"ONce thought to be vaporware...it's available online...but is it worth the cost?"

What was once thought to be Lynx Vaporware, is now an actual game that you can pick up for your Lynx through online ordering at Songbird Productions. The original concept to the game is rather different that the released version, but the end result that you have here still doesn’t seem to justify the thirty-dollar price tag that comes along with the game. Featuring very little in terms of sound and overall game play, this is a pretty basic game that doesn’t have the visual flare or the multiplayer option through the ComLynx that it was originally supposed to have!

The basis of the game is literally a virtual ping pong game that seems to mimic the old Pong game that was released nearly thirty years ago. Featuring a couple of color field options and the ability to play on one of two different colored playing field with one or two balls being thrown between two paddle, there is hardly a game worth mentioning here. The fact that the game is two-player should say a lot about the game itself, but you’ll quickly find that without the link up ability, you and a friend will have to play it off of the single Lynx unit, which can be a little hard to do. Aside from this, the game seems to move fast enough to keep a rather interesting and addicting game feature, but it’s strictly a game for die-hard Lynx owners who have nothing else to buy!

The visuals and the sound that you find here are extremely simple. With no real music tracks accompanying the game, you’ll have the bleeping of the ball as they strike the paddles going back and forth. In addition to this, you really have no sound effects that you can find with the game, and in the end, there are some lacking qualities here that make you wonder why thirty bucks is what you’re spending on a game that features little or nothing. As basic as it comes, again, you’re looking at a game that was taken from Atari into Songbird Productions and produced to add more games to a long dead system! If you can find it in your heart to buy this game, and actually have fun with it, then you are a better gamer than I, because I honestly can’t see the lasting appeal to game that features so little.

What you’ll get with the game is also extremely simple. It comes packed in a small CD jewel case, and although the art on the front of the small cart is interesting, adding some slight variety to your overall collection, you may find that the simple black and white instructions as well as the poorly done cover art to be a little less that what you’re expecting! To give credit to the producers of the game, it’s hard to try and create a game and market it to a relatively advanced group of gamers who really have no time for games such as this anymore with the release of other hand held systems like Game Boy Advance! For die-hard gamers alone, that limited number of people may find this to be worthy of the thirty-dollar price tag, but for me, I feel it to be a waste of my hard-earned money, for something so limited like Ponx.

If you’re looking for games that were thought to be Vaporware, such as Ponx, then you may want to go and take a look at the Songbird Productions WebPages and see if there is something there that you’re looking for. For Lynx owners who just want to get all that they can out of their obsolete hand held system, Ponx may just be another game to add to the pile, but at the thirty dollar price range and the limited features, you’d have to be a dedicated Atari gamer to find reason to purchase this title!

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/02, Updated 01/19/02