Atari Lynx
Atari Lynx Specifications
The Atari Lynx is a handheld console released by Atari in September 1989. It is widely recognised as the first handheld game console with a colour LCD screen.
The Lynx had several innovative features for its time, including the colour screen, a backlit display, a switchable left- or right-handed layout and the ability to network with up to 17 other units.
The Lynx started well, but sales slowed as more competition arrived. Combined lifetime sales of the Lynx and Sega’s Game Gear were about 7 million units, while the Game Boy had sold 16 million by the same time.
Critics praised the handheld at the time, with one claiming that it “throws the Game Boy into the prehistoric age”, citing its built-in sprite scaling and strong multiplayer support as big advantages over the Game Boy.
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Atari Lynx Emulators
Mednafen is an open source multi-system emulator, controlled from the command line, known for accurate Sega Saturn and PlayStation emulation.
Felix is an open source Atari Lynx emulator for Windows by laoo, with a strong focus on debugging tools, Lua scripting and accurate timing.
Handy is the classic Atari Lynx emulator. It is no longer developed, but it emulates most of the Lynx well, includes debugging tools and needs the Lynx BIOS.
Holani is an open source, cycle-stepped Atari Lynx emulator written in Rust, with a GTK4 desktop frontend and a libretro core.
