Microvaders, a new shmup on Atari Lynx

[PFG 9000]

Recently a new shmup was released on cartridge for the Atari Lynx.  It's called Microvaders, and it's a greatly expanded version of a mini-game that was hidden in an early Lynx homebrew named Lexis.  Microvaders is a fixed shmup in the spirit of Space Invaders and Galaga, but is enhanced over its original Easter egg incarnation with power-ups, bosses, story cutscenes, and achievements.  I honestly believe it's the best shmup on the Lynx, although to be fair there aren't a ton of other games to compete for that title. It's very nicely polished, with tight controls, some refreshing surprises in the gameplay department, and impressive graphics and animation for a Lynx title.

Songbird Productions, the most prolific developer in the Lynx and Jaguar homebrew scene, made Microvaders.  I'm not affiliated with them, but I was lucky enough to playtest Microvaders along with two other fans.  So I've spent quite a bit of time on it and even 1CC'd it, although that took a few months of play to achieve.  I'm not particularly good at shmups, and my list of 1CCs is negligible compared to the average member here.  So I'm curious to see how other shmup fans do with it.  I realize I'm promoting a very niche market here, but niche is what we do at shmups!

Microvaders isn't available on ROM (sorry!), so your only option to play it is to buy a copy from Songbird here: https://songbird-productions.com/product/microvaders/

There's been ongoing discussion over at AtariAge during Microvaders's development and release: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/32888 ... tari-lynx/

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I see that you can d/l the Atari Lynx Microvaders Beta on the Songbird Productions site -- playable on the Lynx if you have the Lynx GameDrive flash cart setup.

I recall that Carl Forhan had a Songbird Productions booth setup at the 2003 CGE hosted at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA, back in August of 2003. He was selling the Lynx Raiden stg boxed & brand new for $39.99 -- I bought one at the show. Very cool Lynx stg with tate indeed.

The other awesome Lynx stg woth owning/playing is Zaku -- a yoko based stg that runs at an impressive 60fps framerate (reminds me of the classic TurboGrafx-16 stg of Air Zonk).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[PFG 9000]

Yes, Carl Forhan is Songbird. He still does conventions. I've bought a ton of his work over the years.

As a huge fan of Raiden, I don't care much for the Lynx port. It is fine as a cool fan project, but it pales in comparison to arcade Raiden or the PS1, PCE, or even Jaguar ports. I also have Zaku, and it has impressive production value. But all the enemies have way too much HP, and that ruins the experience for me.

[SavagePencil]

Odynexus is another charming shmup for the Lynx, this time hori: https://atariage.com/store/index.php?l= ... ail&p=1317

Raiden is ambitious, Zendocon is sprawlingly creative, but I think Zarlor Mercenary and Zaku are the Lynx’s best shmups.

[PFG 9000]

If anybody is interested, there is now a special Caravan Edition of Microvaders available digitally. Physical copies will go on sale in August. I think the fact that the original Microvaders was only available on cartridge made it difficult for the wider shmup audience to try it out.

There is also a high score competition for the Caravan Edition taking place through the end of July. Details are at the https://songbird-productions.com/produc ... s-caravan/ website.