Winter '92 CES Lynx News by Jeff Kovach, GameMaster Assistant Editor STAR-LINX BBS SysOp (602) 464-4817 CIS: 70761,3015 GEnie: J.KOVACH Although Atari did not have an official prescence on the floor at CES, they did assist Telegames (3rd pary Lynx developer) with their booth, and they had a suite at the Rio hotel/casino. Among those present from Atari were John Skruch, Dana Plotkin, Bob Schuricht, Gary Tramiel, Julie Wade, Steve Ryno, and Larry Siegel. Providing invaluable assistance was Thomas Crosby of Atari Entertainment's PR firm, Edelman Public Relations Worldwide. Atari and Telegames were showing a total of six upcoming titles at the Telegames booth, but they game Todd Ellering and I a chance to sample some preliminary version of upcoming games. The following are my opinions and observations. UPCOMING GAMES ============== Hockey: Of all the sports games I had the opportunity to test out, Hockey was my favorite. Great gameplay and several screens of stats. Don't count any of the other games out tho, they all looked good. Hockey was the only one that I had an opportunity to spend more than 5 minutes with, and it really impressed me. SuperSkweek: Cute game with really sharp graphics. 200+ levels, this game is situated on a grid, and you must walk on every 'tile' to change its color. This game is a mixture of both arcade and puzzle elements. Toki: Great conversion of the arcade game, with terrific sound and graphics. I had to ask if there were more than 16 colors on-screen! Surprisingly enough, there weren't. This game appeared complete and is scheduled for January or February release. Crystal Mines II: The long awaited release from Color Dreams. Wish I knew why it took so long-we saw a beta version of this last year at CES!! 200+ levels, similar to the computer classic Boulderdash, but with MANY more game elements. Hyperdrome: Similar in appearance to the computer classic BallBlazer by Lucasfilm games, but with some additional twists, including up to 4 players. The Guardians: Storm Over Doria: This was an older EPROM of the game, and they are now nearing completion. What little I saw looked great, especially the map which scrolls several screens in every direction, even diagonally. This RPG will allow up to 4 players to participate! According to Telegames VP Terry Grantham, sequels will be in the works if this title is successful, as well as conversions to other systems. Daemonsgate I: Looks like another great RPG. Viewed from overhead, and you can zoom out a number of times, until you are finally looking at the entire game map. 24 ingredients to combine to make potions, and quantities matter! Note that this game may have sequels too! Kung Food: Fight food in your refrigerator and freezer. Sounds ridiculous, but the graphics were awesome! This game is complete and was sent on its way to the factory on 1/23/92. That means it will be out in 3-4 months. Dino Quest: This looks like a must-have game for Lemmings fans. You control cave dudes (one at a time), and each level is a quest to obtain something at the end of the level. Your guys are scattered throughout the level, and you must position them in different ways so that at least one of them can make it to the end... Similar to Lemmings, but you control one guy at a time, and they are large and detailed on your screen. Using Option 2, you can switch to a mode where you are viewing the entire level, and your men are just several pixels high. The area that you can view at that time on the main screen is indicated by a dotted outline. You can play in either mode. Rampart: This game appeared nearly complete-the only thing I saw missing from the arcade version was the guillitone at the end, and that may still be included. For those of you unfamiliar with this one, it is a 2 player medieval castle battle game, with alternating rounds of construction and battle. Playing another human pits you against another castle. Playing the computer matches you against ships off your coast. With digitized voice effects too. Also shown were Battlezone 2000, Hydra, Steel Talons, NFL Football, Dirty Larry, Baseball Heroes, BasketBrawl, Pit Fighter, Lynx Casino, and Pinball Jam. I did not get an opportunity to try out some of these titles, while others were too preliminary to offer any opinion. NEW ACCESSORIES =============== In addition, two new Lynx accessories were announced and privately shown: First of all, an update to an existing accessory, the sunscreen. Shown was a new model for the new Lynx. It snaps on, gripping the ridges on the top and bottom sides of the Lynx. It doesn't matter whether you put it on for left or right handed play, as there is a hole for the power light on either side. Also, the lid has the Atari logo on it, instead of the smooth surfaced lid of the sunscreen for the original Lynx. The sunscreen itself retains it's pop-up tent design. Secondly, a battery pack is coming!!! No, it does not cost $40+ like some battery packs for some other handheld system. No, it is not rechargeable. And no, it does not give you just 6-10 hours additional playing time. What it DOES do is give you 25-30 hours of playing time, using 6 D batteries. Of course, you can always use rechargeables in it, and you can't beat the price--around $15! Has a belt clip and a shoulder strap, and can probably serve as a weapon if you are getting mugged :). Both of these accessories should be hitting the stores any time!! They are sure to sell out quick, like the original sunscreens and Lynx cases did. RELEASE SCHEDULE ================ Here is an update to the release schedule that has been circulating about. Keep in mind that this schedule is tentative and subject to revision. * Indicates unreleased titles demonstrated at Winter CES Available Now California Games Robo-Squash Blue Lightning Shanghai Paperboy Rampage Gauntlet Rygar Electrocop Slime World Xenophobe Ms. Pac-Man Roadblasters Warbirds Klax Zarlor Mercenary Ninja Gaiden Blockout Pac-Land A.P.B. Turbo Sub Checkered Flag Fidelity Ultimate Chess Challenge Qix Scrapyard Dog Viking Child Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure S.T.U.N. Runner Ishido: The Way of Stones Hard Drivin' Awesome Golf Tournament Cyberball Robotron 2084 Xybots Jan/Feb: * Toki * SuperSkweek * Crystal Mines II March: * Hyperdrome * Lynx Casino April/May: * Baseball Heroes * Hockey * Pit Fighter * Basketbrawl * NFL Football World Class Soccer * Dirty Larry June: * Hydra Cabal Rolling Thunder Telegames Products to be released by June: * The Guardians: Storm Over Doria * Krazy Ace Miniature Golf Telegames for July: Double Dragon Telegames for August: Super Off-Road Other 1991/92 Atari projects: 720 Vindicators * Pinball Jam * Kung Food Raiden Space War Cabal Geo Duel Lemmings Shadow of the Beast Bad Boy Tennis Malibu Bikini Volleyball Dracula * Battlezone 2000 * Dino Quest * Daemonsgate I Ninja Nerd Ninja Gaiden III Asteroids/Missile Command Switchblade II Eye of the Beholder Blood & Guts Hockey Full Court Press Heavyweight Contender Gordo 106 Road Riot * Rampart Batman/Penguin-Packout Deal * Steel Talons Operation Desert Storm Strider II Press RETURN -