Homebrew Preview: Zaku [Atari Lynx]

Does anybody remember Atari’s little handheld console? Probly not too many, but the Atari community sure has not for games continue to get made for it and the Atari Jaguar. What we have here is one of the most promising games in development for the long dead cat. Penguinet presents Zaku, which is actually a tribute to a great Turbo Grafx 16 game called Air Zonk. The game is beyond explanation.. the graphics are breathtaking considering the limitations of the Atari Lynx’s GPU, working with single 16 color palettes at a time can be a daunting task on such a small screen but Penguinet seems to have things well under control.

From the demo I played the Parallax Scrolling is smooth, the sprites are fast with next to no slow down with a lot going onscreen. However the Demo does not have sound yet so it’s not yet clear if the sound will match the visuals. The art style is slick, though the first level is VERY similar to the first level of Air Zonk but this is a tribute game as the Author has told me himself (helped me out quite a bit with my own Atari Lynx programming, a very nice guy). I can only imagine how the rest of the game will look.

Super Fighter Team, the publishers of 2005’s Genesis RPG Beggar Prince have picked this title up and plan on a 2008 release. So it might be due time to dust off your Lynx and enjoy what might be the biggest Homebrew release of this coming year.

For more information and a Demo playable on an actual Lynx (via BLL or Flash Cart) or in an Emulator such as Handy goto Penguinet’s Website. You won’t be disappointed with how this game is shaping up.