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The Atari
Lynx was the world's first color portable gaming system. It was developed by
RJ Mical and Dave Needle for Epyx. Atari bought the Lynx (then called
Handy) and released it around 1990. (Read
the interview with Mical and Needle.)
The Lynx features a color palette of 4,096 colors, hardware scaling and
scrolling, stereo sound, a backlit screen, multiple fire buttons, linking of
up to 16 units, and the ability to play left or right handed. The original
unit (Lynx I) included an A/C power supply, the Epyx classic California
Games, and the Lynx unit itself. Successive Lynx units (Lynx II - shown
above) would include Pit Fighter,
Pinball Jam, Checkered Flag, and Shadow
of the Beast as pack-ins.
In comparison to other handhelds, the Lynx was not
supplanted as the technological leader until Nintendo
released the Gameboy Advance in 2001! Amazingly, the Lynx
was the most powerful, exclusively handheld machine for 12
years!
Some of the best Lynx games include:
KLAX,
STUN Runner,
Lemmings,
Rampart,
Shanghai,
Blue Lightning, BattleWheels, and the
recently released
Alpine Games and
Cybervirus.
Atari discontinued the Lynx in
1994 when the Jaguar became their
primary focus.
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The Atari Lynx II
Atari Lynx Specs:
Processors: Mikey (8-bit 65C02 @
3.6 MHz), Suzy (16-bit blitter @ 16 MHz)
Sound: 4 channel, stereo on Lynx
II
Resolution: 160x102
Colors: 16 onscreen out of 4,096
Display size: 3.5"
Memory: 64K RAM, game cards up to
512K
Original 1990 Price: $179
Special Features: Scaling,
rotation, distortion, clipping, tilting, flip screen |
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