Old handhelds, i.e. Atari Lynx, etc.

Iloveslimes

I couldn't see another thread on this, so here goes. Forgive me, if it's a redundant thread.

Does anyone know much about the Atari Lynx? I got one very cheap off of craigslist ($5) and I'm having trouble getting it to work. I have the AC adapter and batteries, but I can't get the system to turn on. It came with 11 games so if nothing else, I can sell the games to get my cash back.

Basically, use this to discuss the Lynx and hopefully any potential solutions to my problem.

In case anyone is curious, the games it came with are:

Toki
Batman Returns
A.P.B.
Blue Lightning
Zarlor Mercenary
Xenophobe
Electrocop
Klax
Ninja Gaiden
Pit-Fighter
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Thanks.

LewieP

I want a NGPC so bad, but alas I am too poor.

JamesDM

LewieP wrote: »

I want a NGPC so bad, but alas I am too poor.

Normally I'm not one to lime... but this describes my sentiments exactly.

Iloveslimes

What are the good games on that system? I see them every so often.

JamesDM

List of games for the NGPC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Neo-Geo_Pocket_Color_games

Atari Lynx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atari_Lynx_games

seanc

A couple of friends and myself had Atari Lynx when we were younger. California Games mutliplayer was pretty kick ass. I actually still have a newer Lynx I got off ebay with like 12 games on the cheap. It was a pretty cool system, too bad it didn't really catch on. I also still have a NGPC too 8-)

SpikedFreak

I still have my NGPC and the only game I have for it is SNK vs Capcom. Still the best portable fighter IMHO.

Mordrack

Behold the Turbo Express, in all its battery draining glory.

yalborap

Mordrack wrote: »

Behold the Turbo Express, in all its battery draining glory.

I need one of those.

However, I have an NGPC and a Game Gear.

Mr Peepers

Erm... More of a head held.

I only have The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Star Wars on it. Still works though.

Marlor

Back in my school days, I remember a friend of mine having a Lynx, and constantly telling me how much better it was than my Game Boy. He would constantly laugh at my "crappy black and white screen", no matter how many times I pointed out that the Game Boy had better battery life and a better selection of games.

I guess the same thing's probably happening in schoolyards these days, with the DS and PSP.

The_Spaniard

I still have my Lynx, dunno if it still works anymore.

JCRooks

When I was a kid, my uncle bought us a Sega Game Gear. He didn't know anything about games, which is why we got that instead of a Game Boy like most other kids got.

Yeah, it was huge and not exactly portable, but it had a surprisingly good color screen. The only games we had were Columns and some awesome RPG that I remember playing for hours, but don't remember the name of anymore.

Anyone know what the game is? (I'm too lazy/tired to Google at this hour)

GrimReaper

Get Switchblade 2.
Get Switchblade 2.
Get Switchblade 2.
Get Switchblade 2.
Get Switchblade 2.

I've owned an Atari Lynx for years.

By the way, get Switchblade 2.

Noray

I used to own a Lynx when I was like 8. What a battery draining piece of crap that was. But hey, the screen was in ZOMG COLOR!

I think I only ever had 2 games, Batman Returns and Dirty Harry-ish game.

skippydumptruck

LewieP wrote: »

I want a NGPC so bad, but alas I am too poor.

If you lived in the US, I would sell you mine.

I sold all the games a while ago, and I kind of regret getting rid of Card Fighters Clash

Edcrab

You had CFC and got rid of it?

Although I'm one to talk because I got a NGPC second-hand and lost it. I suck.


My biggest gripe with the system was that Card Clash 2 was never translated for an English version. What a kick in the teeth that was...

Firebrand

I've got a Lynx II with Rampage, Awesome Golf, Road Blasters, Gauntlet, Electro Cop and Rygar. Rampage and perhaps the golf game are "OK", the rest, not so much. I do regret trading in my original Game Boy with games for this piece of junk.

LewieP

skippydumptruck wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

I want a NGPC so bad, but alas I am too poor.

If you lived in the US, I would sell you mine.

I sold all the games a while ago, and I kind of regret getting rid of Card Fighters Clash

how much are you talking? I live in the UK, but international post works too

S-Starwind

My NGPC resurfaced after half a year yesterday, my gf's little sister magically found it in her room.....with a cracked screen and missing battery cover. I wasn't impressed. Now I search for another.

Dublo7

What was that game on the Lynx where you were some tiny dude in a kitchen/refrigerator and you had to fight evil vegetables and stuff?

edit - Found it. Kung Food.

Vicissitude

I never had a Lynx, but I do have a NGPC and Sega Nomad. I've never personally met anybody else with a Nomad, and everybody I show it to tries to steal it.

Mr_Grinch

A search for NGPC on ebay brings up some pretty reasonably priced auctions. I'm tempted.

SageinaRage

Ahhh, I love my Lynx, even with its flaws. Best game on the system is probably Todd's Adventures in Slime World, but there's lots of other good stuff too.

NofrikinfuN

I miss my old Nomad. (If only it didn't eat batteries/have a crappy AC adapter.) Still, my biggest regret in regards to gaming was selling my Nomad and games to fund an N64. The foolishness of youth.

plufim

The Lynx version of California games was fucking awesome.

reddog

Oh man I thought the Turbo Express was the greatest thing back in the day. I wanted one so bad just cause of the fact that you didn't have to buy new games for it. Just use the games from your TG 16 and you're set! I remember an episode of Doogie Howser where he was playing one. Alas...I my wishes never came true...::sigh::

Target Practice

JCRooks wrote: »

When I was a kid, my uncle bought us a Sega Game Gear. He didn't know anything about games, which is why we got that instead of a Game Boy like most other kids got.

Yeah, it was huge and not exactly portable, but it had a surprisingly good color screen. The only games we had were Columns and some awesome RPG that I remember playing for hours, but don't remember the name of anymore.

Anyone know what the game is? (I'm too lazy/tired to Google at this hour)

I really think you need to give people more to go on than "some awesome RPG".

The only RPGs I can think of for the Game Gear offhand are Shining Force and whatever the name was of its Beyond Oasis tie-in.

Anyway, I loved my Game Gear, but it was a really stupid idea on Sega's part. The technology for a feasibly portable Master System just wasn't there at the time. I mean, if the thing were just huge, it'd be one thing, but it also took six AA batteries, and they only lasted four hours.

Target Practice

Vicissitude wrote: »

I never had a Lynx, but I do have a NGPC and Sega Nomad. I've never personally met anybody else with a Nomad, and everybody I show it to tries to steal it.

I saw a Nomad at a local secondhand store, but while I was mulling over whether to buy it, some other guy walked up and got it.

I'd really rather get a CDX, though.

Mashalot

The Lynx was my first system. There were some crazy games for that shit.

Slimeworld, for instance, is just insane and... Chips Challenge wrecks souls

JCRooks

Target Practice wrote: »

JCRooks wrote: »

When I was a kid, my uncle bought us a Sega Game Gear. He didn't know anything about games, which is why we got that instead of a Game Boy like most other kids got.

Yeah, it was huge and not exactly portable, but it had a surprisingly good color screen. The only games we had were Columns and some awesome RPG that I remember playing for hours, but don't remember the name of anymore.

Anyone know what the game is? (I'm too lazy/tired to Google at this hour)

I really think you need to give people more to go on than "some awesome RPG".

The only RPGs I can think of for the Game Gear offhand are Shining Force and whatever the name was of its Beyond Oasis tie-in.

Anyway, I loved my Game Gear, but it was a really stupid idea on Sega's part. The technology for a feasibly portable Master System just wasn't there at the time. I mean, if the thing were just huge, it'd be one thing, but it also took six AA batteries, and they only lasted four hours.

I really wish I remembered more about the game, other than "awesome RPG". I'm looking through Wikipedia now, but have no luck. I fear the awesomeness that is in my head is mostly the typical hype that gets concocted whenever you reminisce about any old game. I want to say it was Crystal Warriors, but I'm not positive.

As for the battery thing, yeah it was rather lame. For a "portable system", I never took it out of the house. That thing was heavy too ...

seanc

Lynx has one hell of an awesome version of Xenophobe

yalborap

I would kill a man for a Nomad. KILL.

Or a Turbo Express.

Feral

Target Practice wrote: »

Vicissitude wrote: »

I never had a Lynx, but I do have a NGPC and Sega Nomad. I've never personally met anybody else with a Nomad, and everybody I show it to tries to steal it.

I saw a Nomad at a local secondhand store, but while I was mulling over whether to buy it, some other guy walked up and got it.

I'd really rather get a CDX, though.

If you think of an SMS as battery-guzzling zomghuge portable SMS (which it is) why would you want a battery-guzzling zomghuge Genesis?

And the Lynx was a really good system. I mean, it suffered the same issues with battery life and being zomghuge, but it came out at a time when Atari was really publishing some great titles. XYBots was hot shit in the days before Wolfenstein... and most of those titles weren't otherwise available except through ports of inconsistent quality for home computers.

Edit: and fucking STUN Runner, bitches. (Though I admit to never actually playing that one except in the arcades.)

YardGnome

My friend had a NGPC that he got for $10. He turned around and sold it to a guy that had no idea of it's value for $30. I want to kill him everytime I see him because of it.

I would have given him $35.

TheSonicRetard

I've been trying to take a picture of my might portable empire all day, but I think my Turbo Express and GP32 are in austin. Bummer.

Parkingtigers

I mistakenly bought a Lynx II instead of a Megadrive. What was I thinking? I bought 17 games for that handheld piece of crap, and only about 3 of them were any good, with another 3 being playable but "meh". The rest ... oh god, I just want to weep when I think I could have been playing a proper console with those monies instead. I still cringe at the memory of buying games like Viking Child and Gauntlet (which was a blasphemous use of the Gauntlet name).

I don't know where all the nostalgia for the Lynx comes from, because nobody was playing the damn thing back when I had one. It boasted that it could link up to 8 players at once in some games, but I swear I was the only young bloke in England with one. That said, I did see a mong on the train with one a couple of years back, it was covered in badly aged sticky tape (about 6 rolls of the stuff it seemed) and he was clutching it like a teddy bear. Only decent use of the thing I've ever seen.

Vicissitude

Feral wrote: »

Target Practice wrote: »

Vicissitude wrote: »

I never had a Lynx, but I do have a NGPC and Sega Nomad. I've never personally met anybody else with a Nomad, and everybody I show it to tries to steal it.

I saw a Nomad at a local secondhand store, but while I was mulling over whether to buy it, some other guy walked up and got it.

I'd really rather get a CDX, though.

If you think of an SMS as battery-guzzling zomghuge portable SMS (which it is) why would you want a battery-guzzling zomghuge Genesis?

And the Lynx was a really good system. I mean, it suffered the same issues with battery life and being zomghuge, but it came out at a time when Atari was really publishing some great titles. XYBots was hot shit in the days before Wolfenstein... and most of those titles weren't otherwise available except through ports of inconsistent quality for home computers.

Edit: and fucking STUN Runner, bitches. (Though I admit to never actually playing that one except in the arcades.)

The draw of the Nomad is that the battery case detaches from the system, so its not super huge when plugged in to the wall/car outlet. And, let me tell you, when I was around 11 or 12 playing that on long road trips made them far easier to bear. It might be a huge, battery sucking, portable Genesis, but it's still a freakin' portable Genesis. That's always cool.

NofrikinfuN

Do all Nomads have a fidgety AC plug? If I twisted the thing at all, my Nomad would always power down. That was hell on games like Dune, where I had been playing for hours and building a massive assault force, only to be cut down by a faulty plug.

a penguin

I loved my Lynx. Slime world was awesome. I like Blue Lightning, STUN Runner, Xenophobe, that helicopter one that i can't remember the name of. Good stuff.

Xenophobe was at its most awesome in multiplayer, when you could be the big nasty alien. Until everyone else figured out where you were an annihilated you with grenades.

The football game I had for it was hilariously broken. You could fake a punt and score a touchdown on almost every play.

Vicissitude

NofrikinfuN wrote: »

Do all Nomads have a fidgety AC plug? If I twisted the thing at all, my Nomad would always power down. That was hell on games like Dune, where I had been playing for hours and building a massive assault force, only to be cut down by a faulty plug.

My Nomad's AC plug is fine, but the cartridge slot is kind of loose, so if the game wiggles a bit it will freeze sometimes. Those tall EA games are terrible for it, and don't even try putting a game on Sonic & Knuckles.