California Games

California Games

released on Dec 31, 1989

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California Games

released on Dec 31, 1989

A port of California Games

Atari Lynx port of California Games.


Also in series

California Games
California Games
California Games
California Games
California Games II
California Games II
California Games
California Games

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OK port of California Games. Footbag is still fun-ish and likely the only one you'll score many points on unless you're a fan of the game/series.

The other modes feel like they do on other systems. It feels ok to control and certainly not the worst port of this game. Worth a look if you have the handheld (it's better than most other handheld versions), but it is quite limited (with just high score runs).

Playing Through My Evercade Collection Part 14: Atari Lynx Collection 2

BMX: 10/10 concussions. I did laugh as I launched my bike off a cliff, span around and landed head-first into the ground causing the bike to zoom off into the right-side of the screen. I laughed not at all as the bike repeatedly toddled up basic hills and slipped over small logs without rhyme or reason as to get by them. The eastern European judge clearly has a vendetta against me.

Surfing: After a debacle where I clearly misunderstood the assignment and ground myself into the beach repeatedly, ruining a small child's sandcastle project in the process, the judges were kind enough to let me try again. After another misunderstanding where the judges refused to give me points for riding the neverending wave tunnel, I began zooming up and down and spinning like a real surfer dude. I did briefly ponder how long this wave was and that brief moment of confusion was all it took for the waves to overtake me and pull me under. I awoke to find some scruffy dog licking my face. It felt like sandpaper.

Halfpipe: Well this was a failure on all accounts. I repeatedly fell over, failed to get speed, ruined my knees and knocked out one of the few judges who still actually liked me with a flying skateboard to the face. I'm doomed.

Footbag: Wait this counts as a sport? Hackeysack? I did awful at this but somehow scored well despite looking like somebody who had broken all of his limbs in the previous game. Feet went flying, I span around helplessly trying to spot the small bag and a seagull got concussed as it flew overhead. I won the event but lost when the animal welfare society arrived to charge me with seagull based crime. We all fled the scene sharpish.

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I don't know if this is just a bad port of if California Games is just this much of a hellscape because while fundamentally the game works, control wise its just a frustrating time with the game often barely providing enough of a window of time to clear even the basic of moves, regardless of what sport you happen to be playing.

The biking game and Skateboarding game has the worst of it with the controls often just giving up at a moments notice and the speed often feeling random. Hackeysack also has some control issues and feels so finicky with where you're standing and moving at any given time and the bonus points feel random and unfair. Surfing at least works but its also probably the most boring of the four events.

So yeah, when it works its kind of dull and when it doesn't work its frustrating. I had more fun writing this than playing the game.