I bought myself an Atari Lynx model 1 again. For  years I have wanted one again, after having owned one back in the nineties.

It is in reasonable good condition and works fine, although sometimes certain cartridges won’t load and the screen show the message INSERT GAME. Re-inserting the cartridges a couple of times and/or blowing in the cartridge slot makes the problem go away. I have to find out if this is usual for this device. It probably has something to do with corrosion of the connector of the cartridges.

Originally, I had the unit that came bundled with California Games, which was pretty great and offered lots of playtime, because it were four events that I found all equally fun to play.

Next to that, I had two other games, namely Blue Lightening and Toki. I remember having some fun with Blue Lightening, but a lot more with Toki. I think I never played the Amiga version and the Lynx version was very playable. Although I can ‘t remember all the levels from the top of my head, I do remember that I finished it.

I remember playing with the Lynx on the couch next to the power outlet, because I couldn’t afford keeping it fed with batteries and couldn’t be bothered with waiting for the rechargeable batteries to recharge. What I didn’t remember was the size of the wall wart that it comes with. I mean, it’s absolutely huge as it threatens to destroy the wall socket. Also, the plug that connects at the unit isn’t very stable. I’m always afraid that it will fall out and in doing so I will lose my progress. I know I did take the Lynx with me to some boring family outings just to re-enforce my image of the non-sociable nerd.

I also remember keeping the unit very close to my face while playing and now I know why, because the screen lightening is quite poor. I will definitely consider having it upgraded.

Here’s a list of all the games I currently have (list is being held up-to-date):

1. A.P.B.
2. Batman Returns
3. Block Out
4. Blue Lightening
5. California Games
6. Casino
7. Checkered Flag
8. Chip’s Challenge
9. Crystal Mines II
10. Dinolympics
11. Dirty Larry Renegade Cop
12. Electrocop (ridged)
13. Gates of Zendocon
14. Gauntlet
15. Hockey
16. KLAX
17. Lemmings
18. Ms. PAC-MAN
19. Pac-Land
20. Pinball Jam
21. RoadBlasters
22. Rygar (2)
23. S.T.U.N. Runner
24. Scrapyard Dog
25. Shadow of the Beast
26. Shanghai
27. Steel Talons
28. Switchblade II
29. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World
30. Toki
31. Turbo Sub
32. Viking Child
33. Warbirds
34. Wyvern Tales
35. Xenophobe