Atari Lynx
- Manufacturer
- Atari
- Production
- 1989–1995
- Generation
- Gen 4
- Type
- Handheld
- Launch price
- $189
- Units sold
- 3.0M
About Atari Lynx
The Atari Lynx is a fourth-generation handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in September 1989 in North America and 1990 in Europe and Japan. It was the first handheld game console with a color liquid-crystal display. Powered by a 4 MHz 65C02 8-bit CPU and a custom 16-bit blitter, the Lynx was more advanced than Nintendo's monochrome Game Boy, released five months earlier. It also competed with Sega's Game Gear and NEC's TurboExpress, released the following year.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
76licensed games
- North America: 76
Pricing
Launch price (1989)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $189
Launch titles & exclusives
California Games · Blue Lightning · Electrocop · Gates of Zendocon · Chip's Challenge
California Games (most bundles)
Blue Lightning · S.T.U.N. Runner · Warbirds · Robotron: 2084 (best contemporary port) · Slime World · Lemmings · Battlewheels
Battlezone 2000 / Hyperdrome (1995–1996) were among the last commercial releases
Eye of the Beholder (cancelled — incomplete prototypes ~$1000+); Battlewheels CIB ($200+); Power Factor (~$150)
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- "Mikey" (VLSI VL65NC02 8-bit CPU + Sound processor + LCD driver)
- Gpu
- "Suzy" (16-bit custom CMOS)
- Ram
- 64 KB RAM
- Sound
- 4 channels, 8-bit DAC or PSG sound
- Display Output
- Backlit 3.5" color LCD; 160 × 102 standard resolution (16,320 addressable pixels)
Hardware revisions
- Lynx I(1989)
original launch hardware, larger form factor, backlit LCD, infamous 4-hour battery life on 6 AAs
- Lynx II(1991)
smaller, lower power draw, slightly revised illumination, added headphone jack and power-saving features
Launch colorways & special editions
- None official
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- hard-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A; modern flashcarts: Lynx SD
Reception & legacy
Praised for color screen and horsepower advantage over Game Boy at launch; criticized heavily for battery life and bulk
Sold to Atari by Epyx mid-development; minimal marketing budget once Atari took over; never received the third-party support Nintendo and Sega secured for their handhelds
First handheld with a backlit color LCD; technically superior to Game Boy but lost the format war to Nintendo's battery-life-first strategy — a recurring lesson in handheld design
References
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