If there’s one email that I love seeing arriving in my inbox, it’s a press release about a new collection bringing old games back into the limelight. I mean, that’s the kind of thing we live for here at Retro Dodo Towers, so I guess that’s no real surprise.
In homage to the Atari Lynx, ‘The Epyx Collection Handheld’ from Pixel Games UK and Imagine Software sees six amazing games for the iconic handheld heading back into gamer’s palms on April 25th. These games have never appeared on the Switch before, making this somewhat of an exciting exclusive for older gamers and a completely new experience for gamers who weren’t around in the 80s/90s.
Joining California Games (which is coincidentally one of our favourite games on the Master System too) are beloved Lynx titles Blue Lightning, ElectroCop, Gates of Zendocon, Todd’s Adventures in Slime World, and Zarlor Mercenary.
Fancy extreme sports on the West Coast and soaking up the rays on the beach? How about taking a cybernetic police officer through a dangerous city filled with ruthless criminals? There’s something for everyone in this collection, with thrill seekers enjoying the aerial combat of Blue Lightening and slime-fans getting the adventure of a lifetime in Slime World with everyone’s favourite explorer Todd.
If you’re a fan of titles like R-Type, then Gates of Zendacon and Zarlor Mercenary will feel incredibly familiar. They’re fast-paced and explosive from start to finish, with more shots fired than it would be possible to count!
Keeping The Atari Lynx Alive On Switch
Of course, this isn’t just a port-for-port collection; there are some epic new features for the Switch collection such as suspend points and live rewind to retry difficult sections. You can even turn on a CRT-style filter for the ultimate 80s vibe.
The thing I love the most about this collection is Pixel Games UK’s insistence on preserving elements of these titles for new generations. The user interface includes 3D rendered versions of the original cartridges and they all come with a remastered instruction manual. Considering the fact that Nintendo did away with actual instruction booklets a while ago, having records of these manuals goes a long way to keeping a snippet of Retro Gaming past from falling into the ether.
The collection is set to drop on the Nintendo eShop this month on April 25th, and I haven’t even told you the best bit yet – the price. This epic (or should I say epyx) collection will only cost £11.99 ($11.99 and €13.99 if you’re in the US or Europe). If you’re a UK gamer, that’s £2 per game (you can decide which one is going to cost £1.99)
And, if you’re into collecting multiple collections (of course you are, you’re a Retro Gamer, after all), you can always check out the other Pixel Games UK collections, featuring ‘Chip’s Challenge’, ‘The Monty Mole Collection’ and ‘Hidden — a collection of classic games from the Commodore 64.
