ccc--- Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 At least here in Europe we have two styles of Lynx game manuals: Some games come with a small b/w booklet in five languages, some come with a big full color poster of the cover with the instructions in English on the back-side of the poster. Can anyone tell me more? Which of the two variations was first? Or did this vary depending on where you bought the games? It seems that the same game can have either the booklet or the poster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 Yes, those two styles of Lynx manuals are present here in the US as well. There doesn't seem to be many of the full-color, poster-style manuals. There is actually a third-style of manual also, the ones that came with the original Lynx releases. These were English-only, and I believe the ones that came in the taller Lynx boxes are larger than the smaller booklet style that came later. So the first style is the English-only booklets that came with the original games. Then Atari switched to the color posters, and finally the smaller black & white manuals, many (most?) of which are multi-lingual. I can look through my collection later today to put together a list of all the manuals I have and which style they are. Ultimately these are going to be scanned in for AtariAge, although I'm not looking forward to doing the poster manuals. Have you personallly seen Lynx games for which the poster manual and multi-lingual manual exists? ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc--- Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 Interesting facts, Al, thanks! I will just go through my collection and make a list which manuals they have. I have about 10 games twice here (anyone interested in the spare ones? ), so I can check if they maybe have different manuals. I will post the list here in an hour or so ... Regards, Dieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc--- Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 Ok, here are the results of my collection. I have some more games, but those are in the original Atari CD boxes and have only re-written German instructions. I have not listed those here. Where the manual type is listed as "?", I either do not have the manual or the box is still shrinkwrapped and I didn't want to open it ... The year is the highest year I could find on the backsides of the boxes. PA2024, Gauntlet, 1990, English PA2028, Chip's Challenge, 1989, English PA2029, Slime World, 1990, English PA2030, Zarlor Mercenary, 1990, ? PA2030, Zarlor Mercenary, 1990, English PA2031, Klax, 1990, English PA2034, Basketbrawl, 1992, Multi PA2034, Basketbrawl, 1992, Multi PA2035, Robosquash, 1990, ? PA2036, Roadblasters, 1990, Multi PA2038, Tournament Cyberball, 1991, Poster PA2042, A.P.B., 1991, Poster PA2044, Hard Drivin, 1991, Poster PA2047, Turbo Sub, 1991, Poster PA2049, Awesome Golf, 1991, Poster PA2052, Hockey, 1992, Multi PA2052, Hockey, 1992, Multi PA2055, Pinball Jam, 1992, Multi PA2055, Pinball Jam, 1992, Multi PA2056, Block Out, 1991, Poster PA2057, Ms. Pac-Man, 1990, English PA2060, STUN Runner, 1991, Poster PA2062, Xybots, 1991, ? PA2062, Xybots, 1991, Poster PA2063, Shanghai, 1990, English PA2064, Viking Child, 1991, Poster PA2065, Ishido, 1991, Poster PA2068, Bill & Ted, 1991, ? PA2070, Pitfighter, 1991, Multi PA2073, Hydra, 1992, ? PA2073, Hydra, 1992, Multi PA2076, Kung Food, 1992, Multi PA2076, Kung Food, 1992, Multi PA2077, Dirty Larry, 1992, Multi PA2080, Lemmings, ????, Multi PA2081, Shadow Of The Beast, 1992, Multi PA2081, Shadow Of The Beast, 1992, Multi PA2085, Jimmy Connors, 1993, Multi PA2086, Malibu Beach Volleyball, 1993, Multi PA2087, Dracula, 1992, Multi PA2088, Battlezone 2000, 1994, Multi (3 languages) PA2089, Dinolympics, 1992, Multi PA2092, Ninja Gaiden III, 1993, Multi PA2093, Asteroids & Missile C., 1995, English PA2094, Switchblade II, 1992, Multi PA2100, Super Skweek, 1991, Poster PA2101, Batman Returns, 1992, ? PA2102, Rampart, 1992, Multi PA2104, Steel Talons, 1992, Multi PA2105, Crystal Mines II, 1991, English + French PA2109, Power Factor, 1992, Multi What a mess!!! There seems to be no system behind it ... Well, all the 1989 (only one) and 1990 releases are with English booklet only. Most of the 1991 releases have a poster, and only very few of the 1991 releases have multilanguage booklets (probably the late 1991 ones). Crystal Mines II has a booklet with English + French text. Alle of the 1992, 1993 and 1994 releases have multilangual booklets. The 1995 release "Super Asteroids & Missile Command" has an English booklet. I have 8 games twice here, and every of those 8 pairs have the same year and type of manual. So I still wonder if there are games out there which were released for example in 1990 with English booklet and later in a second run maybe 1991 with a poster!? Can anyone check this maybe? The "history" of the Lynx manuals seems to be as follows: Early games from 1989 and 1990 had English booklets, in the 1991 games Atari switched to the Enligsh posters, probably in late 1991 they switched to multilingual booklets which lasted until the 1994 releases. With the very late 1995 release "Super Asteroids & Missile Command" they switched back to the English-only booklet (cheaper?). What this list also shows, is that the Lynx games probably weren't released with ascending catalog number. So for example PA2024 and PA2057 are from 1990 whereas PA2038 is from 1991 and PA2034 is from 1992. Can anyone proof this? --- Or do I just have a 1992 re-release of PA2034? Was this game released in 1990 too??? Phew, this is driving me mad ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 To add to your list: PA2035, Robosquash, 1990, English PA2043, Rygar, 1990, English PA2066, Toki, 1992, Multi (5 languages) PA2068, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, 1991, Poster But, I have nothing that contradicts any of your findings. My guess is that Atari never made "mixed manual" games. (Of course, they made different cartridge styles for the same games, so who knows?) Intrestingly, although it's not actually Atari-made, Joust features a manual very similar to the original english manuals, except that "LYNX" is not highlighted in red, and the X's on the side are replaced by a solid grey bar (Manual is english only). Joust was copyright 1992 though, which puts it WELL outside the range of english-only manuals.... --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 I just went through my Lynx manuals (time to scan them, baby!) and found some additions: PA2036, RoadBlasters, 1990, English PA2022, Rampage, 1990, English LX106, European Soccer Challange, English + French (Telegames) PA2053, Checkered Flag, 1991, Poster PA2026, Xenophobe, 1990, English PA2101, Batman Returns, 1992, Multi PA2032, Warbirds, 1991, English (and full color inside!!) PT5003, Robotron: 2084, 1991, English (Shadowsoft) PA2048, Scrapyard Dog, 1991, Poster PA2041, Paperboy, 1990, English PA2061, Lynx Casino, 1992, Multi L071, Desert Strike, 1993 English (Telegames) I may have more lying about, but it would take more work for me to track them down. I need to put all these together in one list and see how many we're missing information on. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccc--- Posted July 5, 2002 Author Share Posted July 5, 2002 Albert, your additions seem to proove the theory: 1990 english booklets, 1991 posters, late 1991 - 1994 multilanguage, and the very last game(s) again english booklets. It seems they really did no "mixed" games = games that exist in 2 or more manual variations. Well, and it also prooves that the catalog numbers have nothing to do with the date of release ... I have some Telegames and Williams games too, but I didn't list them because they are usually a bit different from the Atari style of manuals. I have Joust with the same manual that you described. So I think we brought a little light in this ... :wink: If I can help out with some scans you don't have, just let me know ... tho it might take a bit time on my side ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedenLynxer Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 The manual I like best must be the War Bird manual, the only one in colour! Very nice! The worst "manuals" must be the ones for Checkred Flag (Just a bit of paper) Super of Road was the same I think And some words about the the manuals for the Songbird games: This is the only thing that has´nt improved in their games over time I think. SFX, Ponx and Lexis had all better "manuals" then the later games: Remnant, Championship Rally and CyberVirus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 The worst "manuals" must be the ones for Checkred Flag (Just a bit of paper) Super of Road was the same I think I'm pretty sure all the later Telegames games (like Hyperdrome and such) came with very basic manuals... I didn't realize Checkered Flag had come like that too (I don't have it yet) --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 I found another pile of Lynx manuals, so we can add these to the list: PA2106, Gordo 106, 1993, Multi PA2037, World Class Fussball / Soccer, 1992, Multi I'm busy scanning all these manuals in now (I have 45, of which 10 or so are posters). This doesn't include all the newer releases for which the manuals are already online. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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