Throwback Thursday: The Atari Lynx

By on Mar 17, 2011 at 5:42 PM
General March 17, 2011

Released in 1989, the Atari Lynx was a portable gaming device way ahead of its time. As the world’s first portable gaming device to boast a color display, the Lynx packed a host of other innovative features — including the ability to be held with the D-pad on the left or right for ambidextrous gameplay. The 16-bit gaming system packed  a 3.5-inch display which supported 4,096 colors, a 4MHz processor, 64KB of RAM, a 3.5mm headphone jack, ComLynx port, and was powered by six AA batteries. The ComLynx port could be used to daisy-chain multiple Lynx players together — up to eighteen total — for collaborative multiplayer gaming. The Lynx had the misfortune of being released in the same year as Nintendo’s Game Boy, which was priced $100 cheaper and viewed as less bulky. An updated Lynx handheld — the Lynx II — was released in 1991, but, thanks to Sega’s newly launched Game Gear and continued pressure from Nintendo, it didn’t fair much better. Any gaming pioneers out there buck the Nintendo and Sega trend and own an Atari Lynx?

We’d like to thank @mikewewerka for this week’s Throwback Thursday suggestion.

BGR’s Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.

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21 Comments

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  • Anonymous

    Oh wow, nostalgia bomb here.

  • Major Tomm

    My friends and I used to “Lynx” up all the time for multiplayer games. I still have my Lynx and Lynx II in the closet – unfortunately it has been about 3 years since I busted them out to play some games. Off to the store I go to pick up some batteries!

  • http://twitter.com/michaelruby Michael Rubinstein

    I had one! Not sure what happened to it though.. :(

  • Anonymous

    My uncle has one. It requires a bunch of batteries, but it was worth it because of Ninja Gaiden.

  • http://twitter.com/jopkins Jonathan Hopkins

    I had a Lynx. It felt like the future and I loved it. California Games FTW

  • http://twitter.com/simoncabron Simon Cabron

    I got a Lynx II around ’92 and sold it on ebay around ’98. Those games were awesome. I was the only person I knew with one, so I didn’t get to enjoy the multiplayer experience at all.

  • Michael Scrip

    I had one… I’m sure it’s still in my parent’s house somewhere…

  • http://www.bignerdblog.com BigNerd

    Yes. I had one… and I think the only game I had on it was some Batman title.

    It’s packed in box with my Sega Dreamcast and purple Gameboy Color.

  • http://twitter.com/jason_mcnair Jason McNair

    I had one. I remember the pink plastic contact cleaner (glorified wax paper with an abrasive side) always had to be inserted between cartridge changes or they would get dirty. Also never got to try the ComLynx cause all my friends went with Gameboy and I was stuck playing alone.

  • Anonymous

    I wanted the Lynx, but got the GameBoy for Christmas instead.

  • sodrak

    I have 3 lynx’s, most of the games, the carry case, and d cell battery pack. The lynx was 1000 time better than any other portable system of it’s time. I had 3 friends who also owned the lynx and the ComLynx cords were all over the place when conected. It was great fun. Slime World was my favorite.

  • http://twitter.com/SParKlngCyaNide SparklingCyanide

    Ehhhh BEZEL!!!!! lol

  • Mrsantora2

    Still got mine. Just fired it up last week in fact. Some great games. Way ahead of it’s time but marketed/handled like crap thanks to The Tramiel’s @ Atari…

  • http://twitter.com/thetechhog Michael T. Blake

    Thanks, for the mention Andrew, I loved this thing when I was young. California Games was the best game ever for this handheld.

  • http://twitter.com/MikeWewerka Mike Wewerka

    Thanks taking my suggestion Andrew, I loved this thing as a kid. California Games for this thing was amazing! Great system!

  • Thomas

    I actually have an original Atari Lynx sitting around at home. Once or twice a year I turn her on and play a few of the games I have. It’s freaking awesome.

  • Anonymous

    I had one – Shadow of the Beast Rocked!! I can remember what i did with it though, might still be hiding in my parents basement from all those years ago

  • http://twitter.com/perderedeus Tim Gulics

    LYNX! I’m a proud owner of a Lynx II and nearly the entire library of games. I own a Gameboy too, and have a few favorites there, but for me nothing could beat the Lynx’s color screen. I even had the auxiliary battery pack, which took like 6 D batteries and let you play for-ev-er. :D

  • http://twitter.com/joe_dorn Joe Dorn

    This thing was awesome and leaps and bounds ahead of the competition at the time (the first gen Gameboy)… If Atari’s name brand hadn’t been so tarnished at that point who knows what would have become of this great little device.

    It took 6 AA batteries and would suck them dry in a couple of hours so you definitely needed the AC adapter for extended playing. Xybot’s and Gauntlet were awesome!!!

  • zps

    i can’t tell you how much i loved my lynx. i especially loved the bmx part of the beach sports game. i was the maestro at that one.

  • Mark Schleupner

    What an awesome handheld! I had the original and the smaller one. Blue Lightning was the best!

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