Subject: Under the Lynx Microscope #4 Newsgroups: rec.games.video.atari,alt.games.lynx Summary: Keywords: <<<< Under the Lynx Microscope >>>> Edition #4, Date 09/17/97 By: Carl Forhan (forhan@millcomm.com) //////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // // // FEATURED GAMES: Raiden // // // //////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ULM is a periodic feature that will be posted to alt.games.lynx and rec.games.video.atari. The purpose is to generate some interest and discussion around the Atari Lynx portable video game system, especially for game titles that have been "under-exposed" on the internet. Contact forhan@millcomm.com for information on contributing to ULM. ____________________________ / \ | Raiden | \____________________________/ Raiden is a cool overhead shooter that was produced and ready for publication by Atari at least four years ago. Unfortunately, with an ever-increasing focus on the Jaguar, the game was shelved. Late in 1996, however, Telegames stepped in to pick up support for both the Atari Jaguar and Lynx. The result: two new Lynx games in the first half of 1997, Fat Bobby and Raiden. Most people are familiar with this classic shooter, and it retains a lot of the same fun on the Lynx. Graphics are small but crisp, and there's enough animation and motion to keep the enemies lively as well as challenging. The screen does scroll a bit to the left and right, but it's a small playfield nonetheless, so you have to stay on your toes to dodge enemy fire and take out your foes. The game also supports a second player via comlynx. I like shooters, and especially Raiden. The premise is uncomplicated, and while the game is level based (implying an ending), the steep difficulty will likely ensure this game can be played for many hours before it is mastered. Strategy tips: 1) Use the fire button (the A button) to start the game and each level. Otherwise you may inadvertantly drop a bomb. 2) Destroy the first (large) hovercraft that appears on screen. He'll give you a

power-up, which raises your main weapon to maximum yield. Even if you sacrifice your ship before you get it, it's worth it. 3) Watch out for the helicopters and the big, green "stealth bomber" ships. They will both attack you from behind if not destroyed when they first appear in front of you. 4) Don't trap yourself in the edges of the playfield, or along the bottom edge of the screen. Leave a little space for emergency manuevers. 5) Save your bombs for "boss" enemies or clusters of smaller enemies. Additional bombs and power-ups can be obtained in each level. 6) Certain darker-colored "storage crates" on the ground actually house missile power-ups. Learn to identify which crates are worth going after. And all of the tan-colored hovercraft yield power-ups. 7) I prefer the red power-ups to blue. Blue gives you faster firepower and a thicker shot from your cannon, but red gives you a much wider spread which comes in handy when many enemies are onscreen at once. Combine this with homing missiles, and you'll be bristling with firepower. Differences from the Jaguar version: 1) The inclusion of helicopters. These guys are really nasty, and will gladly fly circles behind you and generally annoy you to no end. 2) The first hovercraft always gives you a

power-up (very helpful!). 3) Boats don't yield power-ups (some did in the Jaguar version). 4) You can shoot rapidly by simply holding down the fire button -- less wear and tear on the thumb! 6) Bombs don't last as long and the area of effect doesn't "move" with you. 7) No in-game music, and no options for variable numbers of credits. 8) You get to use the full screen in the Lynx version. ;-) ___ ___ |echie |rivia: Raiden, along with Fat Bobby, introduces a new style of Lynx cart -- a flat, black cart with a low profile EPROM hidden by the cart label and a hole in the handle for grasping. ------------------------------ ________________________ / / | Carl Forhan <>< | http://www.millcomm.com/~forhan/jaguar.html | forhan@millcomm.com | http://www.millcomm.com/~forhan/vindicator.html \_______________________\