One of the main reasons why the Lynx wasn't as popular as the Game Boy or the Game Gear, besides the fact that it used more batteries than the Game Boy and drained them quicker, was because it didn't have the same third-party support as the Game Boy and the Game Gear. Each of those consoles did have their own first-party games, including Mario for the former and Sonic for the latter.
The strangest thing about the Lynz and Game Gear, was it wasn't the screen that drained the battery, but the back light. It was a pretty large tube surrounded by a mirror. If you replace the bulb with modern LED's you can ge a good 30-40 hours out of the batteries.
One key point you missed through emulation is that the games presented here look 1000x better than they did on an actual Lynx. Sure the screen was backlit but it was passive matrix and smeared to hell and back playing anything fast moving. The gameboy and gamegear do this too, but the higher resolution make it less of a messy experience.
Atari was a victim of its own success, in a way. It was stuck in the late-70s "bring the arcade home" mindset, but into the 80s and 90s there was a new generation who almost exclusively gamed at home, ironically in part due to the success of the 2600.
Thank you for the Lynx review. It was designed by one of the Amiga designers. One of the most important features of the Lynx was left out however. It could "link" with other Lynx hand helds so you could play mutiplayer games like Gauntlet: The Third Encounter. That was the reason it was called the Lynx. Because it "links" with other Lynxs. :)
The game boy absolutely had game Link capabilities. Tetris has a 2 player game Link mode. Games like f1 race included and featured a four-player link adapter. Faceball 2000 on game boy even had a link mode where multiple four-player adapters could be chained for additional players beyond 4.
I had one of the first Gameboys when it released. I loved it. But I sold it when the Atari Lynx came out. The Lynx had some amazing features and colors but so low rez and tiny library. I eventually bought a Gameboy as it was still getting more popular.
I read somewhere that the Lynx designers showed the Lynx to Nintendo before Atari. Nintendo executives showed the Lynx designers their Gameboy prototype right before refusing the Lynx
I have one that I got back then. I had to sell my Lynx to a friend for my parents to be willing to buy it for xmas & it was still ridiculously hard for them to get. Toys r Us got _3_ the first year & only 5 the year I got it. My friend got one the first year & I was so insanely jealous. I still have it. It was recapped by a guy on here, formerly of the PCE forums. Works perfectly with Eneloop rechargables.
I had a Lynx 2 in the late 90s. It was fun but most of the games weren’t titles I’ve heard of. I sold it a few months later and bought a Game Boy Color.
@@Adamtendo_player_1 Yes, although the Gameboy Color is by far the worst of any of the Nintendo handhelds. It's pretty much completely unplayable without an external light.
Warbirds was removed from atari 50 because they didn't get the Ok to use the real photos digitzed in game, it was a likeness issue basically since they couldn't get whoever to sign off on it, the source of this information i remember either being from the atari 50 launch stream on twitch (should be archived ln youtube) or somewhere somone from or DE themselves said so.
I thought it was because they did not have the rights to the game. They purchased the rights back in April this year with the Accolade deal. Atari probably thought that deal would go through in time.
Regardless of the superior hardware of the Lynx and even the Game Gear, the biggest point of contention was always battery life. As impressive as they were, they devoured those 6 AA batteries in no time. The cost starts to add up eventually and we can all imagine our parents barking, "I JUST bought you batteries, I'm not made of money!" That was one of the contributing factors why the Game Boy trounced them in sales, people could deal with simpler graphics and no backlight as long as the games were still fun and 4 AA's got you way more play time.
If not for the lower screen resolution this would have been borderline SNES or TG16 quality. Shame that the display technology of the time held it back by a mile.
I remember the LYNX coming out as a kid. Nobody wanted it because it was too expensive and by that time nobody wanted anything to do with ports/remakes of Atari 2600 games. Seems like the games that were not ports of Atari 2600 games where games nobody heard of. As a kid I would much rather play a new Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc over a game such as Fat Billy.
The lynx came out a little later after the gamegear which was also after the Gameboy (I owned the latter 2 as a kid). There's also one other handheld console that came out around the same time as the gamegear which in some ways was ahead of many handheld consoles and did something unique that no other handheld console has ever done. I'm referring to the Turbo Express which was the handheld console by NEC and one unique feature of this console was that it was able to use the same cartridges that the main console (TurboGrafx 16) used. Every base TurboGrafx 16 game that didn't require the CD accessory to play could be played on the handheld console without having to buy any additional accessories or a new game cartridge to play on it. This was possible due to the fact that the cartridge for both was so small (smaller than a credit card). No other handheld console attempted to do this. The fall of the 2600 and the crash in 83 had a number of other factors. First the market was oversaturated with consoles but the Atari 2600 was 1 of 2 consoles that actually allowed you to play games with cartridges while most had games built-in the consoles. Furthermore there was a war in home computers at the time and the price of these had dropped significantly to the point of costing as much as a console. Since you could do more with a computer than just playing games, people went to computers over consoles. In fact, at the time, computer games had much better gameplay than console games and even had a much wider variety of games while also not being as oversaturated in the number of games. Certain games that were played on computers back then couldn't be done on consoles. Despite many lacking a mouse/joystick, computer games were more flexible than consoles due to the use of just a keyboard. Some of my favorite early computer games as a kid in the 80s were Ancient Art of War, Gunship, and King's Quest. When the crash in 83 occurred, many gamers including myself were playing in arcades rather than consoles and arcades did much better than consoles during the crash. It's after Nintendo and Sega released their first consoles in the US that arcades were severely hurt but a huge number of them survived until the 2000s
The Lynx 2 was a much more comfortable console. I still have a couple, but the screens are failing :( There's a replacement IPA LCD kit you can get now, may do that one day. The screen had a fluorescent bulb for illumination, and that sucked a lot of power.
Fun fact about Battlezone 2000. There's actually a hidden alternate version locked behind a cheat code. I forget the code off my head, but it involves pressing one of option buttons at a certain point and resetting the game. The alternate version has more realistic graphics than the main mode, a customizable tank, and a password system because you have a GIGANTIC map to explore! Apparently, this was the original version of the game that Hand Made Software was developing before Atari told them to change it because it barely resembled Battlezone. I'll admit it's definitely a more complex game that takes figuring out because the controls are different and nothing is explained, (thanks to it being hidden and not well documented), but I think it definitely could've fit being advertised as a more "advanced" mode for experts.
I thought the Lynx looked much better than the Gameboy for obvious reasons, but both suffered from blurry motion as the refresh rate was poor. I couldn't get into either one, but it seemed like a no-brainer to go with the Lynx at the time.
I wanted an Atari Lynx so bad as a kid, but companies kept trying to beat the Gameboy with better tech, and its stength was being comparatively inexpensive. Folks werent willing to shell out console prices for a portable system.
Sadly, the Lynx was another victim of the Juggernaut that was Nintendo in regards to handhelds, and they weren't alone, as ever handheld suffered the same defeat over what, 20+ years? Before Nintendo became the "gimmick" makers that they are today, they actually made practical devices that worked well. As they knew battery life was going to be an issue, so they built around that most needed feature, while others went for more power and backlighting. The Lynx was amazing, and I owned both versions and to this day I still visit many of their titles by emulation(systems sold long ago). The Lynx was certainly well ahead of it's time, but that came at a price, and that was more expensive than its competitors as well as the battery life. I have to hand to Nintendo back then, as they knew longer gaming was key, and having the biggest and the brightest wasn't necessarily the keys to success.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Epyx had scrapped the handheld idea with the Lynx and just turned it into a full-fledged console? Remember, the design of the system was planned in 1986 and was ready by 1987 but couldn't get a cooperative hardware company to bite until Atari did. The 7800 was already outdated tech by the time it released in 1986 and I'm sure by 1987-1988 Atari could have seen the writing on the wall with sales. You wouldn't have had to upgrade much except doubling it's screen resolution to 320x204 so it was less blocky on a 240p TV screen and maybe adding either another sound chip or a PCM/DAC for voices/drums so the original audio that's built into the CPU could've mostly carried the melodies and sound effects. Sure you still would have had the Genesis and the SNES was around the corner, but they could have made a lane for themselves as the 16-Bit alternative like how the Turbo Grafx was marketed as better than the NES to entice consumers and developers to make games for the system. The Lynx was advanced and way ahead of it's time but it was doomed by it's battery life and wasn't helped by the lack of Japanese developer studios.
@keyboard_g they didn't get spun out , that suggests amiga was a division of Atari that became a separate company, they simply left & formed the amiga company
I have a Lynx II and I really like it, I first got a Lynx in 1996 after playing on one for a few hours, very impressive console for its time, I particularly like games such as Crystal Mines II and Stun Runner.
The Lynx was 16-bit, and I believe it used display-list graphics like the 7800 only more advanced. It was really a clever little system and deserved more of a shot in the market.
As a kid, I had been saving money for a Lynx and by my 13th birthday, I had enough for my purchase. I rode the bus to the Software Etc. with a friend who would get his Game Gear a few weeks later. I still have the bus pass ticket from that day.
The Bear probably isn't the best demonstration of the 7800's advantages. This isn't taking down Adventure Island 3 or Super Mario Bros 3, except maybe in color options. I'd have used Rikki and Vikki's final boss fight. Also... you're the first person I've seen prefer the 7800 version of Scrapyard Dog. o. o
It was, at least in large part, because of the oversaturation of third-party games on the Atari market that Nintendo decided to institute a stringent licensing system to ensure that the same thing wouldn't happen to the Famicom/NES. As part of this licensing system, Nintendo installed a lock-out chip in each Famicom/NES console to prevent unlicensed games from running on the console.
I still have one and liked the system. Seems like I always used my wall plugin though over batteries. My favorites were the arcade games like Ms Pac Man and Robotron on the Lynx.
The Lynx was a 16 bit portable on a era that even home consoles where not comonly 16 bit (Mega Drive/Genesis where released outside us in 89, Super Nes on 90 on Japan and 91 US). Can't stop thinking Atari would have done a better work taking a Quick redesign on the project and turning it on a 16 bit console for home. No problems with screen and power management, a price tag that, for a home console, where ok at time. Probably they would need some hardware upgrades for sustain a 240p resolution (higher than the portable) but ... The console allready have some advantages over the genesis hardware like scalling, rotation and a higher collor pallette. I can see it making a better job as a competitor to Snes, Genesis, Pc Engine than Game Boy. Maybe with some more years of experience in home console market atari take some time to redesign the Jaguar and do not release the console the way they did ... Well, this one is a bit more complicated ...
Thinking back I had a gameboy, I knew nothing of the Lynx. It really had a uphill battle against the juggernaut Nintendo. These are some cool games and I appreciate the tech, but could you really compete with Super Mario, Castlevania and Metroid?
Fun fact: Since epyx produced the console programmable with Amiga, Atari had to buy thousands of Amiga from its rival, Commodore, to produce software after Epyx went bankrupt.
@faithozis yep that's true 😂& instead of letting Epyx go bankrupt Atari should have bought them out as a 1st party studio not only to make lynx games but also ST & Jaguar games
Love these videos. And wow, I completely forgot about Road Blasters, I used to play that game a lot in the arcade. Anyone know the best way to play it at home these days?
Another reason was that people remembered the hubris and bait and switch tactics of Atari. "Pac-Man for Atari 2600 will look and play like the arcade version." After the death of Atari home consoles my parents rightfully refused to buy anything with the name Atari on it.
I always wonder how old you are, because you look pretty young. So I don't know if you were actually around back when those machines were released (I mean no offense and no gatekeeping, I am just curious). Anyway, you did not touch on what I consider a major problem with the Lynx: the console itself was flimsy. From my own experience, it would keep on breaking. We kept getting it replaced, and even eventually got the second model, but that one too would end up breaking just the same. The Game Boy and Game Gear were much sturdier. Also, it's funny but GB games generally seem to have a much higher framerate than both the Lynx and GG. To me, it kinda feels like GB games run at 60 FPS while the rest run at 15 or 30 FPS.
Hey Pojr. Thank you for the videos. The only thing that I can say that I don't like about your videos is that you often repeat the same points over and over. I make content, too, and it is something that I have had to work to not do because it is so easy to do when you have a limited amount of time to put something out. Other than than that one small thing, I think your videos are top notch.
Interesting to see both the Atari Lynx and the Bandai Wonderswam series were designed to be used in both vertical and horizontal modes, depending on the game. Handheld devices allowed for a larger degree of freedom in that regard.
I had the Lynx when it was out and I loved it. Sure the game library wasn't as strong as the Game Boy but it did have many arcade ports that were really good. I think that's where it shined.
I like this guy, he's knowledgeable and pleasant. Easy to watch informative videos, this is going to be a big channel. Other gaming CZcamsrs could learn a thing from Pojr.
As Steve Ballmer once loudly proclaimed "developers, developers, developers.." there were no real must play games on the Lynx and that sealed its fate deapite the ambitious hardware. consumers wouldn't have the option (outside of Japan) of another console they could buy that could manage sprite scaling until the Mega CD, which was not exactly portable
Fun fact: When Atari bought the rights to the Handy from Epyx in 1984, Atari decided to slept on the system rather than mass manufactured it. It wasn't until 1989 after Epyx closed door that Atari finally see the potential in handheld and brought the Handy to market as the Lynx. It's a tad too late though as by that time all attentions were on the Game Boy instead. Atari screw themselves up for not bringing the Lynx or Handy to market sooner cause before 1989 only the crappy Microvision from Milton Bradley and Nintendo Game and Watch LCD handhelds both which at the time was more a toy than a videogame, were the only cheap handhelds on the market. Atari could had easily scoop up a big win but are too dumb to do so. Choosing to launch the Lynx same year as the Game Boy does them no good cause by that time Nintendo already had good reputations from consumers with the NES so of course those consumers will trust Nintendo more with the Game Boy than Atari with the Lynx. I mean what would you rather prefer, the promise of a portable NES on the go with tons of great games or a handheld from Atari that could easily be abandon in a few years with little to no guaranteed of any good games. Another fun fact was that Epyx went to Nintendo first with the Handy before approaching Atari in 1984, Nintendo turn down the Handy project as it was an expensive piece of tech that they couldn't afford at the time so this is literally Nintendo giving Atari the silver platter and Atari still screw it up. This could had easily been Nintendo's big mistake but instead Atari made it their own mistake.
But you are talking about an Atari owned by Jack Traimel. Jack only gave a shit about the computer line as that is how he made a name for himself at Commodore. When he bought Atari (or half of it) He brought his own employees and designs for a 16 bit computer from Commodore.
Best version of Toki was the Sega Genesis version, Going Ape Spit. Loved the soundtrack and of course a lot of unique levels too. The Lynx definitely had potential but Atari seemed to have a major problem with 3rd party support, hence why their later systems tanked. Decent hardware, no one to back it up.
It was poorly designed as well. I remember seeing it in magazines and thinking it looked silly, and that the speakers were positioned badly on the device. Maybe other people were thinking the same thing. On top of that, bad marketing, and very little availability. You more than likely weren't going into your local store and finding it for sale there. You would most likely see a playable display unit there, along side a SNES or NES playable display unit. The brand marketing completely shut down Atari's marketing.
I think the Game Gear came out closer to a year and a half later in the US. Also, Battlezone 2000 has the "real" game hidden on the cart that you access by code.
I loved my Atari 2600 at the time, but, damn they constantly shot themselves in the foot with almost everything after that, crappy controllers on the 5200, shelving the 7800 until it was too out dated to compete in the market. Then with the Jaguar, if you did the math, It didn't add up... and of course the Lynx which you are talking about here. The Console division was a mess but at least the Arcade & Computer divisions were good, but, not enough to save the company as a whole.
The Gameboy was designed around a very low-power specification intentionally to improve battery life. The original implementation before cart-mappers started being common was extraordinarily restricted. The Lynx on the otherhand was designed by Epyx as a game machine first and foremost. Power consumption was worked out after they had a working machine, the fact that it gets 4 hours on an 80's color backlight LCD is nearly a miracle. It was limited by the hardware available at the time. If it was designed (or redesigned properly) just a few years later you'd absolutely have a higher-resolution screen and better battery life. Well, not much better... Look at the Game Gear. Yeesh...
Atari Linx was a real jewel, i owned it one in 1990 and i always regret that i sold it 4 years later... Atari Linx , was not competitor of Game Boy, was more expansive and battery was getting fast low, but it was the only portable console, made mostly for Coin op conversions of the best classic from the second half of the 80's... It failed, mostly because of the price, but compared for example with Game Gear, it was an ocean forward, Game Gear, is the nastiest portable console ever produced, it was basically a Master System portable, which brought completely nothing of new, the Game Boy, always the king, but do not misrespect Atari Linx, it will be a huge retro mistake.
This is still one of my favorites consoles. It had a lot of unique games which, Atari needed, as they had burned out their customers with repeats of the same old games. There are many great games on the system. And it was really impressive hardware for its time. Slime world can be played with 8 Lynxs linked together. I recommend exploring more. As there are some unique games that you find anywhere else. Also i disagree with your thoughts on Warbirds impressive game for it's time. Get a friend and dogfight each other. With it linked together.
I think what happened is that the Gameboy architecture was probably easier to work with so games could be made for it easier. I have to admit the Lynx could have been a contender. But I don't like the placement of the buttons.
Plus, the Gameboy had the Nintendo name. The Lynx was released when Nintendo practically had a monopoly in Japan and North America while Atari was fading further into obscurity.
Although the Lynx failed I do think the games do have a unique look and sound to them when you play them. I actually like this handheld, too bad it didn't do well
The Lynx failed because of 3 factors; Library, Price, and Battery life. The Gameboy had it beat in all categories. It had a better library, better price, and better battery life. You had rpg's, sports games, fighting games, puzzle games, the whole gamut- the Lynx had... stuff.
@sniperglaceon made by the same company that made star fox, argonaut games who also made the star glider games which were predecessors to star fox. Argonaut also made the 3D add on chips in the star fox cartridge & from that they even developed their own CPU architecture called Argonaut RISC Core probably expecting Nintendo to licence it for the n64 but they didn't.
the lynx was a fantastic handheld.If it had sega s support it would have been more of a success.Too bad.Although the best handheld of that generation was the pc engine handheld.Good overview POJR.
It is strange how the Gameboy won back then. Today the "best" System is the one with the "best" Specs. And if something is missing People would complain all day long how bad that would be. But not with the Gameboy
Software tends to be the thing that defines these pieces of hardware like Gameboy or Lynx. PS5 and Series X I think it's just a matter of which box or slightly different specs you prefer more with some specific exclusives you wanna play. Like Spiderman 2.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I found the nomad to be very boxy. I'm sad I sold mine because I had a really nice unit and I love the concept that it plays original Sega Genesis cartridges not some other cartridges. But if you look at the arcade conversions on the Lynx? Absolutely insane.
The Lynx just doesn't had that many fun games, though I like games such as Toki, Scrapyard Dog, Todd's Adventures in Slime World, and Ninja Gaiden, it just doesn't had games like Contra: Operation C, Castlevania Legend, Metroid II: Return of Samus, and Ninja Gaiden Shadow.
@@Darkuni Jack and Sam were too busy ripping off developers the same way they ripped off the people who made the Lynx in the first place. It was never going to be a serious contender with them in charge. But, at least this means it has a unique personality. These days, it gets more love than the other color rivals to the DMG Gameboy, despite them all having much larger libraries with deeper gameplay. (Meanwhile, the Wonderswan b/w and Neo Geo Pocket b/w get less English speaking attention than Tiger's abominations.)
Dude, seriously. Just make shorts. It’s not 2016, you can make lots of revenue with low effort shorts instead of always looking dumb with poor research just to get above the 11-minute mark to get monetized.
One of the main reasons why the Lynx wasn't as popular as the Game Boy or the Game Gear, besides the fact that it used more batteries than the Game Boy and drained them quicker, was because it didn't have the same third-party support as the Game Boy and the Game Gear. Each of those consoles did have their own first-party games, including Mario for the former and Sonic for the latter.
Lemme repeat this brilliant man... *IT HAD NO THIRD-PARTY SUPPORT.*
The strangest thing about the Lynz and Game Gear, was it wasn't the screen that drained the battery, but the back light. It was a pretty large tube surrounded by a mirror.
If you replace the bulb with modern LED's you can ge a good 30-40 hours out of the batteries.
but hello you!
One key point you missed through emulation is that the games presented here look 1000x better than they did on an actual Lynx. Sure the screen was backlit but it was passive matrix and smeared to hell and back playing anything fast moving. The gameboy and gamegear do this too, but the higher resolution make it less of a messy experience.
The Lynx looks better with an IPS screen replacement or you can install a VGA out.
Atari was a victim of its own success, in a way. It was stuck in the late-70s "bring the arcade home" mindset, but into the 80s and 90s there was a new generation who almost exclusively gamed at home, ironically in part due to the success of the 2600.
The price and the battery life is what killed it. It's actually a nice system.
Wuzzit, though?
*edit* U rite; fuzzy wuzz'd it.
*2* Tha fuzz dat wuzz...
I think that was more true with the 7800.
No, Sega did the same thing with the Genesis and their arcade games like Altered Beast.
Thank you for the Lynx review. It was designed by one of the Amiga designers. One of the most important features of the Lynx was left out however. It could "link" with other Lynx hand helds so you could play mutiplayer games like Gauntlet: The Third Encounter. That was the reason it was called the Lynx. Because it "links" with other Lynxs. :)
The game boy absolutely had game Link capabilities. Tetris has a 2 player game Link mode. Games like f1 race included and featured a four-player link adapter. Faceball 2000 on game boy even had a link mode where multiple four-player adapters could be chained for additional players beyond 4.
No I'm pretty sure both Game Boy and Game Gear had link cable compatibility
@@TSBaron thanks for the info, will correct my comment
@@iamhere490 thanks for the info, will correct my comment
you could link up to 8 Lynx hand helds, what was the max number of Game Boy or Game Gears you could link?
I had one of the first Gameboys when it released. I loved it. But I sold it when the Atari Lynx came out. The Lynx had some amazing features and colors but so low rez and tiny library. I eventually bought a Gameboy as it was still getting more popular.
I read somewhere that the Lynx designers showed the Lynx to Nintendo before Atari. Nintendo executives showed the Lynx designers their Gameboy prototype right before refusing the Lynx
No one ever talks about the turbo express (turbo graphics 16 handheld), it was in the handhelds market during that time.
I have one that I got back then. I had to sell my Lynx to a friend for my parents to be willing to buy it for xmas & it was still ridiculously hard for them to get. Toys r Us got _3_ the first year & only 5 the year I got it. My friend got one the first year & I was so insanely jealous. I still have it. It was recapped by a guy on here, formerly of the PCE forums. Works perfectly with Eneloop rechargables.
(Chris Courage for anyone wondering. @turbografxfan )
I have an Analogue Pocket that I love with the TG16 adapter on order along with an Analogue Duo. Good stuff.
@NinjaRunningWild I wish sf2 would let you have hard punch button 1 and hard kick button 2 but nope 😔 in options
There's also the Sega Nomad, I hardly ever hear anybody talking about that one.
I had a Lynx 2 in the late 90s. It was fun but most of the games weren’t titles I’ve heard of. I sold it a few months later and bought a Game Boy Color.
Yes, good gameplay is what counts.
Not superior looks but no substance.
You made the right decision, any system with the Atari name on it is shit.
@@Adamtendo_player_1 Yes, although the Gameboy Color is by far the worst of any of the Nintendo handhelds. It's pretty much completely unplayable without an external light.
Warbirds was removed from atari 50 because they didn't get the Ok to use the real photos digitzed in game, it was a likeness issue basically since they couldn't get whoever to sign off on it, the source of this information i remember either being from the atari 50 launch stream on twitch (should be archived ln youtube) or somewhere somone from or DE themselves said so.
I thought it was because they did not have the rights to the game. They purchased the rights back in April this year with the Accolade deal. Atari probably thought that deal would go through in time.
It's nice to be able to grab the ROM & stick it on my flash cartridge.
Thanks for the video! There was a prototype Gameboy shown in 1987, so it was clearly in development before 1989. Had to throw that out there.
Regardless of the superior hardware of the Lynx and even the Game Gear, the biggest point of contention was always battery life. As impressive as they were, they devoured those 6 AA batteries in no time. The cost starts to add up eventually and we can all imagine our parents barking, "I JUST bought you batteries, I'm not made of money!" That was one of the contributing factors why the Game Boy trounced them in sales, people could deal with simpler graphics and no backlight as long as the games were still fun and 4 AA's got you way more play time.
If not for the lower screen resolution this would have been borderline SNES or TG16 quality. Shame that the display technology of the time held it back by a mile.
One look at the frequent lower frame rates will show you why the system using Amiga style graphics isn't a good thing.
I remember the LYNX coming out as a kid. Nobody wanted it because it was too expensive and by that time nobody wanted anything to do with ports/remakes of Atari 2600 games. Seems like the games that were not ports of Atari 2600 games where games nobody heard of. As a kid I would much rather play a new Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc over a game such as Fat Billy.
The lynx came out a little later after the gamegear which was also after the Gameboy (I owned the latter 2 as a kid). There's also one other handheld console that came out around the same time as the gamegear which in some ways was ahead of many handheld consoles and did something unique that no other handheld console has ever done. I'm referring to the Turbo Express which was the handheld console by NEC and one unique feature of this console was that it was able to use the same cartridges that the main console (TurboGrafx 16) used. Every base TurboGrafx 16 game that didn't require the CD accessory to play could be played on the handheld console without having to buy any additional accessories or a new game cartridge to play on it. This was possible due to the fact that the cartridge for both was so small (smaller than a credit card). No other handheld console attempted to do this.
The fall of the 2600 and the crash in 83 had a number of other factors. First the market was oversaturated with consoles but the Atari 2600 was 1 of 2 consoles that actually allowed you to play games with cartridges while most had games built-in the consoles. Furthermore there was a war in home computers at the time and the price of these had dropped significantly to the point of costing as much as a console. Since you could do more with a computer than just playing games, people went to computers over consoles. In fact, at the time, computer games had much better gameplay than console games and even had a much wider variety of games while also not being as oversaturated in the number of games. Certain games that were played on computers back then couldn't be done on consoles. Despite many lacking a mouse/joystick, computer games were more flexible than consoles due to the use of just a keyboard. Some of my favorite early computer games as a kid in the 80s were Ancient Art of War, Gunship, and King's Quest. When the crash in 83 occurred, many gamers including myself were playing in arcades rather than consoles and arcades did much better than consoles during the crash. It's after Nintendo and Sega released their first consoles in the US that arcades were severely hurt but a huge number of them survived until the 2000s
The Lynx 2 was a much more comfortable console. I still have a couple, but the screens are failing :( There's a replacement IPA LCD kit you can get now, may do that one day. The screen had a fluorescent bulb for illumination, and that sucked a lot of power.
I have a Lynx 1 with the original screen, and it looks as good as my game gear. So mine ain't failing yet.
Fun fact about Battlezone 2000. There's actually a hidden alternate version locked behind a cheat code. I forget the code off my head, but it involves pressing one of option buttons at a certain point and resetting the game. The alternate version has more realistic graphics than the main mode, a customizable tank, and a password system because you have a GIGANTIC map to explore!
Apparently, this was the original version of the game that Hand Made Software was developing before Atari told them to change it because it barely resembled Battlezone. I'll admit it's definitely a more complex game that takes figuring out because the controls are different and nothing is explained, (thanks to it being hidden and not well documented), but I think it definitely could've fit being advertised as a more "advanced" mode for experts.
I thought the Lynx looked much better than the Gameboy for obvious reasons, but both suffered from blurry motion as the refresh rate was poor. I couldn't get into either one, but it seemed like a no-brainer to go with the Lynx at the time.
I wanted an Atari Lynx so bad as a kid, but companies kept trying to beat the Gameboy with better tech, and its stength was being comparatively inexpensive. Folks werent willing to shell out console prices for a portable system.
Sadly, the Lynx was another victim of the Juggernaut that was Nintendo in regards to handhelds, and they weren't alone, as ever handheld suffered the same defeat over what, 20+ years? Before Nintendo became the "gimmick" makers that they are today, they actually made practical devices that worked well. As they knew battery life was going to be an issue, so they built around that most needed feature, while others went for more power and backlighting.
The Lynx was amazing, and I owned both versions and to this day I still visit many of their titles by emulation(systems sold long ago). The Lynx was certainly well ahead of it's time, but that came at a price, and that was more expensive than its competitors as well as the battery life. I have to hand to Nintendo back then, as they knew longer gaming was key, and having the biggest and the brightest wasn't necessarily the keys to success.
Yay for the Atari Lynx! I know a few games you showcased that I look forward to playing!~ Damn it bobbeh!
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Epyx had scrapped the handheld idea with the Lynx and just turned it into a full-fledged console? Remember, the design of the system was planned in 1986 and was ready by 1987 but couldn't get a cooperative hardware company to bite until Atari did. The 7800 was already outdated tech by the time it released in 1986 and I'm sure by 1987-1988 Atari could have seen the writing on the wall with sales. You wouldn't have had to upgrade much except doubling it's screen resolution to 320x204 so it was less blocky on a 240p TV screen and maybe adding either another sound chip or a PCM/DAC for voices/drums so the original audio that's built into the CPU could've mostly carried the melodies and sound effects. Sure you still would have had the Genesis and the SNES was around the corner, but they could have made a lane for themselves as the 16-Bit alternative like how the Turbo Grafx was marketed as better than the NES to entice consumers and developers to make games for the system. The Lynx was advanced and way ahead of it's time but it was doomed by it's battery life and wasn't helped by the lack of Japanese developer studios.
You missed the fact that the guys at Epyx who designed the Lynx were leads on the Amiga, which spun out from Atari before being acquired by Commodore.
@keyboard_g they didn't get spun out , that suggests amiga was a division of Atari that became a separate company, they simply left & formed the amiga company
I have a Lynx II and I really like it, I first got a Lynx in 1996 after playing on one for a few hours, very impressive console for its time, I particularly like games such as Crystal Mines II and Stun Runner.
The Lynx was 16-bit, and I believe it used display-list graphics like the 7800 only more advanced. It was really a clever little system and deserved more of a shot in the market.
"Lynx Eats Boy's Lunch". The advertising was all over the comics I was following at the time. I remember wanting one.
As a kid, I had been saving money for a Lynx and by my 13th birthday, I had enough for my purchase. I rode the bus to the Software Etc. with a friend who would get his Game Gear a few weeks later. I still have the bus pass ticket from that day.
The Bear probably isn't the best demonstration of the 7800's advantages. This isn't taking down Adventure Island 3 or Super Mario Bros 3, except maybe in color options.
I'd have used Rikki and Vikki's final boss fight.
Also... you're the first person I've seen prefer the 7800 version of Scrapyard Dog. o. o
It was, at least in large part, because of the oversaturation of third-party games on the Atari market that Nintendo decided to institute a stringent licensing system to ensure that the same thing wouldn't happen to the Famicom/NES. As part of this licensing system, Nintendo installed a lock-out chip in each Famicom/NES console to prevent unlicensed games from running on the console.
I still have one and liked the system. Seems like I always used my wall plugin though over batteries. My favorites were the arcade games like Ms Pac Man and Robotron on the Lynx.
The Lynx was a 16 bit portable on a era that even home consoles where not comonly 16 bit (Mega Drive/Genesis where released outside us in 89, Super Nes on 90 on Japan and 91 US).
Can't stop thinking Atari would have done a better work taking a Quick redesign on the project and turning it on a 16 bit console for home.
No problems with screen and power management, a price tag that, for a home console, where ok at time. Probably they would need some hardware upgrades for sustain a 240p resolution (higher than the portable) but ... The console allready have some advantages over the genesis hardware like scalling, rotation and a higher collor pallette.
I can see it making a better job as a competitor to Snes, Genesis, Pc Engine than Game Boy. Maybe with some more years of experience in home console market atari take some time to redesign the Jaguar and do not release the console the way they did ... Well, this one is a bit more complicated ...
Thinking back I had a gameboy, I knew nothing of the Lynx. It really had a uphill battle against the juggernaut Nintendo. These are some cool games and I appreciate the tech, but could you really compete with Super Mario, Castlevania and Metroid?
Thanks for the random King Of The Hill references in this episode.
Fun fact: Since epyx produced the console programmable with Amiga, Atari had to buy thousands of Amiga from its rival, Commodore, to produce software after Epyx went bankrupt.
@faithozis yep that's true 😂& instead of letting Epyx go bankrupt Atari should have bought them out as a 1st party studio not only to make lynx games but also ST & Jaguar games
Love these videos. And wow, I completely forgot about Road Blasters, I used to play that game a lot in the arcade. Anyone know the best way to play it at home these days?
Buy a Miyoo, Anbernic or Powkiddy device.
You can play the arcade version and all the others on a portable device!
Road Blasters looks better on Lynx than on NES!
I remember when the Jaguar came out that Atari supposedly had a plan to use the Lynx as an optional controller for the Jaguar.
Another reason was that people remembered the hubris and bait and switch tactics of Atari.
"Pac-Man for Atari 2600 will look and play like the arcade version."
After the death of Atari home consoles my parents rightfully refused to buy anything with the name Atari on it.
I always wonder how old you are, because you look pretty young. So I don't know if you were actually around back when those machines were released (I mean no offense and no gatekeeping, I am just curious).
Anyway, you did not touch on what I consider a major problem with the Lynx: the console itself was flimsy. From my own experience, it would keep on breaking. We kept getting it replaced, and even eventually got the second model, but that one too would end up breaking just the same. The Game Boy and Game Gear were much sturdier.
Also, it's funny but GB games generally seem to have a much higher framerate than both the Lynx and GG. To me, it kinda feels like GB games run at 60 FPS while the rest run at 15 or 30 FPS.
Hey Pojr. Thank you for the videos. The only thing that I can say that I don't like about your videos is that you often repeat the same points over and over. I make content, too, and it is something that I have had to work to not do because it is so easy to do when you have a limited amount of time to put something out. Other than than that one small thing, I think your videos are top notch.
I will say, it blew my mind getting Ninja Gaiden the arcade game and playing it on a handheld in the early 90’s. Kids don’t know they’re born now.
from the thumbnail, I was expecting you to mention the wonderswan color instead
Interesting to see both the Atari Lynx and the Bandai Wonderswam series were designed to be used in both vertical and horizontal modes, depending on the game. Handheld devices allowed for a larger degree of freedom in that regard.
I wanted a Lynx but already had a Gameboy and a Game gear. Yes I was very spoiled
I had the Lynx when it was out and I loved it. Sure the game library wasn't as strong as the Game Boy but it did have many arcade ports that were really good. I think that's where it shined.
I like this guy, he's knowledgeable and pleasant. Easy to watch informative videos, this is going to be a big channel. Other gaming CZcamsrs could learn a thing from Pojr.
Yes, as a 40 something Man, Pojr has a relaxed presentation style I prefer over shouty comedy types.
For the most part.
As Steve Ballmer once loudly proclaimed "developers, developers, developers.." there were no real must play games on the Lynx and that sealed its fate deapite the ambitious hardware. consumers wouldn't have the option (outside of Japan) of another console they could buy that could manage sprite scaling until the Mega CD, which was not exactly portable
Fun fact: When Atari bought the rights to the Handy from Epyx in 1984, Atari decided to slept on the system rather than mass manufactured it. It wasn't until 1989 after Epyx closed door that Atari finally see the potential in handheld and brought the Handy to market as the Lynx. It's a tad too late though as by that time all attentions were on the Game Boy instead. Atari screw themselves up for not bringing the Lynx or Handy to market sooner cause before 1989 only the crappy Microvision from Milton Bradley and Nintendo Game and Watch LCD handhelds both which at the time was more a toy than a videogame, were the only cheap handhelds on the market. Atari could had easily scoop up a big win but are too dumb to do so. Choosing to launch the Lynx same year as the Game Boy does them no good cause by that time Nintendo already had good reputations from consumers with the NES so of course those consumers will trust Nintendo more with the Game Boy than Atari with the Lynx. I mean what would you rather prefer, the promise of a portable NES on the go with tons of great games or a handheld from Atari that could easily be abandon in a few years with little to no guaranteed of any good games.
Another fun fact was that Epyx went to Nintendo first with the Handy before approaching Atari in 1984, Nintendo turn down the Handy project as it was an expensive piece of tech that they couldn't afford at the time so this is literally Nintendo giving Atari the silver platter and Atari still screw it up. This could had easily been Nintendo's big mistake but instead Atari made it their own mistake.
But you are talking about an Atari owned by Jack Traimel. Jack only gave a shit about the computer line as that is how he made a name for himself at Commodore. When he bought Atari (or half of it)
He brought his own employees and designs for a 16 bit computer from Commodore.
I saw someone showing off their atari lynx they got on your discord server? Funnily enough this video came out some days later.
Best version of Toki was the Sega Genesis version, Going Ape Spit. Loved the soundtrack and of course a lot of unique levels too. The Lynx definitely had potential but Atari seemed to have a major problem with 3rd party support, hence why their later systems tanked. Decent hardware, no one to back it up.
11k subs!?!?! How awesome! I remember when you had hundreds. Keep it up!!!
I`ve heard that there is a secret mode in Battlezone 2000 and that it might be even better than the base game itself.
It was poorly designed as well. I remember seeing it in magazines and thinking it looked silly, and that the speakers were positioned badly on the device. Maybe other people were thinking the same thing.
On top of that, bad marketing, and very little availability. You more than likely weren't going into your local store and finding it for sale there. You would most likely see a playable display unit there, along side a SNES or NES playable display unit. The brand marketing completely shut down Atari's marketing.
Yes, but the Game Gear is still holding strong to this day.
And the Lynx deserves love as well.
Great comparison video!
I think the Game Gear came out closer to a year and a half later in the US. Also, Battlezone 2000 has the "real" game hidden on the cart that you access by code.
I loved my Atari 2600 at the time, but, damn they constantly shot themselves in the foot with almost everything after that, crappy controllers on the 5200, shelving the 7800 until it was too out dated to compete in the market. Then with the Jaguar, if you did the math, It didn't add up...
and of course the Lynx which you are talking about here. The Console division was a mess but at least the Arcade & Computer divisions were good, but, not enough to save the company as a whole.
Lynx had surprisingly great hardware for handheld console. Atari should have made TV console using this tech.
I still have both versions and most of the games. It was a moment in time that was out of reach of most kids who wanted one.
The Gameboy was designed around a very low-power specification intentionally to improve battery life. The original implementation before cart-mappers started being common was extraordinarily restricted. The Lynx on the otherhand was designed by Epyx as a game machine first and foremost. Power consumption was worked out after they had a working machine, the fact that it gets 4 hours on an 80's color backlight LCD is nearly a miracle. It was limited by the hardware available at the time. If it was designed (or redesigned properly) just a few years later you'd absolutely have a higher-resolution screen and better battery life. Well, not much better... Look at the Game Gear. Yeesh...
Retro Bliss is a good dude, cool to see the collab!
Atari Linx was a real jewel, i owned it one in 1990 and i always regret that i sold it 4 years later... Atari Linx , was not competitor of Game Boy, was more expansive and battery was getting fast low, but it was the only portable console, made mostly for Coin op conversions of the best classic from the second half of the 80's... It failed, mostly because of the price, but compared for example with Game Gear, it was an ocean forward, Game Gear, is the nastiest portable console ever produced, it was basically a Master System portable, which brought completely nothing of new, the Game Boy, always the king, but do not misrespect Atari Linx, it will be a huge retro mistake.
you forgot one neet feature of the Atari Linx ! I can be rotated an played by left handed :)
Jackie Chan made me want to have a Game Gear as a kid,
because of that one scene from Rumble in the Bronx (紅番區).
That was one magical game gear, you could play games on it without any cartridge inserted.
This is still one of my favorites consoles. It had a lot of unique games which, Atari needed, as they had burned out their customers with repeats of the same old games. There are many great games on the system. And it was really impressive hardware for its time. Slime world can be played with 8 Lynxs linked together. I recommend exploring more. As there are some unique games that you find anywhere else. Also i disagree with your thoughts on Warbirds impressive game for it's time. Get a friend and dogfight each other. With it linked together.
Awesome video. You deserve way more subs!!!
Hey, good news if you have the Atari 50th Collection - Warbirds is back!
I think what happened is that the Gameboy architecture was probably easier to work with so games could be made for it easier. I have to admit the Lynx could have been a contender. But I don't like the placement of the buttons.
Plus, the Gameboy had the Nintendo name. The Lynx was released when Nintendo practically had a monopoly in Japan and North America while Atari was fading further into obscurity.
I Always look forward to your uploads
Great vid!
Although the Lynx failed I do think the games do have a unique look and sound to them when you play them. I actually like this handheld, too bad it didn't do well
"We see a lot vector style graphics which the Game Boy couldn't do."
The Japan exclusive game X would prove you wrong.
The Lynx failed because of 3 factors; Library, Price, and Battery life. The Gameboy had it beat in all categories. It had a better library, better price, and better battery life. You had rpg's, sports games, fighting games, puzzle games, the whole gamut- the Lynx had... stuff.
swapped my gameboy with mario and tetris for a lynx with 4 games back in te day , no regrets ,it was a great system
The Gameboy did actually have a 3d vector sorta game, it's called X.
@sniperglaceon made by the same company that made star fox, argonaut games who also made the star glider games which were predecessors to star fox. Argonaut also made the 3D add on chips in the star fox cartridge & from that they even developed their own CPU architecture called Argonaut RISC Core probably expecting Nintendo to licence it for the n64 but they didn't.
That smile cracked my phone screen.
Good info thanks! I forgot the Lynx was a thing and didnt know much about it. We all know the gameboy won because of battery life and tetris
To me, the Lynx failed because of its sub-par library of games. 98% of them don’t appeal to me. The Game Boy and Game Gear win in that department.
4:38 Gee I wonder where they got the idea?
I had one. I liked my Atari Lynx like the Lynx liked eating batteries. An underrated battery hog.
I had one, battery life sucked, and the games weren't much, mostly Master System ports, out-classed by the 16-bit games, was disappointed myself.
Fantastic video, keep up!
I loved my Lynx. It looked amazing compared to everything else. It was just so big and bulky.
That Atari Lynx it’s forgotten for a reason because like most systems it was a bad system due to its games.
the lynx was a fantastic handheld.If it had sega s support it would have been more of a success.Too bad.Although the best handheld of that generation was the pc engine handheld.Good overview POJR.
I think NEC turbo express would have been a game boy killer if the price was consumer friend
Nice video mate
The Game Gear was awesome but you couldn’t plug it in and it ate batteries.
Anything with Roadblasters on it is pretty OK in my book.
Too much compression and EQ on the MIC.
I don't understand the views to subs ratio
2:09 Totally not horrifying at all
It is strange how the Gameboy won back then. Today the "best" System is the one with the "best" Specs. And if something is missing People would complain all day long how bad that would be. But not with the Gameboy
The best system is often the one that lost.
Software tends to be the thing that defines these pieces of hardware like Gameboy or Lynx.
PS5 and Series X I think it's just a matter of which box or slightly different specs you prefer more with some specific exclusives you wanna play. Like Spiderman 2.
The Lynx is still the best retro console of all time. "You can play it in the dark" trumps "another 100 nintendo games".
Nomad destroys it in every way except sprite scaling.
@@juststatedtheobvious9633 I found the nomad to be very boxy. I'm sad I sold mine because I had a really nice unit and I love the concept that it plays original Sega Genesis cartridges not some other cartridges. But if you look at the arcade conversions on the Lynx? Absolutely insane.
The Lynx just doesn't had that many fun games, though I like games such as Toki, Scrapyard Dog, Todd's Adventures in Slime World, and Ninja Gaiden, it just doesn't had games like Contra: Operation C, Castlevania Legend, Metroid II: Return of Samus, and Ninja Gaiden Shadow.
@@VOANFair. I believe had the console succeeded a bit longer, those titles would have come :(
@@Darkuni Jack and Sam were too busy ripping off developers the same way they ripped off the people who made the Lynx in the first place.
It was never going to be a serious contender with them in charge.
But, at least this means it has a unique personality. These days, it gets more love than the other color rivals to the DMG Gameboy, despite them all having much larger libraries with deeper gameplay. (Meanwhile, the Wonderswan b/w and Neo Geo Pocket b/w get less English speaking attention than Tiger's abominations.)
I actually have a Lynx that I inherited from my mom.
Awesome video
what about the neo geo pocket
Gameboy was the goat because it was cheaper and the batteries lasted 5x longer
Gameboy screen is green not gray.
Yeah.
Dude, seriously. Just make shorts.
It’s not 2016, you can make lots of revenue with low effort shorts instead of always looking dumb with poor research just to get above the 11-minute mark to get monetized.