels just wrong, especially when the screen space is so small so you barely have any time to react when enemies pop out of nowhere.
To the game's credit, there's a really surprisingly large amount of levels here and the sheer amount of variety in the powerups and tile types does stop it from getting old but the twitchy nature of it ruins what could have been a run little game, all it needed was a bit less speed and a bit more grid-based movement and I would have been fine.
Eh. I couldn't gel with this at all. The graphics are cute-ish but a little on the ugly side, the music is annoying as can be but the biggest crime that this game commits is having controls that feel like you're skating on ice with a shopping trolley. Skweek speeds along with zero friction and it feels just wrong, especially when the screen space is so small so you barely have any time to react when enemies pop out of nowhere.
To the game's credit, there's a really surprisingly large amount of levels here and the sheer amount of variety in the powerups and tile types does stop it from getting old but the twitchy nature of it ruins what could have been a run little game, all it needed was a bit less speed and a bit more grid-based movement and I would have been fine.
2023
Lawd knows I should absolutely hate this game to the ground thanks to Gameloft's absolutely predatory pricing, battle passes, currency nonsense and loot boxes all wrapped into a big spending ball....
But I dont? I've played this a lot more than I care to admit and played countless hours because at its core, there is a very fun racing game here with some incredible takes on various disney locations and characters, big points going to its weird take on Beauty and the Beast. The action feels really frantic, theres some absolutely ruthless gameplay going on and its really easy to pick up, play and go all out on the various tracks.
Again though its not perfect, the game absolutely suffers from Gameloft's chase for money and the ranked multiplayer is a wasteland of pay to win.
I just wish there was a general all in one paid version. Thats all. Also I wish whoever remixed 'Youve got a friend in me' in that manner to quite frankly undo it, good god...
But I dont? I've played this a lot more than I care to admit and played countless hours because at its core, there is a very fun racing game here with some incredible takes on various disney locations and characters, big points going to its weird take on Beauty and the Beast. The action feels really frantic, theres some absolutely ruthless gameplay going on and its really easy to pick up, play and go all out on the various tracks.
Again though its not perfect, the game absolutely suffers from Gameloft's chase for money and the ranked multiplayer is a wasteland of pay to win.
I just wish there was a general all in one paid version. Thats all. Also I wish whoever remixed 'Youve got a friend in me' in that manner to quite frankly undo it, good god...
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
I mean the graphics are.... somewhat passable for a Lynx. We'll give them that. And only that. Everything else is just clumsy stupidity, from a lack of options, to gameplay that has you consistently face off against the dumbest CPU players known to man, this is a trainwreck. I mean I shouldnt just be able to sit there and watch as the CPU players fumble everything and hand me point after point.
I mean the graphics are.... somewhat passable for a Lynx. We'll give them that. And only that. Everything else is just clumsy stupidity, from a lack of options, to gameplay that has you consistently face off against the dumbest CPU players known to man, this is a trainwreck. I mean I shouldnt just be able to sit there and watch as the CPU players fumble everything and hand me point after point.
Oh god no. At first I was all 'Huh wait this looks cool, how come ive never heard of it' and then BAM, the moment I started playing I got why.
Its slow, the attacks are clumsy, the enemies annoying, the sound effects are comically bad and the sprite flicker that happens at times is absolutely unacceptable. I honestly wish I hadnt uncovered this.
Its slow, the attacks are clumsy, the enemies annoying, the sound effects are comically bad and the sprite flicker that happens at times is absolutely unacceptable. I honestly wish I hadnt uncovered this.
1991
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Honestly we should just be asking why Mr Big wants the dog so badly and why literally every single animal out there desperately wants to keep you away from getting the dog free. Is this dog a secret hitler? Did the dog break the heart of a lady dog many years ago? Does the dog secretly have a genetic code capable of unlocking the key for creating life itself?
Who knows. All I know is that theorising weird plots is a hell of a lot more interesting than actually playing or talking about the game itself because this is honestly just on the side of 'Acceptable' and very little else. Controls are fine, if a bit heavy, the levels look ok, even if they are completely flat and devoid of any real elevation... Its all just 'meh' in the meh-est way.
Honestly we should just be asking why Mr Big wants the dog so badly and why literally every single animal out there desperately wants to keep you away from getting the dog free. Is this dog a secret hitler? Did the dog break the heart of a lady dog many years ago? Does the dog secretly have a genetic code capable of unlocking the key for creating life itself?
Who knows. All I know is that theorising weird plots is a hell of a lot more interesting than actually playing or talking about the game itself because this is honestly just on the side of 'Acceptable' and very little else. Controls are fine, if a bit heavy, the levels look ok, even if they are completely flat and devoid of any real elevation... Its all just 'meh' in the meh-est way.
1992
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
A little bit of a surprise for this one, a point and click on the Lynx isn't something you'd ever expect. Style-wise this game actually is almost completely on point with cutscenes, a striking art style, some suitably creepy music and a generally interesting sense of exploration like all good point and clicks should have. All of this absolutely leads to a surprisingly creepy little game that plays wonderfully off the original source material.
That said, the game isn't without issue, while stylistically the game strikes, the controls really do get some getting used to where even just picking up basic items can be a chore. Even with that gotten used to, the other issue is the game is just very very short and the story just 'stops' suddenly. I get why, the graphics and music used pretty much ensures a short playtime, but the sudden nature of the ending does take the wind out of everything somewhat.
P.S: This game absolutely benefits from being on the Evercade. While the game originally had no save feature, meaning you had to get through the entire game in one run, this isnt an issue now with save states. Woo.
A little bit of a surprise for this one, a point and click on the Lynx isn't something you'd ever expect. Style-wise this game actually is almost completely on point with cutscenes, a striking art style, some suitably creepy music and a generally interesting sense of exploration like all good point and clicks should have. All of this absolutely leads to a surprisingly creepy little game that plays wonderfully off the original source material.
That said, the game isn't without issue, while stylistically the game strikes, the controls really do get some getting used to where even just picking up basic items can be a chore. Even with that gotten used to, the other issue is the game is just very very short and the story just 'stops' suddenly. I get why, the graphics and music used pretty much ensures a short playtime, but the sudden nature of the ending does take the wind out of everything somewhat.
P.S: This game absolutely benefits from being on the Evercade. While the game originally had no save feature, meaning you had to get through the entire game in one run, this isnt an issue now with save states. Woo.
1991
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Awesome Golf does try and do a lot with what its got, three courses, digitised speech samples and a heap of different shot and golf club options but it doesn't amount to very much. There isn't a lot going on here and, once again, there's a severe lack of flair and panache that just makes all the courses feel the same.
Its not a 'bad' game by any means but its just on the dull side. I really hope this isnt a trend for the Lynx games I really do hope....
Awesome Golf does try and do a lot with what its got, three courses, digitised speech samples and a heap of different shot and golf club options but it doesn't amount to very much. There isn't a lot going on here and, once again, there's a severe lack of flair and panache that just makes all the courses feel the same.
Its not a 'bad' game by any means but its just on the dull side. I really hope this isnt a trend for the Lynx games I really do hope....
Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 13: Atari Lynx Collection 1
Blimey this is tedious. The game is reasonable enough, simply match tiles in a grid by putting them next to tiles that share the same colour or the same symbol, use all the stones provided to win and get a dull pretend fireworks show.
Problem is, its all just... so... boring! There's no flair, no animation, no music, nothing of any kind. Theres also no real extra modes to extend the game anything past a few plays. This feels like the sort of game a grandmother would buy for their kid on a long car ride but they probably wouldn't as they'd see the skimpy lady on the front and presume otherwise. Also the Lynx had next to no battery life so the car ride wouldn't work either.
Blimey this is tedious. The game is reasonable enough, simply match tiles in a grid by putting them next to tiles that share the same colour or the same symbol, use all the stones provided to win and get a dull pretend fireworks show.
Problem is, its all just... so... boring! There's no flair, no animation, no music, nothing of any kind. Theres also no real extra modes to extend the game anything past a few plays. This feels like the sort of game a grandmother would buy for their kid on a long car ride but they probably wouldn't as they'd see the skimpy lady on the front and presume otherwise. Also the Lynx had next to no battery life so the car ride wouldn't work either.