"You can tell Atari is angry now, eh?" Back in 1989 they released a gaming system far superior to the weak black and white Gameboy by their arch rival Nintendo; the system was called the Atari Lynx.  The games for the Lynx looked absolutely incredible because of the Lynx's powerful 16-bit processor and cool 3D hardware capabilities (which was pretty amazing considering it was made in 1989). Atari was certainly ready to crush Nintendo's Game boy in the late 80's but Atari's bad luck (like their 5200, 7800, and XE failures) would sadly continue.

So what was the problem? There just weren’t enough Lynx games to go around or the big company names like a Capcom, a Taito, or a Konami to help keep the Lynx alive in the long run. Also the size of the Lynx is hardly considered portable anymore; it’s the size of four Gameboy Colour's or four Gameboy Advances (about the same size as the Sega Game Gear). If all that wasn't enough the Atari Lynx could eat your battery life in under four hours, and it needs six AA's to run it too. It's going to cost a lot of money just to play it on the go. The system also would have done better if there were more support from Atari themselves, when the Jaguar was being announced in 1993 they basically forget about their Lynx and so did retailers.

Although the Lynx had it problems it also had some truly unique features too like, anybody who is Left Handed will love the lynx's flip screen feature, so the unit can be reserved (name any system that supports 'Lefties') just by pressing down the option 2 button. You can also save your battery life without turning off the system by just shutting off the screen, which is great because most Lynx games do not support any back up memory and this lets you take a break from the game if needed. Also compare some of the stunning games like Blue Lightning to any of early Game boy more generic titles like Alleyway.

Bottomline: Buy a Lynx just to see what the first ever colour portable unit actually looks like and to see what Ninja Gaiden was like in the arcades. There are still some hardcore game developers that still make games for the ol' Lynx, visit www.telegames.com to see for yourself.  If you're a fan of those classic Atari arcade games like S.T.U.N. Runner, Steel Talons, Paperboy, Klax, and others then don't miss your chance to play them on the go!

Overall Lynx rating: 70/100 the Lynx was cool then, but it's outdated now.
Find the Atari Lynx on eBay here!

Rare Scale: 4/10 this system is still cheap in some places but not too wide spread.