Z*Magazine: #208 This issue was released as an .arc file containing many small text files. I have appended them all together into this document, with no further editing besides these comments. For lack of a better system, I chose to append the text files together in alphabetical order by the names of the files. I have done this completely without permission from the publishers of Z*Magazine. Actually, there isn't even any evidence that it was the publishers of Z*Mag that collected these files. This issue is almost entirely Lynx games reviews. For the 8-bit Atari computer user there is: A review by Jeff McWilliams of the Newell 1088K product, and: my -Perusing the Internet- column. Michael Current, Cleveland Free-Net 8-bit Atari SIGOp Internet: mcurrent@carleton.edu / Cleveland Free-Net: aa700 =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Blue Lightning===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.00| TONY BELDING | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |3.44| EQUINOX | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.11| SMOKE | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.00| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.00| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |4.11| DONNY HARROP | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |2.44| JEFF KOVACH | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.88| LORD CHUCK | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.55| STEVEN FOUST | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.33| MATT BRADY | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.44| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.77| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |5.00| G HILL | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |3.44| LASER EAGLE | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.11| YAR | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.11| STUB | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.55| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (17 LYNXERS) |4.2|4.2|3.1|2.5|3.7|N/A|3.6|3.4|3.1|3.2|3.44| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:36:38 pm May 31, 1991 At first glance this game seems impressive, but after playing this game for some time I feel as though it could have been improved. It was too much like all the -jet-fighter- arcade games, just the same thing over and over. I will admit though that it does allow you to destroy ground targets unlike any other arcade game other than G-LOC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:06:52 am June 1, 1991 I hate the fact that you can't really turn around and attack what you just flew over, and I don't like having the airplane right in the middle of the screen blocking my view. But the animation is amazing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 01:18:52 pm June 8, 1991 This game is visually impressive, and was a sell-out during the Persian Gulf War. The gameplay is quite simple, even though there are 9 different missions. This is one of the only Lynx games that even a small child could play well. I prefer more complex, thought provoking challenges. Nevertheless, this is an excellent game to show off the Lynx's graphics and animation capabilities to prospective Lynx buyers. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===California Games===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.10| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |4.30| EQUINOX | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.10| DONNY HARROP | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.90| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |4.00| AVOGADRO | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.50| JEFF KOVACH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.60| LORD CHUCK | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |2.60| STEVEN FOUST | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |4.00| DARKMAGE | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.80| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |4.00| ARIC | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.50| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (12 LYNXERS) |3.8|4.0|3.0|3.5|3.4|3.9|3.5|3.5|3.5|3.0|3.50| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 11:48:22 pm May 17, 1991 Still one of the best mutli-player games out there! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equinox (Juan Peguero from Lynn, MA) 02:03:00 am May 20, 1991 Since this game is really 4 in 1 I'd like to add the following about each section: BMX Good-It's a lot of fun, the detail in the graphics is great. Really challenging. In order of fun this one would come in second of the 4 games. SURFING Great graphics and animation. This is the event to most benefit from linking up with another person. It is also the most fun alone. Out of the 4 events this is the most fun best out of the 4. HALFPIPE The most difficult to learn, but very easy once you know how. A lot of fun but very limited in actions available. (Well, they all kind of are but this one more so.) Out of the 4 it is tie for 2nd (w/BMX) for fun. FOOTBAG Others may like but this is BORING! It does offer more moves than Halfpipe skateboarding but WHO CARES! However, for whatever reason, I LOVE the scenery. The flowing river, the bridge, it all looks great! The only fun I ever had with Footbag was when I linked up with someone and kept tripping them. But that's been it. Out of 4 it comes in third for fun. (If I was to rate it on a scale of 1-10, it wouldn't make the scale!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 12:48:06 am May 30, 1991 CA Games is of course the oldest Lynx game I have, but it is still one of the most enjoyable. I certainly can claim that I play it more often than any other Lynx game from the first half dozen that came out. That of course, attests to its long term playability, but that is due to other features too...although simple in concept, it is a blast to play multiplayer CA Games - even with the early 'buggy' version of the ComLynx software. Also, this is one of the only Lynx games that I get so engrossed in that I find myself flexing my legs and moving my Lynx back and forth while trying to surf and skateboard. And even going for 50,000+ on Foot Bag sets my nerves on end! Of course none of these events would have survived on its own. Perhaps this concept should have been applied to another Lynx game--RoboSquash! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stevem Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:27:02 pm May 31, 1991 Even though this was the first game I ever played for the Lynx, I still have a blast trying to beat my high score in surfing and BMX. To this day I cannot help myself from twitching while doing a quad in surfing or doing a triple forward flip in BMX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:05:40 am June 1, 1991 When I got my Lynx I thought this was a nice graphics and sound demo, but was immediately bored. There is no gameplay. It is fun to try to knock people off their surf board. I got a lot of laughs watching the surfer fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DarkMage (Rick Lemon from Mesa, AZ) 11:32:28 pm July 11, 1991 California Games is one game that I first got when i bought my LYNX. At first I kind of ignored it and pushed it aside because I was more into the action and arcade sort of games, but when my friend Donny challenged me to a game and soundly whipped my butt I really got into it, vowing for revenge. After a while I started getting into it majorly. Donny can still whip me any day but I now try to play the game for its own sake. It really is the kind of game you can get into. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copy (Bob Nell from Phoenix, AZ) 03:35:40 am Mar. 7, 1992 Well, I've decided to leave comments on CA Games. After rating this game I started to play it again. I think this is a great cart to package with the Lynx! It shows off a lot of the capabilities of the Lynx and once you pick it up it's hard to put down. I think its one of the most addicting and thumb-numbing games out! If you bought a Lynx without this game included (basic system) I would suggest trying it out... 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Chess Challenge===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| TODD ELLERING | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |3.80| M KENNEDY | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 |3.40| ARIC | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.10| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (3 LYNXERS) |3.6|3.3|2.3|2.3|4.3|4.6|3.6|5.0|4.0|4.3|3.70| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Todd Ellering from Tempe, AZ 08:44:56 pm May 20, 1991 While the sound is not quite up to par, the gameplay and options are excellent. The Lynx is very hard to beat, even on the easiest level! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Chip's Challenge===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.00| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.66| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |3.77| DONNY HARROP | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |3.55| LORD CHUCK | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.00| STEVEN FOUST | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.22| MATTHEW | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.55| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |5.00| SLY-THAI | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.77| ARIC | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |3.77| MARK | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.44| JEFF KOVACH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |3.88| G HILL | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.44| KYLE MILLER | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |3.77| LEO | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 |2.88| YAR | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 |3.55| SIANARA | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.55| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (17 LYNXERS) |3.4|3.5|3.2|3.4|4.4|N/A|4.0|4.5|4.2|3.4|3.77| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 02:26:56 am May 26, 1991 Even though I finished this game I still pop it in now and then to just have some fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:08:36 am June 1, 1991 Lots of absorbing puzzles. Definite buy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew (Richard Stephenson from Delta, UT) 01:31:46 pm July 13, 1991 Pretty good game. Amazing how many different levels can be made out of so few objects! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 11:29:54 pm July 29, 1991 All I can say is that I LOVED IT!!! Played it for 5 hours straight! GET THIS GAME!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sly-Thai 02:23:44 pm July 31, 1991 Chips Challenge is a very exciting game. It involves lots of time and brain strain!!!! The best way to play is too be calm and if at first you don't suceed, try try again. I would recommend this game for anyone who likes to solve clues and problems. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yar (Peter Johnson from North Bay, ON, Canada 10:00:08 pm Nov. 24, 1991 Chip's Challenge is a very addictive, thought provoking game. It's very refreshing to play a game where a fast brain is involved than fast fingers. The graphics are not great and can turn you off of buying the game, but the playability and challenge is great! I would strongly recommend this game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dolphin (Rob Besett from Scottsdale, AZ) 01:03:50 pm Mar. 5, 1992 This has to be among the best in long term playability! This is the type of game that you play in cycles- you might not play this game for months but all of a sudden you will find yourself humming Chip's theme and be back playing its challenging levels over and over again. I was very suprised at this because the game does not look very fun when you look at the box at the store, but it IS! If you like puzzles get Chips! 7 Press ! Chip's Challenge Passwords -------------------------- 1 BDHP LESSON 1 77 FHIC INVINCIBLE CHAMPION 2 JXMJ LESSON 2 78 GRMO FORCE SQUARE 3 ECMQ LESSON 3 79 JINU DRAWN & QUARTERED 4 YMCJ LESSON 4 80 EVUG VANISHING ACT 5 TQKB LESSON 5 81 SCWF WRITERS BLOCK 6 WNLP LESSON 6 82 LLIO SOCIALIST BLOCK 7 FXQO LESSON 7 83 OVPJ UP THE BLOCK 8 NHAG LESSON 8 84 UVEO WARS 9 KCRE NUTS & BOLTS 85 LEBX TELENET 10 VUWS BRUSHFIRE 86 FLHH SUICIDE 11 CNPE TRINITY 87 YJYS CITYBLOCK 12 WVHI HUNT 88 WZYV SPIRALS 13 OCKS SOUTHPOLE 89 VCZO BLOCK BUSTER 14 BTDY TELEBLOCK 90 OLLM PLAYHOUSE 15 COZQ ELEMENTARY 91 JPQG JUMPING SWARM 16 SKKK CELLBLOCKED 92 DTMI VORTEX 17 AJMG NICE DAY 93 REKF ROADSIGN 18 HMJL CASTLE MOAT 94 EWCS NOW YOU SEE IT 19 MRHR DIGGER 95 BIFQ FOUR SQUARE 20 KGFP TOSSED SALAD 96 WVHY PARANOIA 21 UGRW ICEBERG 97 IOCS METASTABLE TO CHAOS 22 WZIN FORCED ENTRY 98 TKWD SHRINKING 23 HUVE BLOBNET 99 XUVU CATACOMBS 24 UNIZ OORTO GELD 100 QJXR COLONY 25 PQGV BLINK 101 APIR APARTMENT 26 YVYJ CHCHCHIPS 102 VDDU ICEHOUSE 27 IGGZ GO WITH THE FLOW 103 PTAC MEMORY 28 UJDD PING PONG 104 KWNL JAILER 29 QGOL ARCTICFLOW 105 YNEG SHORT CIRCUIT 30 BQPZ MISH MESH 106 NXYB KABLAM 31 RYMS KNOT 107 ECRE BALLS-O-FIRE 32 PEFS SCAVENGER HUNT 108 LIOC BLOCKOUT 33 BQSN ON THE ROCKS 109 KZQR TORTURE CHAMBER 34 NQFI CYPHER 110 XBAO CHILLER 35 VDTM LEMMINGS 111 KRQJ TIME LAPSE 36 NXIS LADDER 112 NJLA FORTUNE FAVORS THE... 37 VQNK SEEING STARS 113 PTAS OPEN QUESTION 38 BIFA SAMPLER 114 JWNL DECEPTION 39 ICXY GLUT 115 ERGW OVERSEA DELIVERY 40 YWFH FLOORGASBORG 116 HXMF BLOCK BUSTER II 41 GKWD I.C. YOU 117 FPZT THE MARSH 42 LMFU BEWARE OF BUG 118 OSCW MISS DIRECTION 43 UJDP LOCK BLOCK 119 PHTY SLIDE STEP 44 TXHL REFRACTION 120 FLXP ALPHABET SOUP 45 OVPZ MONSTER LAB 121 BPYS PERFECT MATCH 46 HDQJ THREE DOORS 122 SJUM TOTALLY FAIR 47 LXPP PIER SEVEN 123 YKZE THE PRISONER 48 JYSF MUGGER SQUARE 124 TASX FIRETRAP 49 PPXI PROBLEMS 125 MYRT MIXED NUTS 50 QBDH DIGDIRT 126 QRLD BLOCK 'N' ROLL 51 IGGJ I SLIDE 127 JWWZ SKELZIE 52 PPHT THE LAST LAUGH 128 FTLA ALL FULL 53 CGNX TRAFFIC COP 129 HEAN LOBSTER TRAP 54 ZMGC GRAIL 130 HXIZ ICE CUBE 55 SJES POTPOURRI 131 FIRD TOTTALY UNFAIR 56 FCJE DEEPFREEZE 132 ZYRA MIX UP 57 UBXU STRANGE MAZE 133 TIGG BLOBDANCE 58 YBLT LOOP AROUND 134 XPPH PAIN 59 BLDM HIDDEN DANGER 135 LYWO TRUST ME 60 ZYVI SCOUNDREL 136 LUZL DOUBLEMAZE 61 RMOW RINK 137 HPPX GOLDKEY 62 TIGW SLO MO 138 LUJT PARTIAL POST 63 GOHX BLOCK FACTORY 139 VLHH YORKHOUSE 64 IJPQ SPOOKS 140 SJUK ICEDEATH 65 UPUN AMSTERDAM 141 MCJE UNDERGROUND 66 ZIKZ VICTIM 142 UCRY PENTAGRAM 67 GGJA CHIPMINE 143 OKOR STRIPES? 68 RTDI EENY-MINY-MOE 144 GVXQ FIREFLIES 69 NLLY BOUNCE CITY *** END *** 70 GCCG NIGHTMARE 146 JHEN CAKEWALK 71 LAJM CORRIDOR 147 COZA FORCEFIELD 72 EKFT REVERSE ALLEY 148 RGSK MIND BLOCK 73 QCCR MORTON 149 DIGW SPECIAL 74 MKNH PLAYTIME *** END *** 75 MJDV STEAM 76 NMRH FOUR PLEX 7 Press ! Crystal Mines 2 Codes --------------------- List compiled by: Greg Littlefield and John Hardie Text file by: John Hardie 4/10/92 1 - TSLA Down In The Dirt 2 - UEPT Logan's Run 3 - MTFQ Blocks And Bombs 4 - IRTR Wren's Nest 5 - ZCXP Out With A Bang 6 - DPRX Tanya's Tangram 7 - OIGT Monster Go Boom 8 - YHYR Dan's Deadly Maze 9 - VYHK Rocky Horror 10 - ITCU It Grows On You 11 - QCFK Easy Trap Of Doom 12 - BXNG Rock And Roll 13 - MOXA Bombs A' Plenty 14 - IDWJ Catacombs 15 - RFVC Red Herring 16 - GHSI Behind The Lines 17 - SKHU Impervections 18 - TRFN Blasting Zone 19 - LQRE A Wrinkle In Time 20 - AURV Bolder Dash 21 - TYGU Mud Wrestling 22 - FUIX Buried Alive 23 - QFXV Crystal -Mines- 24 - XVXU Can't Touch This 25 - KYPO Felony Arson 26 - HBTR Sandbox Bullies 27 - SFEB Stake Your Claim 28 - HXRE Dry Vein 29 - TRVJ Quiver 30 - FQCS Boulder Mania 31 - ZOIH Pipe Hype 32 - LHJV Stuck In The Mud 33 - GVYU Rat Race 34 - EMTV Split Infinity 35 - OHXY Switch Swatch 36 - GSTB Minefield 37 - UXRC Chimney Sweep 38 - PWYH What A Blast! 39 - XQCE Hardrock Headache 40 - PNGU Nuke Zone 41 - DZDI Down Is Up 42 - PIPH Lucky Number 43 - PKAV Of Gravity... 44 - TBUM Shape Up 45 - CXRI Gravity Wise 46 - QIPZ Slime Pit 47 - HBJP Candlestick 48 - NXKU Bouncing Boulders 49 - IGPY Cloudbuster 50 - INUK Whirlwind 51 - LPHD Block Mania 52 - NEBX I Get Around 53 - JVNL Hot Pursuit 54 - CAQS Runny Stocking 55 - KEHL Cakewalk 56 - EMSE The Sewers 57 - ZLAE Crystal Factory 58 - MSXV Drop A Rock 59 - JXTD Magic Mirror 60 - SOVS Cache 61 - GHGV Rock Concert 62 - QVOZ Crystal Tomb 63 - ZCEL Make My Maze 64 - COYH Pardon Me 65 - HJHT Take Control 66 - DONQ Castle Mania 67 - VBHF Rad Drops 68 - JSMJ Crystal Cannon 69 - HTRA Tick Tock 70 - WBHD Crossroads 71 - MVJX Rain Dance 72 - ANZI Jungle Gem 73 - EDLA Zero Gravity 74 - PCMN Boulder Exchange 75 - YJKJ Monster Mania 76 - RAIQ Which Way? 77 - ZRWH Mud Boggin' 78 - ECMO Safe Cracker 79 - AOTP The Howling 80 - SVWK Trial -N- Error 81 - VRBO Squeeze Play 82 - SVYA Jailhouse Rock 83 - KRFH Dodge Ball 84 - CNQR Sidewinder 85 - YNXR Ghost Of A Chance 86 - CWQU Plumber's Helper 87 - YXFJ Change Machine 88 - SRDW Triple Threat 89 - PDSQ Out Of Order 90 - QKOA Robo Rooter 91 - CKLQ Riddle Me This 92 - KHBA Cheque It Out 93 - MZKM Joel's Conniption 94 - DYDO Saturn V 95 - IDIC To Boldly Go 96 - WVOM Who Knows? 97 - NJCU Pipe Dream 98 - WVQR Volcano Vacation 99 - BSZB Pipeline Puzzle 100 - RERF Asylum 101 - WNON Slime Jar 102 - IVLC Around The World 103 - PJOL Crystal Trap 104 - RGEI Central Square 105 - WCEF Down The Drain 106 - DSGY Creature Comforts 107 - PHUF Swamp Things 108 - NCBS Gravity Ball 109 - KOMZ Herringbone 110 - LFXQ Water Closet 111 - WAET Xenophobe Zoo 112 - YJNV Conveyor Belt 113 - TAUJ Mutation 114 - IMOZ Towering Inferno 115 - NBFD Take Your Pick 116 - ZAPR Shopping Spree 117 - BXFT Elevator Muzak 118 - GEFA Kaleidoscope 119 - QIKD Gemnastics 120 - GMWJ Death Zone 121 - MKIH Don't Be Greedy 122 - ULEL Multi-abuser 123 - KBDW Bombs Away 124 - QEFP Sound And Fury 125 - SFJX Make 'Em Yourself 126 - LQXW The Four Seasons 127 - INMQ Lobotomy 128 - NMAD Hell And Back 129 - RHEM Pipe Organ 130 - YHVR Newton's Nightmare 131 - FSHF Jail Break 132 - EIKJ Quantum Quarry 133 - CQCR Running On MT 134 - AIYA Haunted House 135 - SXOE Arrow Phlegm 136 - EKDR Bohemian Rhapsody 137 - DRVY Lift Lackeys 138 - RGUM Spacin' Vaders 139 - FEDC Avalanche! 140 - PRKL Evil Twins 141 - ONKO Leftright 142 - QXPL Meltdown 143 - JRXP Girls Best Friend 144 - PADJ Phase Shift 145 - KGLI Spiral Of Doom 146 - FDXR Mouse Trap 147 - BLKS Zen 148 - TJGB Freeze Frame 149 - QKBT Check Mate 150 - AUEC Terminus Bonus Levels ------------ 1 - KQVW Deja View From Level 9 2 - QATR No Time To Think From Level 18 3 - DBFQ Bonanza! From Level 27 4 - LEJM Nimbus From Level 34 5 - ODJY Monty Haul From Level 39 6 - 7 - SKLR Ping Pong From Level 48 8 - JPGR Twist And Shout From Level 52 9 - BIOH Time's Up From Level 55 10 - 11 - 12 - NMXS Lava Slide From Level 66 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - WIFC Way Out From Level 100 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - KDVI Surrounded From Level 125 25 - 26 - 27 - OSNY Shoot The Moon From Level 138 28 - 29 - 30 - *NOTE* Upon completing level 28, you are awarded a 1 million point super bonus 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Checkered Flag===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| CHRIS BAKER | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.80| THE JABBERWOCK! | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.60| MARK | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.70| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.60| PAUL B. PRICHARD | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.80| ERIK | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.10| STUB | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.10| SHIFTER | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.70| DARKMAGE | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.60| PHURD | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.20| SIANARA | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |4.30| JEFF KOVACH | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.60| QWERTY | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |3.40| COMMANDER | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |4.30| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (14 LYNXERS) |4.2|4.3|4.0|3.2|4.4|4.2|4.1|4.0|3.7|3.2|3.90| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 08:55:10 pm Oct. 4, 1991 From looking at the previews in the magazines the last few months, I had my doubts about this one. When it was originally envisioned, it was to be a 16 player game, it has since been scaled back to a six player game. This has great graphic intro animation, and awesome digitized sound compleat with echo. Unlike Roadblasters, this game plays like a dream. The -steering- problems found in Roadblasters have been solved. The game is presented very well with some slick box art and game design. Those posters really are annoying. There are some good options for gameplay although you have only one choice of car. You can change the color of your car, the sex of your driver, practice, single heat, or tournament racing, and a selection of 18 tracks to choose from. The widely rumoured track editor did not make it to the final product though. Despite that, this is a first rate game and should be a part of everyone's Lynx collection. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jabberwock! (S. Michael Hallack from Jacksonville, FL) 11:21:24 pm Oct. 7, 1991 The graphics and animation on this driving game are very impressive, a lot of nice little touches like the flag wavers and 7 speed manual trannies! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark 07:46:44 am Oct. 13, 1991 If you liked Pole Position you will like this one, steering is very easy with the joypad. In fact this one handles better than any driving game I have played on any computer with a joystick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 03:06:54 pm Oct. 13, 1991 I thought I might not like this game because the lack of a steering wheel but that has been dealt with very effectively. I find the game to be nice and exciting. The ability to choose the tyope of car, track, and length is great. If you liked Pole Position (and even if you didn't) you will love this game! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 10:14:24 pm Oct. 23, 1991 Checkered Flag is a great racing game, but keep in mind that it is an arcade type racing game, not a racing simulator with pit stops, deadly wipeouts, etc. What makes this game so great is a number of things. First of all, the graphics are outstanding, with different backgrounds and scenery items for each of the 18 tracks. Scaling is handled better than we've seen on any Lynx game yet, no chunky pixels if you get too close to things. Secondly, there is a wide range of options for both the race and for your car. You can even pick the sex of the driver! Finally, control is excellent, with none of the steering problems found in RoadBlasters. Altho the rumored track editor didn't make it in, with the 18 tracks supplied there is more than enough to keep you racing for a long time! No apparent slowdown with ComLynx racing either. We've played with as many as 4 players. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erik (Erik Fortune from Palo Alto, CA) 11:05:56 pm Nov. 1, 1991 Gameplay and driving is excellent. It's amazing that they've squeezed so much game onto such a small game card. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phurd (Darren Bryant from Phoenix, AZ) 01:38:34 pm Mar. 15, 1992 This is the game that made me decide to get a LYNX. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sianara (John Gall from Paradise Valley, AZ) 02:01:30 am Apr. 3, 1992 This game is great! I like all of the things you can change so that, unless you play this game every day for a month, each time you play it can be different. Personally, I like to choose between a manual or automatic transmission (auto preferred). I give this game an overall A. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Qwerty (Chris Cox from Mesa, AZ) 10:06:24 pm Apr. 10, 1992 Checkered flag is a very exciting game when played with other opponents through the ComLynx cable but not very exciting when played 1 player. The sound affects are REALLY awesome when listened through a pair of earphones and not through the speaker because you can hear everything in depth. You can hear if a car is coming from your left, or from your right! GREAT ending graphics. If the girls in the game were real, I'd go for it! Great graphics! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Electrocop===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.77| TONY BELDING | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.66| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |4.11| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.00| DONNY HARROP | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.55| JEFF KOVACH | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.77| LORD CHUCK | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |2.33| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.77| NORMAN BATES | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 |2.88| ARIC | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.55| DARKMAGE | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.44| CHRIS BAKER | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.44| LASER EAGLE | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.44| LEO | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 |3.11| G HILL | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |2.44| STUB | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.11| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (16 LYNXERS) |3.9|3.8|3.3|3.1|3.1|N/A|3.1|3.6|2.7|2.9|3.33| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony Belding from Hamilton, TX 11:35:04 am May 18, 1991 This game requires dedication to play with any success. Mapping is hard. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:08:02 am June 1, 1991 I never got into this game's weird view, but it seems technically impressive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 02:00:28 pm June 8, 1991 When this game was new, it was my favorite of the first 4 games available for the Lynx. The graphics are awesome, and the perspecive is unique. To solve this game, I made maps--they are available in the Lynx download library. Once solved, this game loses its appeal-it's one of those games you just aren't interested in very much once you finish. I still like to look at the opening animation sequence, and listen to the opening music. A great game to show off the Lynx's scaling capability--the whole screen is being scaled as you walk toward and away from the screen--with no chunky pixels, because the scaling is only being used to reduce the original graphics, not blow them up more, like in Blue Lightning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 11:27:56 pm July 29, 1991 I feel that the graphics are just too difficult to discern what is going on. My initial reaction is: Bleeech! However, if this feeling changes I will so state but for right now I am non-plussed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 04:25:06 pm Aug. 25, 1991 Next to Rygar...I feel that this is one of the best action/adventure games to be released for the Lynx...amazing stuff... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill from Opelousas, LA 11:47:52 am Nov. 25, 1991 I found Electrocop much to hard for my tastes. I had a lot of trouble with the -through the walls- view of the game. Hard to judge where you are in relation to other monsters on the screen. It has potential but it's just not for me. I quickly traded this one in for another game. 7 Press ! ========================================= PLAY the -RATING GAME- and WIN LYNX GAMES ========================================= Star*Linx BBS is proud to announce that the Lynx Game Rating system (currently a feature of Star*Linx) is being expanded to CompuServe. Lynx players are encouraged to rate their favorite (or not-so-favorite) games so that Lynx enthusiasts in general can get a good idea of what the current Atari Lynx game library has to offer. In addition, game ratings and comments are forwarded to the Lynx game development team at Atari. Let them know what you think as well! BY SUBMITTING GAME RATINGS ON EITHER COMPUSERVE OR STAR-LINX, YOU BECOME ELIGIBILE TO WIN THE NEWEST LYNX GAME TITLE EACH MONTH! Game Rating forms are available on CompuServe (in the Lynx file library) or by direct input while on-line on Star*Linx. Game ratings will appear on Star*Linx and will also be updated regularly on CompuServe. To be eligible for each monthly drawing, you must fill out the Game Rating form below and return it to Jeff Kovach (70761,3015), (or enter your rating information while on-line when calling Star*Linx). The form must be filled in completely including the comments section. (Comments will be posted on-line and may also be used in other media publications and/or releases. By submitting your form, you grant permission for use of your comments.) Employees of CompuServe, Star-Linx BBS and Atari Corporation (and their families) are ineligible for the drawing, altho they may freely rate games! Please direct any questions, and return completed entry forms to Jeff Kovach 70761,3015. ======================================================================= THE RATING GAME (Star*Linx BBS (602)-464-4817 and CompuServe) ======================================================================= Please fill out this form completely. Please note that your street address and phone # will remain confidential. If you feel uncomfortable leaving them, we will notify you if you win via CompuServe. YOUR NAME: ____________________________________________ AGE: ________ STREET: ___________________________________________________________ CITY: _______________________________ STATE _______ ZIP _________ PHONE: _______________________________ (optional) GAME TITLE: ___________________________________________________________ NOW RATE THE GAME IN EACH OF THE 10 CATEGORIES LISTED BELOW. RATE THEM FROM 1 TO 5 WITH 5 BEING THE HIGHEST RATING. (5-OUTSTANDING 4-GREAT 3-GOOD 2-FAIR 1-POOR) GRAPHICS: ______ ANIMATION: ______ SOUND EFFECTS: ______ MUSICAL SCORE: ______ GAMEPLAY & DESIGN: ______ COMLYNX FEATURE: ______ EXCITEMENT: ______ CHALLENGE: ______ LONG-TERM PLAYABILITY: ______ PACKAGING/PRESENTATION: ______ COMMENTS: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ (Please use additional space as needed) Here is an explanation of the 10 Rating Game categories: GRAPHICS: Your rating of graphics should cover all non-animated features of the game. This includes backgrounds, choice of colors and how much detail is included in the game's screens. ANIMATION: Your animation rating should include all moving objects (such as characters and vehicles) as well as the game's horizontal/vertical scrolling. Does the game scroll from screen to screen nice and smooth? Is the movement of characters smooth from frame to frame? SOUND EFFECTS: Your rating of the game's sound effects should cover any non-musical sounds and noises. Are the sounds clear and distinct? Are they appropriate to the animation? Are the sounds original or do you feel like you've heard them all before? If this is an arcade conversion or you've seen the game on another system, how does the sound compare? MUSICAL SCORE: Some Lynx games have more music in them than others. Your rating here should cover originality and how appropriate the theme is to the game itself. Do you find yourself enjoying the music or does it seem to drone on endlessly? GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN: Actual gameplay, of course, is very important. A game can have poor sound effects and average graphics and still be a winner. When rating this category ask yourself if the whole premise behind the game is good. Is the concept well thought out? Are expectations fair or does the game seem impossible to beat? Do the controls react well to your touch and are they easy to use? COMLYNX FEATURE: This category, of course, only relates to those games which are designed for multiple players. Many games, in fact, may not come across very good as a single-player game, but really shines in ComLynx mode. Do individual players interact well? Does animation continue to be smooth? If a player dies, is he still able to continue? EXCITEMENT: When rating a game's excitement level, you should ask yourself whether you find yourself looking for another game to play or whether you find yourself staying up late to try it 'just one more time'. Do you find yourself yawning and ready for bed or telling all your friends about it? CHALLENGE: Challenge is also very important in a game. A game should be easy enough to keep you from becoming discouraged, but at the same time, be challenging enough to keep you coming back for more. Did you almost make that level and want to go on? Or did you finish it easily or get blasted away after just a few minutes? LONG-TERM PLAYABILITY: This is another very important factor in rating the game. Can you return to the game and enjoy it even after you've finished it? Do you still find yourself playing it even though you've owned it for several weeks or months? PRESENTATION & PACKAGING: Your rating in this category should cover the package artwork as well as any screenshots which are included on the box or in the instructions. Is the manual well-written and accurate? Does the game desciption on the box accurately describe the game? Does the game give you everything you expected when you read the box? 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Gates of Zendocon===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| TONY BELDING | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.77| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |4.33| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.11| DONNY HARROP | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |2.77| LORD CHUCK | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.22| STEVEN FOUST | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |3.66| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.77| G HILL | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 |3.55| NORMAN BATES | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.11| YAR | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.44| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (010 LYNXERS) |4.0|3.8|3.7|3.5|3.7|N/A|3.5|3.6|3.4|3.0|3.55| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 12:17:10 am Sep. 4, 1991 This was kind of a disappointment. It is okay but maybe only worth $25 as opposed to $35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 10:10:14 pm Oct. 23, 1991 While this game is visually exciting, gameplay is very straightforward. Also, the aliens are completely predictable, with no variance in their movements from game to game. The best part of this was enjoying the graphics, lots of aliens and different scrolling backgrounds make this an eye pleaser. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yar (Peter Johnson from North Bay, ON, Canada) 10:08:14 pm Nov. 24, 1991 Not a bad shoot-em up. It does become rather easy to beat over time since all the enemies follow the same pattern. At least the game has one of the Better ending sequences on any game so far. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Gauntlet 3===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.30| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |3.00| M KENNEDY | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |2.20| G HILL | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |2.40| DONNY HARROP | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.40| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.10| MIKE | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.30| NORMAN BATES | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.60| ARIC | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |3.20| JEFF KOVACH | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |2.70| STUB | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |1.80| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (11 LYNXERS) |3.0|3.3|2.6|3.0|2.8|3.0|2.3|3.0|2.1|2.7|2.80| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:09:04 am June 1, 1991 Some fun ComLynxed, but a bore otherwise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill from Opelousas, LA 10:06:48 pm June 8, 1991 Game was fun the first few days but got old very quickly. Not exactly faithful to the arcade game, but close. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Stram from Glendale, AZ 09:55:14 pm July 14, 1991 Gauntlet 3 is at first, an impressive little endever, but as you continue playing the game, it soon becomes hopelessly impossible! I really enjoy the game, but it would have been nice if Atari had made the game a bit easier by making the first levels fairly simple and then gradually build up the tension rather than giving you one easy level and then throwing you into the thick of things. Not a bad game, just not a great one though. For real Gauntlet lovers, try Gauntlet 2 on the Atari ST! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Klax===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.77| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.88| TONY BELDING | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.88| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.66| ED DUKESHIRE | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.88| TREKKER | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.33| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.66| JUGGERNAUT | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.66| ROBERT COCCARO | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.44| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |4.66| MIKE MAST | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.22| KYLE MILLER | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.44| LEO | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |4.11| THE JABBERWOCK! | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.55| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.66| VALORN | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |4.22| COMMANDER | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.33| MACKIN | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.55| ERIK | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.55| JEFF KOVACH | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.44| YAR | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 |3.88| LORD BARAK | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.33| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (22 LYNXERS) |4.5|4.1|4.9|4.3|4.5|N/A|4.3|4.6|4.4|3.8|4.33| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:10:54 am June 1, 1991 Fantastic music, cool voices. First Tetris derivitive I like better than Tetris. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire from Haverhill, MA 09:37:38 pm June 30, 1991 This game is a *MUST_HAVE* !! If more games had the sound clearity KLAX has, SEGA Game Gear owner would drop-kick their machines and replace it with a Lynx! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trekker (Al Horton from Lansing, MI) 01:45:32 pm July 7, 1991 This was the ** MUST ** game I had to have when I bought my Lynx. It is one of those games where you just HAVE to keep on playing to see if you can reach another leveI especially like the -Pick a Level to Start- feature. And the digitalized sound enhances the game greatly. Klax comes highly recomended from me if you are into strategy/thinking games. Addictive! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew (Richard Stephenson from Delta, UT) 01:35:22 pm July 13, 1991 This is my favorite LYNX game - I love the SOUND!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Juggernaut (Arthur Joe Narvaez from Cambridge, MA) 10:00:58 am July 30, 1991 This game is surely one of the best available for the Lynx. Those who enjoyed the arcade version will not be disappointed at all. This version of KLAX has been said to be better and more faithful to the arcade version than _ANY_ other version (namely the Sega). This is not a game you -solve- it is a game of skill and fast-thinking!! That makes this game a sure bet to continue to be a heavily played cart for long after you first buy it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kyle Miller from Universal City, TX 10:50:40 pm Sep. 6, 1991 The game can get very exciting if you can get the -X- on wave 6. It takes you to wave 51. From there, things REALLY move!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jabberwock! (S. Michael Hallack from Jacksonville, FL) 10:04:46 pm Sep. 12, 1991 The BEST puzzle game of them all, this one has exceptional digitized sound. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 01:34:16 am Sep. 24, 1991 This is a really nice game. At first I thought the vertical playfield would be a hindrance but it becomes second-nature after awhile. I think the packaging should be better to reflect the great game inside the box. The sound effects are GREAT but the music lacks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erik (Erik Fortune from Palo Alto, CA) 02:04:50 am Nov. 1, 1991 The first tetris-like game I enjoy more than tetris. Addictive!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 01:28:08 am Nov. 7, 1991 From the opening screen on, this game is a fine polished gem! More games with this much attention to detail are needed. It performs flawlessly, and the digitized sounds are a super special treat! The music on the title screen is pretty jammin' too. The art work on the box doesn't do this game justice tho, and more background graphics would have been nice, but those digitized vocals do use up a lot of RAM. Also, more arcade conversions of RECENT arcade hits are needed in order for the Lynx to remain competetive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yar (Peter Johnson from North Bay, ON, Canada) 09:39:40 pm Nov. 10, 1991 This has to be the best arcade conversion for the Lynx and a definite show piece. No one should be without this cartridge! 7 Press ! Lynx News Bulletin from STAR-LINX BBS (602)-464-4817 5-3-92 Update =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= APRIL CONTEST RESULTS -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Qwerty (aka Chris Cox, of Mesa, AZ) was the April winner in our monthly Lynx Rating Game. Chris wins a free Lynx game of his choice - he picked the highly rated WWI air battle simulator, Warbirds. Congrats Chris! March's Contest winner, The Postman (aka Bernie Bresnahan of Waterford, MI) chose Crystal Mines II as his prize, citing the fact that he loved the classic computer game Boulderdash, which is similar in concept. Recently, Bernie called us to let us know he had received his prize, and rated it for us, giving it a 4.22 rating. He also offered these comments: This is definitely one of the best titles I own. I found the manual annoying in that it doesn't catalog many of the features/power-ups that can occur during play. It's nice that it comes with a book (no poster), tho it's only about 8 pages thick and half of it's in French. Excellent gameplay, if you liked Boulderdash or Supaplex you won't want to miss this one.. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= EASTER EGG FOUND IN CRYSTAL MINES II =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As a few Crystal Mines players across the country have noticed, the manual for this game mentions that there are 31 hidden bonus levels in the game. And, now that the game has been out for a while, some of these players are having a very hard time finding that last bonus level. Well, we at STAR*LINX have the answer, as usual. The 31st bonus level is NOT accessed like the other ones. This one can only be accessed by a password. And, after this bonus level is completed, you are sent to level one. Also, if played right, you can score nearly a million points on it! We aren't going to ruin your fun by telling you tho! A couple of hints should be enough for you to find it yourself. First of all, the folks at Atari were nice enough to make the password to this level an actual WORD, not some meaningless 4 letter code. And, finally, the code for the level makes perfect sense, and you will be kicking yourself once you find it. IF YOU FIND IT PLEASE KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. Feel free to tell us you've found it, but don't ruin the fun for other Lynxers. This is one that everyone ought to have an opportunity to find for themselves (with our hints). Thanks! If you can't figure it out after hours of searching with dictionary in hand, leave me (Jeff Kovach) a private message for a more explicit hint. Happy Hunting! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- INVINCIBILITY IN SLIME WORLD -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= We at STAR*LINX can really keep a secret! We've known about the existence of the Ultimate Slime World Easter Egg for OVER A YEAR now, and haven't told anyone outside of our elite Lynx group. Recent discussions with Atari have revealed that they feel that Slime World has been out long enough now, and all secrets should be revealed. With some sadness, we are going to have to tell you our greatest secret, how to activate the Invincibility feature in Slime World. But we aren't going to straight out tell you! The biggest joy of Easter Eggs is the joy of discovery. We will answer questions on STAR*LINX and CompuServe, and hopefully our answers will get you pointed in the right direction, and enable you to discover it before we give out the complete instructions. STAY TUNED! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- GAME RATINGS SUMMARIES -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= A new function of the Game Rating & Review System in STAR*LINX's Lynx Club is now available. It lists the total ratings for each Lynx game, bypassing the listing of each individual person's ratings. This allows you to see how all the Lynx titles stack up against each other. Using this funtion on STAR*LINX gives you the most current Lynx game rating stats available, as the numbers are automatically updated whenever someone rates a game. Weekly updates, with the games sorted by order of rank, will also be available in the Lynx area (GO LYNX) on CompuServe. You can enter our free monthly drawing for a free Lynx game either by rating a game when you call STAR*LINX, or by sending your ratings via CompuServe mail to Jeff Kovach (70761,3015). Read the CNTEST.RTG file for contest information and entry form, in the Lynx area on CompuServe. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- BATMAN RETURNS! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= On Tuesday, April 27th, sources inside Atari confirmed that final release to production had been granted for the Atari Lynx version of the videogame Batman Returns, based on the upcoming blockbuster film from Warner Bros., starring Michael Keaton, Michelle Feiffer, and Danny DeVito. The game will be on dealer shelves starting June 20th, coinciding with the film's national release date. Batman Returns is one of the most complex and ambitious Lynx video games to date. Released on 256K card, it follows the plot of the movie closely, and features sound and graphics taken from designs made for the film. Programmed by Eric Ginner and Jerome Strach, (programmers of Ms. PacMan, Shanghai, Checkered Flag, Rampart) with animation by Susan G. McBride (et al.), and music by Bob Vieira and LX Rudis, the game was produced under the supervision of John Skruch of Atari Entertainment, Sunnyvale. Though details of the cartridge are still under wraps, a full preview appears in Atari Explorer Magazine's May/June issue, on newsstands the week of May 8th. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ATARI LOSES LAWSUIT WITH NINTENDO =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Courtesy San Jose Mercury News 05/01/92 14:47:38 Atari Corp. was unsuccessful in its antitrust suit against Nintendo of America. The jury found in favor of Nintendo. The jury did however, find that Nintendo did have monopoly power in the videogame market but that Nintendo did not monopolize that market. The jury was also unable to reach a decision on two other points regarding monopolization and restraint of trade. During the 10 week trial, Nintendo claimed it had only engaged in vigorous competition and that its exclusive had legitamate business justifications. -We are disappointed the jury did not understand the negative impacts Nintendo's exclusive contracts had on competition because of Nintendo's power over its suppliers and customers,- said William Jaeger, senior partner, Khourie, Crew & Jaeger, the San Francisco law firm that specializes in complex business litigation and represents Atari. -The consumer also loses from this result because the antitrust laws have worked very effectively to maintain a strong competitive environment with lower prices and better choices for consumers. This decision will seriously weaken those vital laws.- -In this case, it was clear that Nintendo's practices violated our antitrust laws and thwarted Atari's ability to compete. Atari should be compensated for its substantial damages. This award is also necessary to send a strong message that our antitrust laws protect and encourage healthy competition -- no more, no less.- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= FREE SAMPLE VG&CE ISSUE FOR STAR*LINX AND COMPUSERVE USERS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Andy Eddy, editor of Video Games & Computer Entertainment, is offering a free sample issue of his magazine to users of STAR*LINX and participants in the Lynx area on CompuServe. For details, choose at the Lynx Club Menu on STAR*LINX, or leave your name and address with Andy Eddy on Compuserve. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NEW GLOBAL LYNX ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= According to the Wall Street Journal, Atari has signed an advertising contract for the Lynx. This advertising campaign with Hal Rinney & Partners for $7 million, follows pre-Christmas test marketing in Los Angeles. The firm customized a UK television commercial for presentation in the US market and the LA tests were nothing short of spectacular. Plans now call for a new nationwide campaign in April. New television commercial developed by Hal Rinney will be used worldwide. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= R U M O R M I L L -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ren & Stimpy, the characters from the cartoon show of the same name (seen on Nickelodeon and MTV) are making their way to the Lynx. Acclaim has licensed them, and announced titles for the Lynx and other systems. Atari is working on a multiplayer outer space combat game, sure to appease Star Raiders and Star Wars fans everywhere. The name has not yet been announced, but look for this game to be a sure-fire hit! Shadowsoft, developer and publisher of Robotron for the Lynx, is working on some original titles. One of them is a yet unnamed side-scrolling shoot-em-up. According to Shadowsoft President Dave Dies, this will be the definitive Lynx shoot-em-up, comparable to R-Type for other systems. Eye of the Beholder, a long awaited RPG conversion for the Lynx, is going to be the first Lynx game with battery back up for saved games. Programmers are hard at work getting the save game file under 8K. The saved game files for the PC version are around 32K each. Shadowsoft, developer and publisher of Robotron for the Lynx, is planning to release Joust in May. Also, a deal is being worked on to produce the arcade hit Smash TV for the Lynx. Rumor has it, that the next game to be signed in the Telegames-Tradewest alliance will be the super popular, award winning BattleToads! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= N E W S B Y T E S -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Bug found in Toki - On level 3, you can slip above the ceiling and bypass part of the game. This can sometimes cause strange screen distortions or crash the game. This is a bug having to do with sprite collision detection. It might be fixed in a later production run. According to sources at Atari, there are Easter Eggs in all 3 of the latest Lynx games (Crystal Mines II, Toki, SuperSkweek). In the case of Crystal Mines, there is at least one more in addition to the secret level already mentioned. The digitized sound sample 'Gentlemen, start your engines!' in Checkered Flag, takes up 24K of cartridge space! Eric Ginner of Atari states that so far, Rampart is the only game where he wishes he had more memory to work with. 5 digitized samples from the arcade are included. He wanted more. The developer that did Viking Child for Atari, Imagitec from the UK, is developing Daemon's Gate, an overhead scrolling Role-Playing Game. A new 3rd party Lynx developer, Intense Gaming, has announced 3 games under development: Time Gates-Time travelling game-4 players, Space Canyons-Space game with 3D graphics-4 players, Driving Demons-Racing game with digitized graphics-4 players. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- STAR*LINX BBS adds LITENET Message Network -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= On 2-23-92, the STAR*LINX BBS, renowned for its Lynx news coverage and popular Lynx Club, began participating in the new LITENET Message Network. As part of an ongoing effort to reach the evergrowing legion of Lynx players, this will allow Lynx owners to call other BBS's and reach STAR*LINX thru the Network Messages. In addition to the Lynx message base, there are 9 others, and an ultimate capacity of 36 bases. Messages are exchanged several times weekly, with plans for daily exchanges in the works. Participation in the LITENET Message Network is limited to those BBS's operating with NiteLite Multiline BBS software. So far there are 3 systems participating, with others coming online soon: STAR*LINX 602-464-4817 Mesa, AZ Short Circuit 404-937-2305 Ringgold, GA Vast 508-681-1196 Methuen, MA To order NiteLite BBS software, contact Paul Swanson at the Nite Lite BBS, 508-663-4221. If you are running NiteLite and wish to participate in the LITENET, contact Tom Drake at the Short Circuit BBS. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Ms. PacMan===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.11| ZONE | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.66| SEAN BRYANT | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 |2.77| ARIC | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 |2.88| MARK | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |2.33| NORMAN BATES | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.44| HEADHUNTER | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.33| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (7 LYNXERS) |2.8|3.0|3.1|3.0|3.2|N/A|3.1|3.2|2.7|3.2|3.00| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zone (Mark Nelson from Brooklyn, NY) 07:09:34 pm June 26, 1991 This is a very faithful translation of the arcade classic. The size is a bit small, but well done... Sounds exactly like it's arcade parent and if you close your eyes, you will swear you are playing the original. The control pad is a little clumsy for a game of this type, but you get used to it after a while. Press PAUSE, OPTION ONE, A, OPTION 1 for a little surprise... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HeadHunter (Bob Jones from Chicago, IL) 12:19:26 am Sep. 24, 1991 Couldn't believe it plays as well as the arcade original. The extra levels add more long term play to the game. Well done! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dolphin (Rob Besett from Scottsdale, AZ) 12:59:52 pm Mar. 5, 1992 I liked Ms. PacMan in the arcade in the early 80's so I thought I would enjoy it on the Lynx. Not so. The Lynx controls do not lend themselves to this game at all. I get frustrated when I want to go one way and Ms. PacMan goes another. If you are a die hard Pac addict get it, otherwise forget it. 7 Press ! The Newell 1088K Review by Jeff McWilliams Before acquiring a 1 meg plus 800XL, with memory busting out of the seams everywhere, my 800XL had a RAMBO XL 256K upgrade in it. I was happy with it because along with that I owned an ICD 1 meg MIO board. My main storage media are 720K 3.5- disks, via the Innovative Concepts modification for my single XF551 disk drive. The 1 meg RAMdisk in the MIO was important to me, because without it, it was very difficult to back up those 720K disks with only one drive. A special sector copier would have been okay if I had wanted to do sector copies, but such was usually not the case. By backing up the disks file by file, not only would I get an emergency back up of the disk, but the new disk was also unsegmented. That meant that unlike the original which could have files scattered in pieces all over the disk, the backup has each file stored one right after the other. This helps to increase the disk access speed, because the disk drive doesn't spend all its time searching the different sections of the disk looking for the file. Some people wouldn't bother with worrying about disk segmentation unless it were on hard disk where things can really get messed up. Call me finicky. Onto the Newell 1088K... When I deciced to install the Turbo816 16 bit card into my 800XL, I discovered my 800XL no longer liked talking to the MIO. There are some problems with the Parallel Bus after wiring in the T816 upgrade. Determined to stick with the new 16 bit processor, I decided to dump the MIO, and sent my 800XL to Newell Industries to have them install the 1088K upgrade they offer. The board measures approximately 3.5- by 2 3/4-. A little smaller than those 720K floppies. The board holds the 8 1 meg RAM chips, plus 8 logic chips. There is a small cable attached to the board that plugs into the first 64K RAM chip socket on the computer. The 64K RAM chip is moved onto a socket on the Newell board. In addition are two 14 conductor ribbon cables connected to the Newell board. These attach to various sites on the 800XL motherboard as well. That's about 28 connections to wire. I'm not the greatest on keeping my wiring straight, which is why I had Newell Industries wire in the upgrade for me. There are three variations to the wiring that will give you different degrees of compatibility with the 130XE. Mine is wired so that both the CPU and ANTIC chip can see the extra memory. In exchange, my internal BASIC is now wired to a toggle switch; it's no longer software selectable. The Newell 1088K package comes with a modified version of MYDOS, version 4.5 M1. This version allows the access of 1 full megabyte of RAMDISK. It also contains a sector copying program that utilizes all that memory to copy up a 720K disk in a single pass. If you're a SpartaDOS fan, you'll be pleased to know that there is 1 meg ramdisk driver on GEnie that will work with SpartaDOS 3.2d and the Newell 1088K upgrade. SpartaDOS X automatically recognizes the extra memory, and will report 64 banks free when the -MEM- command is entered at the DOS prompt. There are a few problems that I've encountered using the Newell 1088K. Most seem to center around the use of the SpartaDOS X cartridge. The first problem occurs upon booting up the computer. Often it will fail to boot properly, and you have to power down and try again. I've also encountered frequent lock-ups when trying to format a disk using the -FORMAT- commmand of SpartaDOS X. Let me just repeat what I said earlier about my 800XL though. It has a Turbo816 board installed into it. In addition, it also has a Transkey keyboard interface which allows me to type on this really nice Northgate keyboard. That's quite a bit of hardware wired into one computer. I can't prove the Newell 1088K is causing the problems, although they didn't happen when the RAMBO XL was in its place. It could be a mixture of the Turbo816 and the Newell 1088K that is causing the problem. Remember the MIO that didn't like the T816? Currently, I'm not willing to try removing the Turbo816 to find out which upgrade may be the culprit. I'd have more luck fixing a wristwatch with a cutting torch than I would digging into my computer with a soldering iron. I do plan on talking to both Newell Industries and Dataque Software, maker of the T816 board, to see if there may be a conflict between the two upgrades I have in the computer. I am glad I have the 1088K. There are a few kinks here and there; otherwise it works as promised. Just after I got the computer up and running I decided to back up my main SpartaDOS X work disk, which contains that endless list of .COM files half of which I hardly ever use. I found six files which were bad due to errors on the disk. Luckily those were on an older backup, so I restored them promptly after fixing the bad disk. The Newell 1088K is available for the 130XE, the 1200XL, the 800XL, and 65XE. To my knowledge, it is the only commercially available 1088K upgrade for the Atari 8 bits. I also believe it is the only upgrade that will take a 1200XL beyond 256K. If you're still not satisfied with 1088K, with slight modification you can install 4 meg RAMS into the Newell 1088K and have a 4096K monster. For the price of the 4 meg DRAM chips though, you'd be better off purchasing a hard drive setup if possible on your system. That would depend on which model computer you have. The 1088K cost me $49.95. Installation cost $40.00. You can supply your own 1 meg DRAMS or have Newell Industries supply them. Call for current prices on the RAM chips. Newell Industries, P.O. Box 253, Wylie, TX, 75098. Phone 214-442-6612. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Ninja Gaiden===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| ZONE | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.11| M KENNEDY | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.88| ARIC | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.22| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |2.55| ROY | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.22| JEFF KOVACH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.55| DONNY HARROP | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.11| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |2.66| DECKARD | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.33| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |3.55| TREKKER | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |3.11| ED DUKESHIRE | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |3.88| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.22| DJ DAVE | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.11| LASER EAGLE | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |2.66| JUGGERNAUT | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.33| LEO | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.22| CHRIS BAKER | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.77| JARIUS | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |3.77| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (19 LYNXERS) |4.4|3.8|3.0|3.0|3.1|N/A|3.1|3.4|2.8|3.4|3.33| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zone (Mark Nelson from Brooklyn, NY) 04:42:40 am Aug. 3, 1991 Ninja Gaiden is truly an awsome game for the LYNX that supports a genre that was sorely lacking on the LYNX. Unlike the GAMEPRO review, it is intelligent and challenging. It does not have unlimited continues, it only has 3. There are also many enemies to fight, including Black Ninja, White Ninja, Jasons, Sumo, Claw men, etc... The Art is Excellent, with some of the best animation yet on the LYNX. Even better animation than Slime World or Xenophobe. With the exception of a bit of color mixup at the beginning of the 2nd level, your sprite is clearly visible through the whole game. There is a music on or off option. Not that you'd want to use it. The music is really exceptional in all parts except the beginning of the first level. (When you think about it the beginning level should have the best music since you always go there.) Sound effects are good as well, with excellent punch and breaking effects. There are four levels to the game and so far I have only seen the end section of level 3. I have been playing steady for 3 days now. I am not a begining player either. This is really a challenging game that is very fun to play. Especially if you flip your enemies into things!!!! I have to take a moment to talk about the art.... It is soooo good. The backdrops are incredible!!! And the halftime screens at the end of each level, especially the 2nd, are really well done. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMME. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 06:43:42 pm Aug. 4, 1991 If you like the arcade game, I hear this is a good translation, but I don't like the game (I'd never played in the arcade). It is dull and mindless. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy (Roy Kern from Lake Zurich, IL) 06:02:34 am Aug. 5, 1991 I see that I gave this game lower scores than everyone else, but don't let that be misleading. I like this game a lot and it reminds me of Golden Axe for the Genesis, and an old Atari 800 game called Bruce Lee. Compared to the arcade version though, the game is way short, and the various enemies are greatly reduced (in variety, not number). I think that after people beat this game, they won't go back to it too often, and the lack of a two player mode leaves out what I think is the Lynx's best feature. I like this game because I like to beat on the various guys, but for the above reasons would give it a -good- rating, not a great. Just my opinion. By the way, I love the new Lynx. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 04:13:28 pm Aug. 7, 1991 This game was somewhat of a disappointment. The background graphics are very detailed, although the choice of colors could have been better. Animation was disappointing. The player's character moves well, but the bad guys are pretty jerky. I also feel that some of the background graphics could have been animated for effect. Music was irritating at best. The lack of a ComLynx feature caused me to lower the Gameplay and Design to 2 (Fair). I couldn't say I got very excited while playing this game either. The challenge level seems ok, but the fact that there are only 4 levels, and that I got thru most of 3 in the first 2 hours of having the game makes me give it only 2 for Long Term Playability. Finally, I like the poster idea for the instructions. For those of you who didn't know, the game comes with a poster of the box art, with the instructions on the back. Overall, I'd say for all the hype around this game, it is pretty disappointing. I like Rygar better (similar concept of gameplay, but funner game!) I'm glad I was able to rent this game instead of buying it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Donny Harrop from Mesa, AZ 04:28:56 pm Aug. 7, 1991 I was really disappointed that this game (unlike the arcade) was not for two players. Hard to believe that this game does not take advantage of ComLynx, one of the most exiting features of the Lynx. Everything else in the game was just good. Not anything exeptional. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Deckard (Theo Diamantis from Kitchener, ON, Canada) 03:22:02 pm Aug. 13, 1991 I've been playing this game for over a week now and have found that under the glitz, the game play tends to be a bit weak. Ninja Gaiden is a good game, but it seems a waste when once considers that Gaiden III is now available. I would have been more interested in seeing Northstar being translated to the Lynx. Nevertheless, great graphics, and smooth scrolling. This game needs a sun visor to be seen anywhere there is light. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew (Richard Stephenson from Delta, UT) 03:04:42 pm Aug. 17, 1991 This is a great game but it is a little easy. Graphics are excellent. Some digitized sounds would have been nice when you hit the guys. I'm glad I bought it, it was worth the money. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trekker (Al Horton from Lansing, MI) 07:57:34 am Aug. 31, 1991 Ninja Gaiden is probably the weakest game in the Lynx lineup. The graphics and animation is outstanding and sound is very good. But the control is terrible. The onscreen characters look and move like human beings instead of like robots. Seems such a waste to have a good looking game spoiled by clumsy control and repetitive play. After about 4 hours I still have less than 50% success at grabbing an opponent and throwing them, or grabbing a bar. The combination of pushing the joypad up, hitting the A button and then the Option 1 button is very clumsy. The gameplay is very repetitive from level to level. Bottom line is the game looks great, but has little long term value. I don't recomend it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire from Haverhill, MA 08:41:36 pm Sep. 2, 1991 When I first got this game, I almost brought it back. The graphics were great! The musical score wasn't bad. But, the controls were complicated. After playing it about 3 times, I was able to master the controls. This is when the game got really interesting. This cart is definetely worth purchasing if you're a fighting game fanatic! Don't get discouraged with the controls. With a little practice, you'll get used to it. I've also finished the game without any continues, but still find myself coming back for more. Let's see Ninja Gaiden II and III now! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 12:24:22 am Sep. 4, 1991 This is the 2nd game I have seen with the instructins on the backside of a poster. I like the graphics BUT when there are too many people on the screen it flickers a bit, not too much but I much prefer the well documented Lynx: -Too many sprites then slow down- 'feature' to this flicker. Other than that it is pretty good and just difficult enough to be fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DJ Dave (David Scarpa from Palmer, MA) 09:24:42 pm Sep. 4, 1991 Ninja Gaiden features very nice Animation,graphics and gameplay. I only take it down a notch on documentation. The poster instructions are horrible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Juggernaut (Arthur Joe Narvaez from Cambridge, MA) 12:48:30 am Sep. 17, 1991 This game is truly an accurate translation from the arcade version. The graphics are simply great in that they are not only attractive and discernable but they also are functional. Any fans of the arcade version will find this game to be great! I would have prefered a bit more speed on the combat but the speed actually is more representative of the arcade version which ran a little slow in my opinion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leo (Leo Black from Colorado City, AZ) 02:20:58 pm Sep. 21, 1991 A good game. I didn't like it to well but my brothers play it like crazy. I have a dislike of R-J-P-K-D-R games (Run Jump Punch Kick Die Restart) This however lasts a little longer than the avrage R-J-P-K-D-R game in that you have 3 lives and you can pick a few up along the way. I did not like the music and the Title Screen sucks! The most you want to do is play it enough to get 30% of your moneys worth and trade someone else for a better one. In fact, I got half way through the third level before I got sick of it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atarian (Dan Ramos from Ludlow, MA) 11:18:58 pm Oct. 22, 1991 Excellent game... VERY good translation from the arcade version. I actually prefer this Lynx version over the arcade one. I brought this one into work one day and never got a chance to play, everyone else loved it and kept grabbing at it... this game is really well made!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 09:55:28 pm Mar. 24, 1992 Great graphics and animation...a little short on gameplay but still very entertaining...this is an excellent addition to everyone's Lynx collection. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jarius (Jarius Jenkins from Bronx, NY) 10:41:40 pm Mar. 29, 1992 Graphics are great. Nice detail and static shots. For some reason though, even with challenging game play, it doesn't have the ability to hold my attention enough for me to continue to go bac 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===PacLand===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| CHRIS BAKER | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |2.88| M KENNEDY | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.22| EVAN | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |2.55| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 |4.55| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (4 LYNXERS) |3.7|3.5|3.0|3.5|3.2|N/A|2.7|3.5|2.7|3.7|3.22| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 05:15:16 pm Aug. 22, 1991 Pac-Land from Atari is a very cute game based on the Saturday morning cartoon...some amusing graphics and decent gameplay makes it worth taking a look at...this game, like Ninja Gaiden and Blockout present the instructions on the reverse side of a poster sporting the package art...the music is average although you may catch yourself humming one of the tunes after a while...the sound effects are below average. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evan (Evan Black from Colorado City, AZ) 07:28:54 pm Aug. 31, 1991 Seems too linear. Not enough hidden objects etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 12:18:46 am Sep. 4, 1991 This is another game which has the instructions on the back of a poster. This is not a bad game. I rather like it. Reminds me of Super Mario Bros. It is BUTT hard, though! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Paper Boy===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 |2.33| SEAN BRYANT | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |1.77| ARIC | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |2.55| COMMANDER | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |2.66| JOSHUA LEDGARD | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 |2.88| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (5 LYNXERS) |2.4|2.4|2.4|2.0|2.6|N/A|2.2|2.8|1.8|3.4|2.44| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 10:57:06 am June 2, 1991 This has to be the worst game in existence!!!! There is just one or two houses which they just recolor. There is no variation to the gameplay. No stunning graphics or sound. I believe that I would have better time delivering newspapers for a living. Maybe then I could earn enough money to buy a 'real' game. Why they chose to make this game for the LYNX is beyond me. I never liked the game in the arcade nor do I like it for the LYNX. There is just not enough variety to the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joshua Ledgard from Rehoboth, MA 06:09:28 pm Mar. 8, 1992 I think that it is pretty close to the arcade one but it just doesn't give the excitement. 7 Press !s Haven't heard from you or Z*Magazine in a long time. I'm hoping it's due to your project of turning Z*Net into Atari Explorer Online. I'm assuming you'll resume publication of Z*Mag soon, and you still want material from the Internet. -Michael Taken from Info-Atari8 Digests V92 #106-112 Date: 5 May 92 14:22:00 GMT From: DKAUNI2.BITNET!UJ1G@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: MIO Cables To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu Recently I talked to an -expert- on our university on the issue of MIO cables. He owns an Amiga and he have had exactly the same problems with signals breaking down while using long data/address/control cables. He hadn't been able to use cords longer than some 25cm (10-). Now he is able to transmit data over a distance of 2m (80-?, 3 ft + sth) He has managed this by redesigning his flat ribbon cable. Between each two data/control/address lines there _must_ be a line connected to ground (0V). This measure prevents the signal from flashing over to adjacent lines, which is especially true with long cables. The MIO cables don't seem to have additional GND lines inbetween each two signal lines. That way they aren't designed for long distance connection. I admit that it is hard to build a cable described above because as a matter of fact you'll need at least some 20 additional lines just connected to GND (monster cable if you are using a flat one). I think it is at least an interesting idea worth considering. It works great on an Amiga. BTW: the guy I asked doesn't think the idea of adding buffers to lines would help. Marek Tomczyk \ ATARI 8-BIT ----------------------------------------| \ the Internet: uj1g@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de| \ best BITNET: uj1g@dkauni2 | / equipment FREENET: bn137 | / ----------------------------------------| / for the 21st century / ------------------------------ Date: 5 May 92 12:47:31 GMT From: SPRINT.COM!/PN=COLIN.W.HUNT/O=SPRINTINTL/ADMD=TMAILUK/C=GB/@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: NTSC Atari in PAL-land: what problems will there be? To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu I haven't read all the messages so far posted on this subject, but being someone in PAL land with NTSC Atari 8-bits I may be able to help. Dean, you have my telephone number so, if you wish, give me a call. Some interesting points have already been raised. I read with interest Dean's definition of a 65XE, as a cut down 130XE. This is true for the UK models. My PAL 65XE has the same mother board as my 130XEs. However, my NTSC 65XE has a completely different motherboard, without the extra IC places for the extra bank of memory. In fact, this 65XE looks more like my 800XLF (yes, you read that right - 800XLF is a standard 800XL with a Freddie chip, and is the prototype for the 65XE. A number of these beasts were released within the UK). I solved the NTSC compatibility problem by buying a TV that support PAL and NTSC (it also support SECAM - anyone got an 8-bit SECAM they want to sell?). You can modify standard PAL TV/Monitors to accept NTSC by adjusting cct timers, however, you will have no sound or colour. The adjusment is very small, however some TV/Monitors just won't accept the 60Hz signal. Regards, Colin Hunt Editor - 8:16 BTW: The subscription rate to 8:16 is now: UK - 5.50 UK pounds Europe - 9.60 UK pounds Rest of World (sea) - 9.60 UK pounds (air) - 16.80 UK pounds 8:16 is released quarterly and the above rates are for 4 issues. ------------------------------ Date: 6 May 92 02:00:00 GMT From: DKAUNI2.BITNET!UJ1G@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: S.A.M and MIO (was Re: Favorite 8-bit software) To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu > > Marek, > Thanx for the info on S.A.M. > I have two more questions. Is there an english-language version of S.A.M.? > Is there an english-language version of -AtariMagazin-? > I hear that there is a lot of commercial software development going > on in Europe, especially Germany, for the Atari 8-bits, and I would > like to stay -up- on it. I don't speak German though, not even > -high school German-. Am I out of luck? > > Keith You are lucky, at least on the S.A.M. issue. Like many other German commercial and non commercial software S.A.M. is entirely in English. Actually there isn't even a German version available. English has a great impact on German software production. In Germany you find more programs that are in English than in German (we are talking about programs written by German authors!). Many people here in Germany don't like this, they want to have more German speaking programs but there is no way of getting English out of German programs :-). Anyways, the docs for S.A.M. are in German. :-( You are out of luck according to english-language versions of -AtariMagazin- they are only in German (still published after a break!). Yes, there is some commercial software here in Germany produced by dedicated users and small companies. Take -Quick- for example which is a commercial compiler language a little bit like -C- and -Action!- and like -Assembler-. It is very fast. You can even write procedures for the VBI. This language supports a ST-mouse, digitized sound, P/M graphics and lots more. I hope this gave you a vague idea about the situation in Germany. See ya, Marek Tomczyk \ ATARI 8-BIT ----------------------------------------| \ the Internet: uj1g@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de| \ best BITNET: uj1g@dkauni2 | / equipment FREENET: bn137 | / ----------------------------------------| / for the 21st century / ------------------------------ Date: 7 May 92 01:13:00 GMT From: DKAUNI2.BITNET!UJ1G@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: S.A.M. (was Favorite 8-bit software) To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu Bill Kendrick writes: > Anyways. PLEASE explain this S.A.M. program! The only SAM I've > ever heard of was from Don't Ask Software .. it was a voice sythnesizer > built into software (ie, use it for your own programs, etc.) > I've only seen THAT on my brother's c=64, but I know I can get > it. (BTW: wasn't it one of you out here in net-land who said they had a > copy they'd get me?? or was it someone else??????) > later-on Bill I've seen this other SAM on a C=64 too, but it's a different S.A.M. I'm gonna explain to Bill and all other interested people. S.A.M. stands for Screen Aided Menagement. It is a piece of commercial software produced by a small German software house. It is a user interface with integrated applications. It uses an 80 columns screen on a standard TV set. It looks a little bit like GEM on the Atari-ST. You have pull down menus on the top of the screen where you can select items with your mouse or joystick. There are standard items like -directory, lock file, format disk, read sector, duplicate disk, etc.-. Then you have some special applications you can pick up. They will be loaded from the S.A.M. disk. One of them is a spreadsheet program. Another is a program called -Memobox-. It is a small database with the possibility of creating your own data cards. Also included are two character editors. One for standard B/W characters and the other one for GRAPHICS 12 color character sets. Next application is a painting program which uses 128 colors but only 4 on a single line (standard DLI). It has many usefull functions like fill and unfill!, draw lines, draw circles, mirror etc. Another part of S.A.M. is a word processor. It has all the functions I need like text formatting, cut, paste, block text, preview function (you see the whole layout of the page), support for Atari printers and Epson printers. Next item you can open is a monitor program to browse the memory. It has some kinds of display functions like showing screen code or ATASCII code or showing bytes in their binary appearence (eg. $A800: 01011100 ) so you can easily scan for character sets. I think I have described all the implemented applications. All of them have full 80 column and mouse support. But there is more. S.A.M. is a kind of extention of the operating system. There are documented interfaces for routines of S.A.M. so you can write your own software. For example you can use the -open window- routine just by putting the coordinates in a special location and calling the apropriate S.A.M. subroutine. Then just give your application a special filename extension and place it on the S.A.M. disk. Next time you use S.A.M. your application will be awailable in the pull down window. Due to this flexibility there are some new programs for S.A.M. awailable. To name one: a 'Breakout' game. Ok, I think that's all I remember about S.A.M. I hope this gives you a vague idea about it. Marek Tomczyk \ ATARI 8-BIT ----------------------------------------| \ the Internet: uj1g@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de| \ best BITNET: uj1g@dkauni2 | / equipment FREENET: bn137 | / ----------------------------------------| / for the 21st century / ------------------------------ Date: 8 May 92 23:24:40 GMT From: arizona.edu!cerritos.edu!noiro.acs.uci.edu!network.ucsd.edu!swrinde!@arizona.edu (Michael L Begley) Subject: hand-print recognition... To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu In article <1LZFkB9w164w@cyberden.uucp> moon!cyberden!phbill@well.sf.ca.us writes: >Going on about recognition of hand writing. Well, 1) does the Koala have >good enuf resolution to get handwriting? (I've never used an Atari koala, >just a c=64 and I was VERY VERY young at the time!). This is MAINLY >because I write VERY VERY tiny (not THAT tiny, but just very squished >together). > >Back to the ability to do this.. well, this is more of an artificial >intelligence type thing than anything else. (>>IF<< you want the thing >to learn handwriting). I don't recall what the resolution of the koala pad is, but it's plenty large for my purposes. If I can scratch an inch-high -A- on the pad and have the computer identify it, then I'll be happy. This isn't going to be very useful in the real-world because of the hardware involved (IMHO any useful hand-printing-based system must be completely portable). I'm more interested in the neatness of the project. The algorithm I'm planning to use is based on one described in the April issue of Dr. Dobbes Journal. It's far easier to do than I'd ever thought; I don't see any trouble in using the Atari for this project. Not much number crunching is involved, and I wouldn't even call it artificial intelligence. However, for at least the initial implementation I plan to use a unix system to do the analysis so the software will be more portable. The atari will be little more than a digitizing pad. Later, I may start to move some or all of the analysis services over to the atari. > I could understand the >simplicity of a handwriting -translator- or whatever you'd like to call >it. Oh well, enuf useless babble. Have fun with the project. >Perhaps one day you could TRANSLATE it from whatever you're using on your >Unix to Atari BASIC! :) heheheh.. later Well, I wouldn't call it simplicity...but I might call it -simpler than I thought-. Actually this is one of those examples where the difficulty lies more in having a correct -vision- of the solution than in the actual implementation. I suggest that anyone interested in this sort of project get the april issue of Dr. Dobbs journal... -m -- Michael Begley Ask me how A riot is the language spam@iastate.edu Iowa State University of the unheard. (515) 296-8378 is censoring my usenet access -MLK ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 May 92 12:17:36 EST From: Jeff McWilliams <JJMCWILL@MTUS5.cts.mtu.edu> Subject: What is a PBI? To: Into-Atari8 Digest <Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu>, Well, READNEWS is down on my end,so I am doing this the hard way. Bill Kendrick wanted to know the differences between some of the 65xx processors. Here's my best.... The 6502 is pretty much what you expect it to be, and is the cpu in the 800 and 400 computers. The 65C02 actually are two different CPU's. One is the R65C02 made by Rockwell, the other is the 65C02 by Western Design Center. Both are low power, CMOS versions of the 6502 with some extra instructions added, but the R65C02 had more instructions added to it than the 65C02 did. The 65C02 is in the Apple //c. I believe MAC/65 supports the 65C02 extra instructions. It could be plugged into an Atari 800 or 400. The 6502C is an Atari custom version of the 6502 from what I gather. They added some extra buffers or something to chip. I also wonder if they corrected a bug in the 6502 as it was documented in my -Programming the 65816- Book. Because of the differences between the 6502 and Atari's 6502C, you can't plug in a 65C02 or even the Pin compatible 65802 and expect it to work properly. What is a 65802? It's another processor From Western Design Center that has all the extra opcodes of the 65C02 plus extras, like move memory commands, stack relative addressing, and the ability to set the Accumulator and/or the X and Y registers to 16 bits. The nice thing about the 65802 is that it is -Plug compatible- with the 6502 and 65C02, meaning you can pull out a 65C02 from an existing system, and plug in the 65802 and it will work. The 65802 has two modes, emulation and native mode. In emulation mode, the processor acts just likea 65C02 with all the extra opcodes. In Native mode, the registers can be changed to 16 bits.. There are some other more technical differences, but probably not worth mentioning them here. Next comes the 65816. Another Microprocessor, only this one has a 24 bit addressing bus in addition to all the goodies of the 65802. This means it can easily address 16 megabytes of RAM. What more could you want? Well, WDC is working on the 65832, which according to the pre-release specs I have, will just have the ability to have 32 bit registers. In the 65816 documentation, WDC said the 65832 would have built-in floating point OPCODES, but apparantly that idea has been dumped (sigh). So in a nutshell, that is basically the differences between the various processors. I hope I've helped more than I've confused. Jeff McWilliams ------------------------------ Date: 13 May 92 22:21:29 GMT From: SMITHKLINE.COM!poehland%phvax.dnet@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: Atari Classics / Campaign To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu From: PHVAX::POEHLAND 13-MAY-1992 18:14:31.52 To: INET::-comp-sys-atari-8bit@ucbvax.berkeley.ca- CC: POEHLAND Subj: Mail-In Campaign (Atari Classics) Just wanted to acknowledge yooze guys who thanked the Campaign Committeee in the Digest for the mail-in effort. Jeff McWilliams & I are kicking around ideas for the mag. I just came back from a week's vacation & am presently engaged in taming a Black Box. Beginning this weekend the planning for AC will get serious as we prepare AC's organizational document, the Publication Manifest. I'm hoping that will be completed in June. Occasional cards are still straggling in, unofficially I figure we'll top out at around 600 responses. If that isn't a MANDATE, I'll eat my hat! BTW, anybody out there w/an idea for what you want in AC, now is the time! - BEN POEHLAND ************************************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: 14 May 92 14:35:33 GMT From: mcsun!uknet!gdt!aber!djg0@uunet.uu.net (Dean John Garraghty) Subject: Digi-Studio new prices ad again! To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu Yes, sorry folks, it's Digi-Studio again! Since I last posted the info for it, I have been able to reduce the prices to the US and other countries by quite a lot. Package 1 on its own now costs 7pounds to other countries, and packages 1 and 1.5 together costs 10pounds to other countries. This means a saving of around $6 on packages 1 and 1.5. This leaves me with barely any profit at all, but if that's what it takes to sell some copies outside the UK, then so be it. The only way I can make the price lower is to have a US distributor. The way I have decided to do this is as follows: the distributor would receive a specially produced US version of the two packages on disk. He/She would also receive the user manual in A4 format for making into booklets in the US, or straight photocopying. This would be up to the distributor. Sorry, we don't have your strange paper sizes in the UK, so it has to be A4. A4 is slightly longer, but not quite as wide as your standard paper size. I would need a royalty on each copy sold. The amount would be sorted out once a distributor was found. Of course, I would need somebody I could trust, because it would be impossible for me to know how many were being sold. I could send registration cards over as well. One would be sent with each copy of Digi-Studio asking the customer to complete the card and send it to me. This would be a good way for me to know how many copies have been sold. The US distributor would have absolute control over Digi-Studio in the US. He/She would advertise it, and do the duplicating of disks/booklets. I have already advertised it on the net quite a lot, an have received some interest in Digi-Studio. If anybody is willing to have a try at this then please email me: djg0@uk.ac.aber. if that address doesn't work try: djg0@aber.ac.uk or djg0@aberystwyth.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Digi-Studio Information ----------------------- Digi-Studio is a new piece of software for the Atari XL/XE series. It allows you to play music using real sounds which have been digitized. Digi-Studio comes with a keyboard player and tune player. The keyboard player lets you use your computer keyboard like a piano keyboard to play tunes, but using real sounds, rather than computer-generated noises as is usually the case with this type of program. You can have 3 sounds in memory and can quickly change between them while playing tunes.The keyboard player has responsive keys so that the sound will only play for as long as you hold the key down.Just like a synthesizer!! The Digi-Studio disk contains many sounds for use with the keyboard player, ranging from church bells, to pig grunts, to a baby crying, to screams, and lots of synthesizer sounds. In fact around 25 sounds in all. Why buy a synthesizer when your Atari can do the same?! The tune player allows you to play pre-programmed tunes using any of the available sounds on the disk. Five tunes have been included on the disk for you to play. Digi-Studio comes on a DS/SD disk, and includes a printed manual. It is aimed at everyone, whether musically inclined or not! You may just want to use it for fun, or compose a tune with it! The comprehensive user manual makes it a joy to use! Digi-Studio will only work on XL/XE computers with 64K RAM. No extra hardware is required. The sound samples just play through your TV speaker! The full Digi-Studio package costs just 5pounds in the UK, and 7pounds for foreign orders, including printed manual, and shipping. All payments must be made in UK funds (pounds sterling) and paid by money order in sterling if you are ordering from a foreign country. Order your copy today! Package 1.5 for Digi-Studio is now also available offering more features for Digi-Studio and loads more samples and tunes. This extra pack is available with package 1 only. Check the next section for details of this new package. Digi-Studio Package 1.5 Digi-Studio Package 1.5 is a new set of programs which form part of the Digi-Studio suite of programs and utilities. It is NOT an upgrade to package 1. It is intended to be used in conjunction with package 1. Package 1.5 contains two new programs for Digi-Studio: The Sample Editor and the Tune Compiler. Also included are 26 new samples and 18 new tunes for use with Digi-Studio. The Sample Editor allows you to edit existing Digi-Studio samples, and also allows you to create your own by using a joystick. The Sample Editor has facilities for reversing samples (playing them backwards), copying pages of sample to other pages of sample, and also contains facilities to edit samples very accurately using a joystick. This edit facility also allows you to create your own samples. By using all the supplied facilities, you can create some very weird sounds! You can then save your samples to disk and use them in the Keyboard and Tune Players in package 1. The Tune Compiler creates stand-alone Basic program modules for including Digi-Studio tunes in your own Basic programs. The resulting modules are output in LIST format for merging into your own Atari Basic or Turbo-Basic programs. The modules are self-contained and do not require any Digi-Studio program to play. Just imagine your game starting with a chorus of God Save the Queen in pig grunts, church bells, electric guitar, ..., or your own sounds created using the Sample Editor! Also included on the disk are 26 new samples, including pan pipes, various guitars, dog woof, organs, synth sounds, and lots of effects! Also, 18 new tunes are supplied for playing with the Tune Player, or for compiling using the Tune Compiler. These include: Yesterday, Hey Jude, View to a Kill, God Save the Queen, Happy Birthday, This Old Man, and many classics. The manual is in A5 booklet format, and has been typeset using LaTeX, and printed using an Agfa Laser printer. The clear instructions make the software a joy to use! Package 1.5 is not much use on its own, so will be sold along with package 1. The two packages together will cost 8pounds (UK) including P&P. Copies to other countries will cost 10pounds (UK sterling paid with IMO). Just fill in the order form below and send it with a cheque/PO/IMO payable to DEAN GARRAGHTY. Package 1 on its own is 5pounds UK, and 7pounds other countries. See the first section of this posting for full details of package 1. -----CUT----- Please send me (tick relevant box): Package 1&1.5[ ] Package 1 only[ ] I enclose a cheque/PO/IMO for ______pounds NAME:______________________________ ADDRESS:________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ P.CODE/ZIP CODE:______________ Dean Garraghty, 62 Thomson Ave, Balby, Doncaster, DN4 0NU, ENGLAND. ------------------------------ Date: 13 May 92 20:12:47 GMT From: SMITHKLINE.COM!poehland%phvax.dnet@ucbvax.berkeley.edu Subject: MIO Cables To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu Marek Tomczyk's comments on ribbon cables w/the Amiga were interesting (IA8 V92#106), since I did spend a little of my vacatiuon time last week taking another look at the problem. I'm generally skeptical of the validity of making comparisons to a similar problem on another machine w/out knowing what frequencies/waveforms are involved . I'm also skeptical of signal crosstalk being a significant contributor to the problem. I did a little checking on ribbon cable specs. Crosstalk for a 3m (10-ft) cable was spec'ed at 1.5% for the near end to 2.6% for the far end. I have trouble believing 2% crosstalk will totally scramble a digital signal. Alternating sig-gnd-sig sounds like a step in the right direction, it would reduce crosstalk & improve RFI resistance somewhat. But for long cables you would need to do more than just isolate the signals. Crosstalk is a function of capacitive reactance. The reason cross talk is isn't a major factor is because- somewhat to my surprise- specific capacitance of 28AWG ribbon is actually rather low: about 12 pF/ft which is as good as the best lo-cap shielded cables. I don't see capacitance as the problem. What about DC resistance? Specific resistance of 28AWG ribbon is given as 0.08 ohms/ft. Ten feet of this cable will impose less than 1 ohm of resistance to any AC or Dc signal. That-s not even enough to cause a measurable voltage drop in most systems, forget about DC resistance as the cause. Of course, the total impedance of the cable is the vector sum of the reactances plus the Dc resistance. Having disposed of capacitive reactance & DC resistance as proximate causes of the signal degradation, that leaves one major quantity not yet considered: inductive reactance. It is my personal opinion that in fact inductive reactance is the real culprit here, all the other factors are minor contributors. Specific inductance for standard 28AWG ribbon is given as 80uH/ft. Eegads!! In other words, it's an RF *filter*! A 5-foot cable will impose a 0.4mH inductance upon the signal. People, that much inductance will attenuate *audio* frequencies; an RF signal will just plain be squashed. In other words, you can't do it, period. So, how do you get round the problem? Certainly not with ribbon cable! The only way to reduce inductive reactance is to increase the conductivity of the medium. There are 3 ways: 1.) Lower the temperature (liquid helium is nice); 2.) Use the most efficient room-temperature conductor (100% pure silver comes to mind); 3.) Use heavier gauge copper wire. Obviuosly the last alternative is the only practical solution. Combined with Marek's idea of isolating the signals w/grounds, it should work. So, what gauge cable should you use? I'm not sure, I didn't study up on the properties of other gauges, especially their specific inductance. There is some good news. Lo-cap shielded cable is readily available. I think the wire in these is typically #22AWG. Assuming inductance is a linear function of wire thickness, & if my memory is correct in recalling wires double in thick- ness every 3 standard values, then lo-cap cable w/22AWG conductors should attenuate only half as much as the same length of ribbon cable. This might be enough margin to allow lengths of 2-5 feet (I'm guessing). Each signal should be paired with its own local gnd return (twisted pairs) to provide a lo- impedance ground, with an overall braid grounded at one end to prevent the thing from radiating/attracting RFI. Since the MIO & BB do not actually use every finger connector on the PBI (I think there are only about a dozen signals), you should be able to get by with lo-cap shileded cable bearing 25 #22AWG conductors (12 twisted pairs + shield drain) terminated w/shielded DB-25 hoods. Of course, some weirdo adapter will be needed to go from 50-pin edgecard to DBN-25, then another adapter at the MIO/BB end. FOOEY!!! I'm right now in process of getting my BB online, & converting from edgecard to shielded round cables is a royal pain in the butt. For myself, I solved the PBI cable problem by buying a whole new desk! I needed more space anyway, to add 1.4M floppies & hard drives. -Swiss Army Desk-, made by O'Sullivan, very nice, I got it at an office supply place. One of those things you have to assemble yourself, after you have recovered from the hernia you got dragging the heavy cartons from the car to the living room. - BEN POEHLAND The Alchemist **************************************************************************** ------------------------------ 7 Last page. Enter command or to continue ! QIX Codes --------- Codes found by: Patrick and John Hardie Flushing, NY Text File by: John Hardie 03/18/92 After level 255 you go back to level 0. There is no known code for level 1. 2- GFGHEF 3- GFGGEN 4- HAHEHF 5- HAHFNJ 6- HAHGOI 7- HFHCPI 8- HFHNGF 9- HFHMIJ 10- IAIKCJ 11- IAILLE 12- IAIMAN 13- IFIIJE 14- IFILHJ 15- IFIKBJ 16- IFJFBF 17- IFJEHI 18- IFJHCM 19- IFJGIE 20- IFJBAI 21- IFJABE 22- IFJDHJ 23- IFJCBJ 24- IFJNBE 25- IFJMHI 26- IFJPCI 27- IFJOBH 28- IFJJHJ 29- BFAIFP 30- IFJLDF 31- IFJKHC 32- IFKFBJ 33- IFKEBF 34- IFKHHI 35- IFKGCM 36- IFKBOD 37- IFKAAI 38- IFKDCE 39- IFKCLG 40- IFKNBJ 41- IFKMKI 42- IFKPIC 43- IFKOBJ 44- IFKJKL 45- DFBIDC 46- IFKLBJ 47- IFKKPF 48- IFLFLF 49- IFLEBJ 50- IFLHPE 51- IFLGLF 52- IFLBBJ 53- IFLAPH 54- IFLDLF 55- IFLCBJ 56- IFLNPG 57- IFLMLF 58- IFLPBJ 59- IFLOPB 60- IFLJLF 61- BFCIIJ 62- IFLLPA 63- IFLKLF 64- IFMFCM 65- IFMEIK 66- IFMHAI 67- IFMGKJ 68- IFMBIC 69- IFMACM 70- IFMDAF 71- IFMCJJ 72- IFMNJA 73- IFMMJK 74- IFMPKJ 75- IFMOJA 76- IFMJJK 77- DFHIMF 78- IFMLHO 79- IFMKEL 80- IFNFKJ 81- IFNEIC 82- IFNHJF 83- IFNGIM 84- IFNBCM 85- IFNAIK 86- IFNDAI 87- IFNCKJ 88- IFNNIC 89- IFNMCM 90- IFNPHF 91- IFNOJB 92- IFNJJP 93- BFEIDF 94- IFNLFN 95- IFNKJP 96- IFOFCA 97- IFOEJJ 98- IFOHHF 99- IFOGPK 100- IFOBAM 101- IFOAIG 102- IFODHF 103- IFOCIG 104- IFONMJ 105- IFOMDI 106- IFOPID 107- IFOOAM 108- IFOJJF 109- DFFIMF 110- IFOLJD 111- IFOKCM 112- IFPFIK 113- IFPEAI 114- IFPHKJ 115- IFPGIC 116- IFPBEL 117- IFPAKL 118- IFPDIC 119- IFPCJF 120- IFPNIA 121- IFPMBJ 122- IFPPKL 123- IFPOIC 124- IFPJAF 125- BFGIHA 126- IFPLCH 127- IFPKII 128- IFAFKF 129- IFAEOB 130- IFAHJJ 131- IFAGAF 132- IFABNL 133- IFAAAM 134- IFADKF 135- IFACHF 136- IFANJI 137- IFAMCM 138- IFAPIK 139- IFAOAI 140- IFAJKJ 141- DFLIDC 142- IFALGL 143- IFAKKL 144- IFBFIC 145- IFBECI 146- IFBHKL 147- IFBGIC 148- IFBBEM 149- IFBAID 150- IFBDFF 151- IFBCIC 152- IFBNCM 153- IFBMIA 154- IFBPAI 155- IFBOKL 156- IFBJIC 157- BFIIJF 158- IFBLMB 159- IFBKCH 160- IFCFII 161- IFCEKF 162- IFCHOB 163- IFCGJJ 164- IFCBAF 165- IFCALI 166- IFCDAM 167- IFCCMF 168- IFCNHF 169- IFCMJJ 170- IFCPCH 171- IFCOIJ 172- IFCJKF 173- DFJIFB 174- IFCLJJ 175- IFCKCM 176- IFDFIK 177- IFDEAI 178- IFDHKJ 179- IFDGIC 180- IFDBCL 181- IFDAKL 182- IFDDIC 183- IFDCHL 184- IFDNPF 185- IFDMLF 186- IFDPDI 187- IFDOPF 188- IFDJLF 189- BFKINM 190- IFDLJF 191- IFDKFF 192- IFEFKH 193- IFEEBL 194- IFEHPF 195- IFEGLF 196- IFEBAF 197- IFEAJI 198- IFEDAM 199- IFECAF 200- IFENHF 201- IFEMJM 202- IFEPCH 203- IFEOIJ 204- IFEJKF 205- BFNIHB 206- IFELJJ 207- IFEKCM 208- IFFFIK 209- IFFEAI 210- IFFHKJ 211- IFFGIC 212- IFFBCL 213- IFFAKL 214- IFFDIC 215- IFFCFL 216- IFFNPF 217- IFFMLF 218- IFFPJF 219- IFFOIC 220- IFFJCM 221- FFIIFK 222- IFFLBI 223- IFFKPF 224- IFGFLF 225- IFGEAF 226- IFGHIF 227- IFGGCL 228- IFGBKI 229- IFGAIC 230- IFGDCM 231- IFGCLH 232- IFGNAI 233- IFGMCO 234- IFGPLG 235- IFGOAI 236- IFGJBC 237- BFPICG 238- IFGLCH 239- IFGKIA 240- IFHFGJ 241- IFHEKL 242- IFHHIC 243- IFHGHF 244- IFHBIC 245- IFHACM 246- IFHDIB 247- IFHCAI 248- IFHNDA 249- IFHMLG 250- IFHPAF 251- IFHOIA 252- IFHJCM 253- BFOIBK 254- IFHLAI 255- IFHKDA O- BFBFLM 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Rampage===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |3.10| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |2.70| ARIC | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 |3.50| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 |2.80| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |3.70| THE JABBERWOCK! | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |3.00| ERIK | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |3.90| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (7 LYNXERS) |4.5|4.2|3.0|2.7|3.4|3.5|2.5|2.1|2.5|3.5|3.20| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 01:24:48 am May 31, 1991 Even though Rampage is one of my favorite games at the arcade the Lynx seems to take all the fun out of it. Yes, the game is kick (if you want to kick your friends that is). I wish there was more to this but what? I don't know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:10:04 pm July 6, 1991 When converting an arcade hit to a video game system that has better graphics or sound capabilities, they should take advantage of the opportunity and create an even better game. I guess that they made up for that by adding several -EASTER EGGS- that are somewhat amusing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 12:21:22 am Sep. 4, 1991 Pretty decent overall. I got it at a discount ($22) at Good Guys (it was a demo, box and all but it had been opened). Hey, if they think that is worth $13 off the price I am not going to argue! I believe it is definitely worth it at that price! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erik (Erik Fortune from Palo Alto, CA) 02:06:58 am Nov. 1, 1991 Surprisingly good, reasonably faithful version of the arcade game! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Road Blasters===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| EVAN | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 |3.11| MATTHEW | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 |2.22| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.88| ROBERT COCCARO | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.44| PAUL B. PRICHARD | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.33| ARIC | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 |3.22| G HILL | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.11| ERIC | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.55| LASER EAGLE | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.22| LEO | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.55| SIANARA | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.33| JEFFTZ | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.77| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (12 LYNXERS) |4.0|3.7|3.5|3.5|3.2|N/A|3.3|3.7|3.1|3.5|3.55| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 01:45:58 am June 8, 1991 Very good coin-op translation BUT the need for a steering wheel is SO apparent. It is not easy but repititous. I loved it in the arcade and on the Lynx it is outstanding! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evan (Evan Black from Colorado City, AZ) 01:35:44 pm July 4, 1991 Good graphics & animation. I miss the steering wheel from the arcade, however. The diagonal moves are kinda hard on the Lynx controller. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew (Richard Stephenson from Delta, UT) 01:36:56 pm July 13, 1991 I went into the store to by WARBIRDS and they didn't have it, so I bought RoadBlasters and regret it. The game is a bore. Lasted for 5 hours.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Coccaro from Chester, NJ 04:05:06 pm July 30, 1991 A Great coin-op Translation! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul B. Prichard from Mesa, AZ 05:25:22 pm Aug. 2, 1991 As far as a coin operated rendition...which I love, this is great! I must admit I however, am like the other users I prefer a steering wheel as opposed to the joypad. Other than this one can easily get used to the handling that must be done and enjoy themselves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill (George Hill from Opelousas, LA) 06:52:18 am Sep. 2, 1991 This game in my opinion is as close to the arcade version as is possible, right down to the digitized voices. My ONLY gripe about this game is that it is difficult to hit any enemies who are coming at you in a curve. That's were the arcade steering wheel helps more than the Lynx Joypad. Buy this one! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric (Eric Goodman from Paradise Valley, AZ) 10:50:50 pm Sep. 2, 1991 RoadBlasters is quite an amazing peice of work. Between the barrage of special weapons made available throughout the game and the music and the digitized voice it is really quite fun. I would recommend getting this one. HINT: There are two secret screens HINT 2:Trees, Programmers, Bubble City, B Button, 1st Tree, Crash ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laser Eagle (Keith Huffstutler from College Station, TX) 08:55:20 pm Sep. 9, 1991 Really has a great completion music score. Worthy of completing the 50th level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sianara (John Gall from Paradise Valley, AZ) 01:17:24 am Oct. 18, 1991 A great translation of a great game. Even the Warp feature is included! I still like to play it just to try to beat my old scores. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Robo-Squash===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JAC | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |1.40| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |1.90| SEAN BRYANT | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |2.20| DONNY HARROP | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |1.30| GROO | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |2.00| ARIC | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |2.60| M KENNEDY | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |1.70| JEFF KOVACH | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |1.70| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.10| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (9 LYNXERS) |2.4|2.4|1.7|1.7|1.8|3.0|1.8|1.8|1.6|2.2|2.10| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- M Kennedy (Matt Kennedy from Clinton Park, NY) 09:10:52 pm Aug. 6, 1991 This game has some of the worst sound ever heard on the Lynx! When played on the new Lynx while wearing headphones, the only thing you will want to do with this game is turn it off. AVOID AVOID AVOID ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 01:18:18 am Oct. 7, 1991 This game is pretty good if a bit difficult to master with a joypad. The need for a mouse is evident! I think the packaging is a bit misleading in that you get the feeling that weird things will be coming at you but, alas, it is only a ball. I got mine on sale at Good Guys for $23 so for that price I would reccomend it. Any higher than $29 and I think it is a bit high! 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Rygar===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| TONY BELDING | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.11| M KENNEDY | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |3.11| ED DUKESHIRE | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.11| LORD CHUCK | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |2.88| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.77| GROO | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |N/A| 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.66| ARIC | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |2.66| CHRIS BAKER | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.88| MIKE MAST | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.77| NORMAN BATES | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |N/A| 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |4.66| HEADHUNTER | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |2.88| STUB | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |2.11| YAR | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |N/A| 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |1.88| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (13 LYNXERS) |3.5|3.7|2.7|2.5|3.3|N/A|3.0|2.8|2.3|3.1|3.00| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire from Haverhill, MA 09:34:36 pm June 30, 1991 Rygar has some pretty fantastic background graphics. And, the scrolling background really adds to the depth of the game. After seeing this game, I can see that -Shadow of the Beast- will look great on the Lynx! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:28:38 pm July 6, 1991 This arcade conversion still needed some work. In the first level you meet all the enemies there are except for two. There is not enough variety in the game. I just feel that they could have expanded the game to make it more enjoyable then the arcade version. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Groo (James Nickeforek from Vancouver, BC, Canada) 12:45:28 am July 16, 1991 I found this game a little harder to get into but once involved it only took me a few hours to complete. Some of the colours used were not the best and caused a little on screen confusion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 04:27:38 pm Aug. 25, 1991 This is a truly great game with excellent gameplay and graphics. Too bad the tune is so repetitve; better sound effects would have made it even better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 12:14:06 pm Sep. 15, 1991 On the whole I really enjoy this game, however, I think that Rygar is a bit ill-defined in terms of graphics. I have seen them do better but this one is not bad by a longshot, it just could be a bit better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HeadHunter (Bob Jones from Chicago, IL) 12:26:28 am Sep. 24, 1991 Rygar is a great shoot-em-up type game but suffers somewhat from poor color choice on the backgrounds. They should have chosen colors that had better contrast which would have made it easier to see all the action. Overall the playability is great despite the color scheme. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yar (Peter Johnson from North Bay, ON, Canada) 10:03:42 pm Nov. 24, 1991 Althougth the game is visually pleasing, the game play sucks canal water to put it politely. You meet all the meanies in the first few screens and the game gets monotonous after that. I really have nothing to say about this game except STAY AWAY FROM IT!! Buy Klax instead. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Scrapyard Dog===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| CHRIS BAKER | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |N/A| 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 |3.55| SHIFTER | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |1.88| NORMAN BATES | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |N/A| 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.55| PAUL B. PRICHARD | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.00| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 |N/A| 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.00| LEO | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |N/A| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |3.88| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (6 LYNXERS) |4.1|3.8|2.6|2.6|3.3|N/A|3.1|3.6|3.3|3.0|3.22| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 06:35:12 pm Oct. 2, 1991 This is a great game. You're Louis and your mission is to save your little dog Scrapps from the evil Mr. Big. Scrapyard Dog is a run & jump & shoot in the Super mario vein with great graphics a good tune and excellent gameplay! It's a shame that Atari is still providing posters with the games it's the only thing that brings the overall look of the game down. Special items, secret rooms and games make this one of the best games to hit for the Lynx...hurry and get yours...Scrapps life hangs in the balance! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shifter (Hunter Hardy from Little Rock, AR) 12:37:18 pm Oct. 13, 1991 Obviously by my ratings, this game doesn't enspire my love for the Lynx. It's very plain and simple and doesn't compare with Mario-type games in any way except concept. The music is cutesy and the game itself is just not enough to keep you going. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 03:03:02 pm Oct. 13, 1991 Again I HATE the poster instructions. Beyond that I dislike this game beacuse it is yet another Super Mario Brothers type game and if I wanted that I would have bought a Nintendo. I do believe this thing tries to be cute and fails miserably. It is just a matter of jumping and timing with no thought whatsoever. It does not even have the benfit of a shoot-em-up (buying a weapon not included). Avoid it if you are tired of Mario and Luigi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atarian (Dan Ramos from Ludlow, MA) 11:03:40 pm Oct. 22, 1991 Even though the game seems to look like it's another -Run and Jump- game (like Mario Bros.) it is nowhere near as fun as most games of that category, but it IS pretty fun anyway. I think the playability is the worst part but the animation should have also been worked on a little more. Artwork is REALLY lacking and the music is MUCH too -cutesy- for my taste. Altogether a relatively -fun- game, but not enough to go up with some of the best -run and jumps- like Super Mario Bros., Super Giani Sisters, or MegaMan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leo (Leo Black from Colorado City, AZ) 04:52:30 pm Nov. 10, 1991 I have played Scrapyard Mutt. It is really quite fun, but the first level gets boring fast. It kicks PacLand. It has a lot of hidden stuff. The game is really quite easy to play. I have found warps to all the levels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Groo (James Nickeforek from Vancouver, BC, Canada) 04:47:10 am Nov. 12, 1991 I found the game to be boring until I started finding some of the better hidden warps and rooms... quite cool. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Shanghai===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.20| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.60| JEFF KOVACH | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |4.00| G HILL | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.10| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.80| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |3.90| HEADHUNTER | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.40| COMMANDER | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.50| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.60| THE POSTMAN | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.30| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (10 LYNXERS) |4.5|4.0|3.7|4.6|4.5|3.6|3.7|4.4|4.5|3.9|4.10| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 02:30:26 am May 26, 1991 One of the best games to play. Makes you really think!! A must have! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill (George Hill from Opelousas, LA) 03:19:32 pm July 5, 1991 I can't say a bad thing about this game. I've played it on the computer before and the Lynx version is very well done. No trouble at all in seeing the tiles. The musice adds to the game alot. 4 different songs to choose from. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HeadHunter (Bob Jones from Chicago, IL) 12:22:42 am Sep. 24, 1991 This is a must game for the Lynx or any computer for that matter. I have the ST version and this one is even better. This is a game that you will always find yourself playing long after the initial purchase. Since each game is different the challange remains fresh. The only drawback I saw is that the tiles are a bit hard to see. But then I'm use to playing the ST version. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Commander (Heather Perry from Scottsdale, AZ) 08:15:08 pm Oct. 4, 1991 This is an AWESOME game and the music is wonderful. My rating on the ComLynx feature in this game is really quite unfair as I haven't played it with the link-up. I'm sure, by the way the rest of the game is, that that feature deserves more credit than I gave it.:) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 06:10:20 pm Oct. 31, 1991 I really enjoy this game! You should get it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Postman (Bernie Bresnahan from Waterford, MI) 12:33:04 am Mar. 1, 1992 To be honest I've had my Lynx for about a year and it has become mostly a Shanghai slave. Nothing quite like playing Shanghai before heading to sleep... 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Slime World===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JOHN THORNBURGH | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.70| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.40| TONY BELDING | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 |3.80| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.70| AVOGADRO | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.70| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 |4.20| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.60| JEFF KOVACH | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |4.20| DONNY HARROP | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.30| BIG J | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |3.10| MATTHEW | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |4.00| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.80| G HILL | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.30| LASER EAGLE | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.50| THE JABBERWOCK! | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.10| YAR | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |3.40| DALE OVERTON | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |3.70| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (17 LYNXERS) |4.5|4.5|3.4|2.6|4.2|4.5|4.0|4.2|4.0|3.4|3.90| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Avogadro (Jim DeVos from Mesa, AZ) 04:39:26 pm May 28, 1991 Without a doubt, this is the best ComLynx game to date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:09:26 am June 1, 1991 My favorite game. The multiplayer combat mode is the best thing around. Plus, you get a nifty exploration game in other modes. Either would justify purchase. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 11:09:02 am June 2, 1991 This is the best mutli-player game to date. This game is filled with mazes galore in which you compete to find the exit or just survive the barrage of other players attempting to -slime- you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 01:43:24 am June 8, 1991 OUTSTANDING! This game is a must have! Kept a friend & I ComLynxed from 1am to 5am playing Action from beginning to end! NOT for the faint of heart! I spent three days completing Logic. The zit-popping contest is just gross enough to make you play it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big J (Jared Addington from Fort Worth, TX) 12:56:46 am July 7, 1991 This game is very good but and a lot of action but gets a little boring after awhile but the passwords help along in this catagory. The multiple levels changing in appearance as you move along is a nice touch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill (George Fill from Opelousas, LA) 04:29:44 am Aug. 5, 1991 The graphics on this game are very good. No music to speak of except for the title screen. The rest sounds more like random sound effects. The game got very repetitious after awhile. But then again I haven't played it multiplayer yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jabberwock! (S. Michael Hallack from Jacksonville, FL) 09:52:16 pm Sep. 12, 1991 Slime World is the only 8 player Lynx game to date. At first, it may not seem to work well as a multiplayer game, yet there really can be a spirit of cooperation. If another player gets slimed, you can douse him with your water gun and wash all of the slime off! More importantly, when in multi-Lynx mode, a new adventure is added, combat! The animation is outstanding, the walls seem to be alive, as does the slime-falls that cascade over the subterranean landscape. It is either a game you will love or hate, there is nothing in between, either slime facinates you, or it disgusts you, but if it interests you, there is a HUGE amount of terrain covered with it in this game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yar (Peter Johnson from North Bay, ON, Canada) 09:42:16 pm Nov. 10, 1991 This is a great adventure game. I still find new passages and short cuts to the exits on each level. Keeps the game interesting long after you have finished each level. That is not to say each level is a snap tho, they can take several hours to complete. The only dislike about the game is the annoying scroll which doesn't seem to display the areas that are the most interesting to you. It does its own thing. Still it should be included in everyone's library. Lynxing with other players really makes the game shine! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dale Overton from Mesa, AZ 01:07:02 am Nov. 24, 1991 Keeping in mind I've had a Lynx and Slime World a short time, I've been thoroughly impressed with Slime World. I've only finished 3 of the Adventures so far, but found each one intriguing in it's own way. I feel I will continue to enjoy it after all adventures have been solved, and I imagine multi-players adventures would be quite entertaining. If there is a fault, it is only the intro. Slime World has perhaps the most boring intro screen I've seen so far, and an uninspiring musical score. The game itself more than makes up for that, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dolphin (Rob Besett from Scottsdale, AZ) 12:53:54 pm Mar. 5, 1992 This game is a must in your game library. Its stunning graphics and chilling music are fantastic. The only problem I have with this game is that you can't put it down... and when you finally get past the different levels you might not want to play this game again for a while. In short, this game is to Lynx carts what Star Wars is for a video tape library-it's great, well done, and a MUST have. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Turbo Sub===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| CHRIS BAKER | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |3.00| IKE | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |1.40| LEO | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |1.80| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |3.00| ED DUKESHIRE | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |3.20| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |2.90| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |4.50| BIG J | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |3.90| G HILL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.30| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (9 LYNXERS) |4.1|3.5|2.6|2.5|3.0|3.1|3.0|2.7|2.4|2.7|3.00| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Baker from New York, NY 08:51:08 pm Sep. 30, 1991 OK Atari...enough with the posters. Who's idea was this anyway?? Turbo Sub from Atari is a pretty straight forward shooter from the first person perspective (i.e. Warbirds). The controls are very sensitive and responsive for the most part except when there's too many aliens/objects on the screen at once, then you have a nice little slowdown. It's not too bad but enough to be annoying. Good graphics and smooth animation for the most part and a pretty good tune at the title screen along with some of the smoothest scaling I've seen yet on a Lynx game make this that high action shooter that Zarlor Mercenary should have been. This is suposed to be a two player game. At least according to the box and that awful poster with the instructions which tell you virtually nothing especially how to play TurboSub as a 2 player game. If you like blowing away hordes of nasty alien hordes..this one's for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leo (Leo Black from Colorado City, AZ) 11:33:40 pm Oct. 2, 1991 Turbo is the word. This game is a lot of the same thing. You go up above the water and then down below up above down below. I don't like it. The title screen and music are very poor! A bunch of the same old thing up and down. You start with 10 Lives, you need them but usually you don't play it that long though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire from Haverhill, MA 08:00:00 pm Oct. 6, 1991 Turbo Sub is a pretty good show-off game for the Lynx. Every person I've shown this game to has been impressed and couldn't put it down. I personally thought the game was too easy. First off, you get too many lives at the beginning of the game. It should have been dropped down to around 5 lives instead of 10. This would have given it more of a challenge. The graphics are nice, especially the dive-up sequence from the ocean. The windshield wipers gives a nice effect. If you're looking for a mindless shoot'em up game, this is the one to grab! You may finish it pretty fast, but you'll probably still find yourself picking it up again and again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 05:17:18 pm Oct. 9, 1991 What a waste! When I saw this game at CES I thought, -Wow, that looks like a game I would want.- But now that it is out, its one of the last games I want to get. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 02:59:12 pm Oct. 13, 1991 Again, I REALLY DISLIKE the poster form of the instructions. The fact that the instructions are vague at best does not help matters any either. I think the explosion sound effects could be better instead of sounding like an 8-bit Sound statement! All-in-all I really do like this game it has keep me entertained since I got it it. I think it is difficult but not too difficult. I believe that the 10 ships is a nice touch to enable you to at least get started in the begining on how to use it. If you have to spend $34 to get it I think it is worth it (that is what I paid). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big J (Jared Addington from Fort Worth, TX) 07:03:32 pm Nov. 23, 1991 I thought Turbo Sub was a great game. Nice graphics and smooth animation plus some great scaling effects. The sound could have been better but it did not downgrade the game itself any. If you like a multi-level action shoot'em up with a little challenge then Turbo Sub is for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G Hill from Opelousas, LA 11:42:56 am Nov. 25, 1991 Turbo Sub is a nice little shoot'em up game. But it has the potential to get old real quick. There doesn't seem to be much variety in the things you go up against; at least as far as I have gotten into the game. The game is a nice little diversion after a hard day of trudging through Slime World or getting puzzled out on Shanghai. 7 Press ! VideoGames & Computer Entertainment Table of Contents for June 1992 (on sale: May 25, 1992) ======================== Cover: Capcom's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior for the Super NES has finally arrived. Turn to page 36 and see how the largest game ever created for the Super NES compares to its coin-op big brother. Cover Art: Mike Wepplo FEATURES ==== 56 The Conquest of Cron: A Player's Guide to Might & Magic, Part I by Clayton Walnum Might & Magic for the Genesis is one of the largest role-playing games on any game system. Our game guide will help you get over the worst hurdles, so you can get down to serious adventuring. 68 Superheroes on the Scrolling Screen by David S. Moskowitz Comic-book heroes have long been the focus of some video-game companies. Join us as we take a look at characters that have made the successful transition from comics to video games. 76 A.C.M.E. Show Report by Donn Nauert Held once every year, the American Coin Machine Exposition exposes electronic gaming's latest entries in the coin-op division. This year's offerings in San Antonio won't disappoint you. 82 Bringing the Hardwood Home: Electronic Basketball-1992 style by Bill Kunkel The basketball season ran longer this year, giving software developers extra time to produce more entries. Join our expert as he surveys the best three-point games around. REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS ==== 36 Video-Game Reviews Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Splatterhouse 2, Defenders of Dynatron City, The Blues Brothers, Spanky's Quest, Gunboat, Raiden Trad, Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, Rival Turf and Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston. 64 Gaming on the Go by Chris Bieniek Crystal Warriors, Turn and Burn and Basketbrawl. 90 Computer-Game Previews John Madden Football, A-Train and American Gladiators. 98 Computer-Game Reviews The Taking of Beverly Hills, Populous II, The Simpsons: Bart's House of Weirdness, Elvira II: The Jaws of Cerberus, Flames of Freedom, Bush Buck Global Treasure Hunter, Bloodwych, Super Tetris, Out of This World, Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood, Glider 4.0 and Falcon 3.0a. DEPARTMENTS ==== Editor's Letter 6 Reader Mail 10 Tip Sheet 16 News Bits 20 Easter Egg Hunt 28 Inside Gaming 88 Game Doctor 94 Advertiser Index 96 Computer-Game Strategies 114 Fandango 116 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Warbirds===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| M KENNEDY | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |4.10| JOHN THORNBURGH | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.60| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.40| ECLIPSE | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |3.90| JEFF KOVACH | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |4.50| CLINTON SMITH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 |4.00| SEAN BRYANT | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.50| DONNY HARROP | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.20| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.60| DARKMAGE | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.60| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 |3.90| ARIC | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |4.20| SURGEON GENERAL | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.90| EVAN | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.20| PRAETOR | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 |3.90| DJ DAVE | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.00| LASER EAGLE | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.20| THE POSTMAN | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 |4.50| THE JABBERWOCK! | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |4.30| LEO | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.20| VALORN | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |3.50| IKE | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.50| DIRK DARING | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.20| MACKIN | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |3.80| LORD BARAK | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |3.70| JARIUS | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 |3.10| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (26 LYNXERS) |4.1|4.5|3.2|2.9|4.4|4.7|4.1|4.1|4.1|4.2|4.00| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- M Kennedy (Matt Kennedy from Clinton Park, NY) 09:20:04 pm May 16, 1991 Warbirds offers the best mulit-player action to date. While it is a little too easy in single player mode, multiplayer offers a great deal of challenge. The ability to tailor each player's ammunition, damage and number of lives helps even out the game for inexperienced players. The manual packaged with the game is the best Atari has produced for any Lynx product so far. It includes many illustrations and is in FULL COLOR. Overall a good single player game and a great multiplayer game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeremy Weinstein from Concord, CA 01:58:10 am June 2, 1991 Makes my Lynx just what I always wanted - a pocket flight simulator! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Kovach from Mesa, AZ 01:35:48 am June 12, 1991 Finally, another Lynx game that causes me to physically react in relation to the action on the screen--my legs move from side to side, and I find myself moving my Lynx in futile attempts to make my plane turn more sharply! If this game did not have the ComLynx Feature, it would rate about 1.5 points lower overall, in my eyes. The single player game opponents are not nearly as challenging as my friends are. Also, the fun is doubled for every additional person playing! I've played with as many as 3 people, and can't wait until next week when we play 4! The Gameplay and ComLynx make this game--the graphics could be a little more detailed (the ground in particular), but that probably would have slowed things down. The landing sequence looks a little strange-but who has time to land anyway! Not only is this a 'pocket flight simulator', it is a 'multi-player pocket air battle simulator'! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clinton Smith from Chicago, IL 09:26:30 pm June 14, 1991 Warbirds is a real stunner that shows just how powerful the Lynx is and what it's capable of. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Mesa, AZ 12:34:12 pm July 6, 1991 This is the first time I gave any game a 5 for Packaging and Presentation because the booklet was very well done and was in -COLOR- as well. The ComLynx feature is beyond words. This is the first flight sim that I actually have head-to-head combat with three other players instead of just one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Surgeon General (Lou Pingitore from Wheaton, IL) 09:59:20 pm Aug. 11, 1991 Great graphics, amazing game. My 1st Lynx game, so far still challenging. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evan (Evan Black from Colorado City, AZ) 07:22:12 pm Aug. 31, 1991 Great multiplayer capability. Could use more options (teams or battle against the computer) gets rather dull with only 1 player, though. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Praetor (Scott Standiford from Salt Lake City, UT) 02:20:08 am Sep. 3, 1991 Wow! This is the type of game that you always wished a game system could do! Although the graphics are not highly detailed, they are very clean, well done, and frankly, anything more would probably just get in the way during combat. The ComLynx feature in this game is fantastic! The one player game, against the computer, is far too simple. You'll quickly learn to send all the enemy planes down in flames without much trouble... hook up with another player, however, and watch the sparks fly! Controls are smooth and give the sensation of flight. I was particullarly impressed with the sounds when using headphones instead of the built in speaker... GREAT GAME!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DJ Dave (David Scarpa from Palmer, MA) 09:27:06 pm Sep. 4, 1991 Warbirds is the quinessential ComLynx game for the Lynx and it must be viewed in that manner. The manual is the best and unfortunately last such effort before the horrendous posters took over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Postman (Bernie Bresnahan from Waterford, MI) 09:43:50 pm Sep. 11, 1991 The best thing about Warbirds is it GamePlayability. You have several options to pick from so that each game is potentially different. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Jabberwock! (S. Michael Hallack from Jacksonville, FL) 09:59:22 pm Sep. 12, 1991 The first true flight simulator for a dedicated games machine, and it's on the Lynx! Dogfighting other players is awesome, but it's too easy to run into them, bur that's ok, because that feature can be turned off. Most importantly, this game has the BEST clouds I have ever seen... it's really interesting to hide in them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leo (Leo Black from Colorado City, AZ) 03:30:12 pm Sep. 14, 1991 Warbirds is a great multiplayer game. Every Lynx owner should have one. Gets dull fast with one player. Very exciting with 4 players. Needs more multiplayer options, and could use more weapons (like back machine guns and missiles on the front.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ike (Isaac Black from Colorado City, AZ) 11:39:44 pm Oct. 2, 1991 This game is better as a multiplayer game, however it is a good game for killing time if you don't have something better to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dirk Daring 06:54:28 pm Oct. 5, 1991 I can't believe they finally made a totally 3-D flight-simulator-type game. It's just like playing something on the ST, or as close as you can get! It's pretty amazing, the stuff they put on a little chip--everything is in -real space-, so it's more realistic than, say, the typical shoot-'em-up. Good one if you like simulators! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jarius (Jarius Jenkins from Bronx, NY) 10:39:08 pm Mar. 29, 1992 This game NEEDS extra players. Shooting down a friend is always great... that's why plane simulations are so popular, and this is a good one for a game system (especially a hand held). 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Xenophobe===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |2.80| DONNY HARROP | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.10| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.10| STEVEN FOUST | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |3.00| NORMAN BATES | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |4.40| PAUL B. PRICHARD | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.30| ARIC | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.30| ERIC | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |2.90| THE JABBERWOCK! | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |3.10| CAPTAIN FANTASTIC | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |4.50| SIANARA | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |3.60| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (11 LYNXERS) |4.0|3.9|3.6|2.6|3.2|3.3|3.4|3.5|3.3|3.4|3.40| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 10:50:10 pm May 21, 1991 Personally, this game was one of the best I have played. Well at that time it was. I soon got tired of it even after mutli-player mode. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:20:00 pm July 6, 1991 This is another arcade conversion that I feel would be better if they would have spiced it up in some way or another. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric (Eric Goodman from Paradise Valley, AZ) 10:47:28 pm Sep. 2, 1991 Xenophobe is a pretty good shoot-em-up. It also has some cool effects and graphics. There are also some neat aliens. As good as it sounds I might not recommend it because it's probably one for shoot-em-up fans ONLY! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Captain Fantastic (Steven Cordine from Fayetteville, NC) 10:54:12 pm Sep. 18, 1991 Xenophobe is one of the best games I've played on the Lynx. As to long term playability, I have played it for up to 5 hours at a setting. The graphics outperform any version of Xenophobe I have seen on any other system (especially Nintendo). The animation is smooth, and quite believable. The sound effects and music are also top notch. It's quite challenging when you get up to the higher levels, but with a team, (two or more ComLynxed) it becomes quite easy until you get to the highest levels. This however does not detract from the fun of the game. This is one of the first games for the Lynx I have gotten, and I still play it almost every time I pick up the Lynx. To close, I must give this game my highest recommendations as a definite MUST HAVE! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sianara (John Gall from Paradise Valley, AZ) 01:14:44 am Oct. 18, 1991 A great game, but it slows down when you get too many -Critters- on the screen at the same time (The ONLY drawback). I believe it would be cooler if you could be an Alien anytime, not just when you're ComLynxed. 7 Press ! ---------------------------------------------- STAR*LINX BBS | | | | |G |C | | |L |P P| | GAME RATING & REVIEW SYSTEM | | | | |A |O | | |O P|A R| | | | |S |M |M |M | E | |N L|C E| O | ---===Zarlor Mercenary===--- | | A |O |U |E |L | X | C |G A|K S| V | | G | N |U |S |P |Y | C | H | Y|A E| E | +------------------+ | R | I |N E|I |L |N F| I | A |T A|G N| R | | 5: Outstanding | | A | M |D F|C |A D|X E| T | L |E B|I T| A | | 4: Great | | P | A | F|A S|Y E| A| E | L |R I|N A| L S| | 3: Good | | H | T | E|L C| S| T| M | E |M L|G T| L C| | 2: Fair | | I | I | C| O|& I| U| E | N | I| I| O| | 1: Poor | | C | O | T| R| G| R| N | G | T|& O| R| +------------------+ | S | N | S| E| N| E| T | E | Y| N| E| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|----| MERKUR | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |3.80| TONY BELDING | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 |2.70| JEREMY WEINSTEIN | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.60| JAC | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |3.70| SEAN BRYANT | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |2.40| STEVEN FOUST | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |4.20| BIG J | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 |3.70| DONNY HARROP | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |3.20| GROO | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |3.00| NORMAN BATES | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.10| ARIC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 |4.70| ECLIPSE | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 |3.80| PRAETOR | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |3.80| LASER EAGLE | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |4.10| THE JABBERWOCK! | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |4.10| MACKIN | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 |3.60| ---------------------------------------------- GROUP AVERAGE (16 LYNXERS) |4.4|4.0|3.3|3.0|3.9|3.3|3.8|3.7|3.3|3.5|3.60| ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merkur (Brian Erwin from Erie, PA) 07:59:42 pm May 16, 1991 A very good game.. Only thing is sometimes you wish it would scroll faster and if you got to the sixth level you could get a code to start there again if you die.. Also includes the game of LIFE.. See other articles on that.. There's is a 4 player mode with the ComLynx cable. I have never tried it but heard it's great with 4 players but teamwork is the keyword. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony Belding from Hamilton, TX 11:38:18 am May 18, 1991 This game is WAY TOO HARD! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jac (Jonathan Abraham Cohen from Columbia, MD) 04:04:36 pm May 28, 1991 Nice game, but no password feature can make games very long.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Thornburgh from Mountain View, CA 12:04:28 am June 1, 1991 I don't like games like this where you just shoot and get shot all the time. I prefer discreet hits that matter. It is better to have to aim, and dodge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sean Bryant from Mesa, AZ 09:59:58 pm June 30, 1991 The only thing I really found fun to play with in this game was the LIFE Easter Egg. I have more fun with that then the game itself!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Foust from Tempe, AZ 12:22:34 pm July 6, 1991 This game has received mixed reviews. First of all I would like to say that the graphics in this game are incredible, second I can finish this game every time I play it because the enemy is so predictable. Even so I still have a blast playing this game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big J (Jared Addington from Fort Worth, TX) 01:00:46 am July 7, 1991 This game was excellent. This kind of fast moving multiple level game is the most challanging and fun. Although there is no password feature learning the levels little by little get very interesting. The animation and end level boss characters were very nice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Groo (James Nickeforek from Vancouver, BC, Canada) 12:47:38 am July 16, 1991 I found this game to be a good arcade game along the lines of Xenon II but once completed there is little to draw you back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Norman Bates from Stockton, CA 11:35:38 pm July 29, 1991 I thought it would just be another shoot-em-up BUT I was way WRONG! I really do enjoy it a lot! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Praetor (Scott Standiford from Salt Lake City, UT) 02:15:40 am Sep. 3, 1991 First off, if you don't like vertical scrolling shoot'em ups, you probably won't like Zarlor Mercenary. However, if games like Xevious are your thing, you'll probably love this game. The graphics are very well done, the backgrounds are highly detailed and the sprites are equally well done. This is a hard game, make no mistake, but fun, none the less. When I finally finished level 6 I found myself wishing there were more. It is a somewhat short game, but it is fun getting to the end. All in all, a very well done game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JeffTz (Jeffrey Tschiltsch from West Hills, CA) 11:58:46 pm Mar. 6, 1992 This game looks great, with some excellently detailed graphics. While the number of enemies on the screen at one time is impressive, I felt the ship moved too slow (even with powerups) and the difficulty too high that I quickly became bored with the game. Might be better ComLynxed, but I doubt it. 7 Press ! =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== End of Z*Magazine #208 - unofficial version created from original .arc file by Michael Current, mcurrent@carleton.edu