The projects
Three games that never existed on the Lynx, and five Lynx games with a new engine under the original. Every page has pictures, a video, and – where there is one – the download.
International KarateAtari 8-bit (System 3, 1986) → Atari Lynx
The complete game with all seven backgrounds, now alive with water, clouds and passers-by. Two players over ComLynx, 60 Hz modes with new in-between poses, soft edges, left-handed play, saved high scores.
Dungeon MasterAtari ST (FTL, 1987) → Atari Lynx
The dungeon on a handheld: champions, spells, monsters, the intro and the sound, with smooth 3D movement between the steps, a mouse mode and saved games in the cartridge. The Pre-Alpha opens the first level and the start of the second, with a five-minute how-to-play video.
Kick Off 2Atari ST (Anco, 1990) → Atari Lynx
The fastest football game of its time, rewritten routine by routine in 65C02 assembler: the original logic bit for bit, the original samples, 25 frames per second. Optional Sensible-style ball control.
Viking Child LXAtari Lynx (Imagitec / Atari, 1991)
One of the most beautiful Lynx games, but the Viking walks one pixel per step. LX lets him walk and jump twice as fast – same jumps, same levels, same enemies. Switch back to CLASSIC any time.
Steel Talons LXAtari Lynx (Atari / Tengen, 1991)
The 3D helicopter game drawn eight different ways, from 3.6 up to 26 frames per second – same game logic bit for bit, original speed. Watch all nine builds side by side and vote for the one that looks best.
Super Off-Road LXAtari Lynx (Tradewest / Telegames, 1993)
Four times the frame rate: 4 → 16 frames per second, trucks turning in 128 directions and tilting smoothly, seven earth tones, 75 Hz screen – same races, bit for bit. Three modes: CLASSIC (the original), LX and LX PLUS (new driving, steering visible within 0.06 s).
Zarlor Mercenary LXAtari Lynx (Epyx, 1990)
The shooter at up to 20 instead of 15 frames per second, with every object at its exact position in between – and a steady 15 without jitter when it gets busy. Same game, same speed.
Hard Drivin' LXAtari Lynx (Atari Games / NuFX, 1993)
The racer with almost twice the frames per second: pictures no longer tied to the game step, camera and cars predicted, distant objects reused – same game logic, same pace, and the original one menu entry away.
Two kinds of projects
All of them share one rule: the game logic is the original, bit for bit, checked step by step against the original in an emulator. What differs is where the game comes from.
Port Games that never existed on the Lynx
International Karate, Dungeon Master and Kick Off 2 were written for other Ataris. The ports re-create their engines for the Lynx – in C and 6502 assembler – and take the graphics, levels, music and sound from the original disks.
- Your own copy. The ROM Builder turns your disk image into a Lynx cartridge image on your PC. The tool itself contains no game data.
- Fitted to the handheld. Scaled to the small screen, controlled with the d-pad, with extras the Lynx makes possible: ComLynx two-player, in-between frames, saved games.
LX Plus Lynx games with a new engine underneath
Viking Child, Steel Talons, Super Off-Road, Zarlor Mercenary and Hard Drivin' are Lynx games held back by their engine: the Viking walks one pixel per step, the shooter draws 15 pictures per second, the helicopter, the trucks and the racer only three to six. LX and Plus keep their code and data and change only what holds them back – the Viking moves twice as fast, the others draw many more pictures with every object at its exact position in between, at the original pace.
- Same game. RAM and pictures are compared with the original after every game step – same missions, same enemies, same timing as the cartridge you own. Viking Child LX and Super Off-Road LX keep the original as CLASSIC in the pause menu; extras like the new driving model of Super Off-Road are optional.
- No download yet for Steel Talons, Super Off-Road, Zarlor Mercenary and Hard Drivin': they are modified cartridge images, so a release needs a builder that works on your own copy, like Viking Child LX and the ports have.
How a ROM Builder works
Where there is a download, it is a small program for Windows (and a command-line version for Linux). Nothing from the original games is inside.
Start the tool
Run the program, or drag your disk or cartridge image onto it. Nothing to install.
Select your image
The builder checks every byte it uses and tells you which release it found. The build takes seconds to a minute.
Play on the Lynx
The .lnx file is saved next to your image. Play it in an emulator such as Felix or Handy, or on a real Lynx with a flash cartridge.
Made by a human and an AI
The author
Had the ideas and decided what each project should become, step by step. Played every build, went through every new frame and said what was wrong, what to try and what to leave out. Set the rule that the original logic stays bit for bit.
Claude, the AI
Analysed the original programs and wrote all the code: the Lynx games in C and 6502 assembler, the converters and ROM Builders, the tests, the videos and these pages. Proposed the technical solutions and made every change the author asked for.
Using AI is no secret here. The AI did most of the work, and fast – but the ideas, the taste and the patience to look at every frame once more came from a human, and the heart of every game is still the work of its original creators. Each project page tells in detail who did what.