Lynx Reviews M-Z

Reviewing this game was an emotional rollercoaster, with my opinion wavering between love and hate. If you're used to the more familiar Ninja Gaiden (NES, 1989), this Lynx version may come as a shock. It's a colorful but slow-moving side-scroller in the vein of Final Fight (SNES, 1991). It all makes a little more sense when you realize this is actually a port of the Ninja Gaiden arcade game. I love the graphics. That colorful city skyline is so bright and detailed you can make out the shingles on the rooftops! The character animation however is plodding, sometimes laboriously so. The first time I played I had no idea what was going on, as my gray ninja was overlapped by a bunch of hockey mask-wearing goons. One button performs a somersault jump and the other unleashes a series of kicks and punches. The jump is purely evasive; there's no jump-kick. As long as you position yourself next to a gang of thugs you can continuously tap the attack button to strike them all at once, eventually dispatching the entire group. You'll also encounter ninjas, a sumo with a hairy back, and burly hillbilly swinging a log. The audio leaves much to be desired; what the heck is that tweeting noise? There are plenty of pits in this game, so be sure to knock bad guys into them whenever possible. Broken crates and phone booths reveal weapons and power-ups, but they only break when an enemy crashes into them. I got stuck on one part where there are steel bars you need to climb across. Would you believe you need to press the "option 1" button to grab a bar? Was it really necessary to introduce a third button for this simple function? The game plays well, thanks to interesting scenery and a moderate difficulty. The programmers must have been big fans of Top Gun, because there are Top Gun posters all over the place. Amusing illustrations are displayed between stages, including one of your ninja (in full garb) reading about himself in a newspaper while sitting on a train! The continue screen must be seen to be believed. It shows your ninja strapped to a table with a circular saw being lowered onto his chest! Whoa! Once you come to terms with its slo-mo pacing, Ninja Gaiden turns out to be an entertaining little kung fu slugfest. © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

On the list of things I love more than anything else in the whole world, ninjas rank in at a solid #4. And Ninja Gaiden III is real ninja action! I play this one a lot. Your character may be pixelated but he's nicely animated and quite agile. Ryu can jump, duck, climb, and hang under platforms. He'll slash at close enemies and toss stars from a distance. You begin in a lab facility with glass containers housing creepy skeletons and pulsating organs. As you hop and climb around you're attacked by ninjas and spider-like robots. The controls could be better. It's easy to climb but pulling yourself up onto a platform can be a challenge. There are red icons hanging all over the place, but you have to hack them loose to grab them. The symbols on these icons are really hard to make out. Ninja Gaiden III is not exactly easy on the eyes. The scenery looks good but why is everything so damn red? I might as well be playing this on a Virtual Boy for crying out loud. It's hard on the eyes and the red ninjas tend to blend in. The second stage takes place in the desert and it's a real pain in the ass. It's bad enough you're sinking in sand, but you also have to deal with these elusive fuzzballs and drones descending from above. Still, the levels are fairly short so you'll make steady progress. Just try not to die at the hands of the boss or you'll need to restart the entire stage. The game's soundtrack has a weird, otherworldly quality that I like a lot. Considering its lack of third-party support, the Lynx was really lucky to land an A-lister like Ninja Gaiden III. It's likely to cause blindness with extended use, but that's still a better fate than playing Kung Food (Atari, 1992). © Copyright 2017 The Video Game Critic.

This 1984 Namco arcade game features big characters, colorful scenery, and pleasant music. Pac-Land takes the basic Pac-Man formula and applies it to a side-scrolling platformer. Pac-Man has really grown up since his arcade debut. I'm not talking about the arms and legs he sprouted; I'm talking about his Fedora hat! I think he's a freakin' stockbroker now! Moving toward the right side of the screen he must avoid ghosts and overcome not-so-deadly hazards like trees stumps and fire hydrants. The ghosts have taken their game to the next level, and can be seen driving cars, flying helicopters, and hopping around on pogo sticks. The controls are limited to jump (either button) or run (double-tap on directional pad). The multi-layered neighborhood scenery is bright but not particularly interesting. Objects in the foreground (like trees) tend to obstruct your view, but the collision detection is forgiving. Keep an eye out for bonus fruit and power pills. After grabbing a pill you'll want to backtrack to bag some ghosts you passed. The stages are short and after you die you resume right where you left off. Certain stages feature pools with diving boards, and you really need to work the directional pad to clear the water. Pac-Land is a gay romp until you reach the treacherous floating platforms. Some of the logs you hop across are rolling logs, and sadly that's not readily apparent. This is where the controls break down. You tend to run when you want to walk, and walk when you want to run, sending our yellow hero plunging to his death. Pac-Land contains 25 stages and 5 starting points. The gameplay is uneven but overall this is not a bad fit for the Lynx © Copyright 2013 The Video Game Critic.

This killer two-in-one package offers some of the best shooting action the Lynx has to offer. Super Asteroids is an ideal hand-held adaptation with rapid-fire controls and oversized rocks. Heck, the smallest asteroids in this version dwarf the larger ones in others! At the start of each wave your ship is centered on the screen with a fully recharged shield. This shield automatically activates on contact, often bouncing you around in the process. It's different from other versions of Asteroids, but different in a good way. Super Missile Command is even more innovative. It puts those 3D Playstation versions to shame, and may rank as the best home version of all time! This aptly-named "super" edition takes the classic protect-the-cities gameplay and augments it with varying scenery and a surprisingly deep power-up system. There's only one fire button, but the closest of your three missile silo fires automatically, which works like a charm. After every four waves you're presented with a list of 13 power-ups for purchase, ranging from "fast missiles", to "double explosions", to "Armageddon", which literally wipes the screen clean! These add a nice strategic element, although the interface for buying and using these items is confusing. The explosion effects are spectacular, but the sound effects are minimal, and I miss the alarms between waves. In both games the action begins slowly, but once things heat up you're in for a treat. Spicing up classic gameplay with well-conceived new features, this cartridge will make you happy to own a Lynx. © Copyright 2010 The Video Game Critic.