Hey, it’s portable, OK? You just need the extra baggy cargo pants to carry it around with you. Also, many, many batteries.
See Also:
One Game, One System: Sega Master System
One Game, One System: Atari 2600
One Game, One System: I don’t have a problem, OK?
It didn’t initially click with me until I sat down to start writing this entry, but I’ve gone chronologically; the Sega Master System was the first console I bought with my own money, and the Lynx was the second.
Yeah, I chose the Lynx over the original Gameboy. I try not to dwell on that too much (and yes, I also own one of those, too).
The Atari Lynx, though, I own two of; the original one that I bought from, of all places, Dick Smith Electronics in Tamworth, because I was there that day and they had stock and a special on. That model hasn’t fared well over the years; the battery compartment doesn’t work any more, and one of the kids got hold of it a few years back and scratched the screen with something sharp.
Not so the Lynx 2; its smaller and more compact cousin. That still works fine with batteries, as long as you define “works fine with batteries” as “chews them up in a manner that would make Mr Creosote blush”.
Lynx games aren’t that hard to collect, largely because they’re not in the ultra-desireable range, so over the years I’ve accumulated a healthy little stack of folding cards, but almost no boxes. Nobody loved Lynx boxes, it seems… not even me. The Lynx was home to a number of quite sharp (for the day) arcade conversions, as well as some genuinely unique titles; even more than two decades later there’s something very distinct about gaming on the Lynx, and the titles it supports.
Donuts, cops, and no sign of an MMO anywhere.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/F98G-gY9ou8[/youtube]
Who needs Robocop when you’ve got… Electrocop?
[youtube]http://youtu.be/D5w77_7DBYo[/youtube]
(jokes aside, both excellent titles)
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Ki2-o-_Zr_8[/youtube]
It is the 90’s…. OK, that really sounds dated now. Unless it’s meant to be the 2090s, I suppose.
So, you like Ninjas, right?
[youtube]http://youtu.be/w3REUtjE1VI[/youtube]
All of the above were potential contenders — not that tough when you’re competing against Elvira Pinball… but ultimately my Lynx choices came down to a very tight race between two options, both of which are excellent titles in their own right:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/TtJi8obZdj0[/youtube]
Gratuitous intro cleavage! Dr Kwak! Pesky aliens! Xenophobe on Lynx is a top-notch conversion, but it’s not quite…
[youtube]http://youtu.be/oc3G6f-BqeE[/youtube]
Toki’s blisteringly tough, but that’s the way that I like them; it’s also surprisingly accurate to its arcade parent, and a whole heap of fun as well. Keeping with the family theme established yesterday, it’s also a title that my older sister was quite fond of back in the day.
Next up: Heading off-planet. At least two people I know probably suspect what that means…
Image: xabi