Atari Lynx #3: Todd's Adventures in Slime World

Developer: Epyx

Publisher: Atari

Release Date: October 1990

Unique Feature: A monster slime beard

A rare case where the main character looks dorkier on the cover than in the game

 

To my knowledge there is only one Lynx game that allows you to acquire a ZZ-Top styled slime beard. That game is Todd’s Adventures in Slime World. It’s a game that positively revels in its own weirdness. It was a smart way to go, because if you are buying a game with such an odd name you want something weird. Slime World is one of the most unique and interesting games I have played from the early handheld era, and even though there is also a Genesis version it feels the ultimate Lynx game. It’s strange, funny, big, and not quite like anything else. It also has one of the most honest titles in gaming. It has multiple adventures and there is a ridiculous amount of slime. Even Guillermo Del Toro would find this level of slime excessive.

Todd’s Adventures in Slime World is an interesting action/adventure hybrid that is mainly focused on exploration. There are six different adventures to chose from, but the main goal of all of them is to find the exit and get away from all that slime. Even more impressive is that each adventure has a different map. The developers really crammed a lot of game into their tiny cart. Also each adventure is different enough to not become monotonous. There are a couple that are very mazelike, one that is more action based, a version with no weapons, and even an arcade adventure where one death ends the game. In all the other adventures there are ample checkpoints and passwords, so it manages to be a great handheld game while still being big. That wasn’t always an easy task back in the day. It also manages to progress in a way that kept me from having to backtrack that much. I wish every handheld game from the early 90s played so well.

 

The game is also the right kind of difficult. I’ve already talked about the slime, and there is truly slime everywhere. If Todd gets too much of it oh him he will explode as one covered in slime does. The cure is to find a pool of water and get clean. Slime comes from enemies, pools in the ground, drips from the ceiling, and of course who knows where. There are plenty of powerups, but if you die in most modes you will lose them which encourages you not to save them up for too long. It might annoy some, but it never got me into any unwinable situations thanks to the good design. If you really needed a certain item in a certain place there was always more than one around. Sometimes it felt a little unfair, like getting eaten by the evil plants that can’t be seen until it’s too late, but none of the unfairness hurt the experience. It’s supposed to be a creepy death planet so I expected some cheap deaths.

 

Todd’s Adventures is Slime World is easily the best handheld game I have played for this blog so far. I am putting it all the way up at #15 between Drakkhen and Arc the Lad. I am happy to know that it will stay in the top 20 at least for the next five entries. Of course this is only Lynx game number three so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an even better game for it out there. I think there are 76 Lynx games, so if the number of good games reaches 38 than it will be a majority good system. I really think it has a chance, and I hope I’m not the only one who is excited about finding out.  

 

Lynx quality percentage: 2/3 or 66%

 

1. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

2. Super Mario Odyssey

3. The Legend of Zelda

4. Galaga

5. Donkey Kong

6. Exodus: Ultima III

7. Pac-Mania

8. Wrecking Crew

9. Super Pac-Man

10. Pac-Man

11. Viva Pinata

12. Dragon View

13. Excitebike

14. Drakkhen

15. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World

16. Arc the Lad

17. Clu Clu Land

18. Tails’ Adventures

19. Scrapyard Dog (Lynx)

20. Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX

21. Mickey’s Racing Adventure

22. Metro-Cross

23. Double Dragon

24. Panic Restaurant

25. Felix the Cat

26. Ice Climber

27. Gaplus

28. Dragon Spirit

29. Pinball (NES)

30. Ninja Golf

31. Super Soccer

32. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour (GBC)

33. Red Sea Crossing

34. Baraduke

35. Demon’s Crest

36. Evoland

37. Tennis

38. Renegade

39. Hogan’s Alley

40. Gamma-Attack

41. The Legend of “Valkyrie”

42. Galaxian

43. Dragon Crystal

44. Cosmic Commuter

45. Hot Pixel

46. PocketBike Racer

47. Wild Gunman

48. Defunct

49. Gyruss (2600)

50. Looney Tunes Racing

51. Squidlit

52. Gordo 106

53. Baseball

54. Birthday Mania

55. Bad Street Brawler

56. Burly Men at Sea

57. WeakWood Throne

58. X-Men (HyperScan)

59. My Name is Mayo

60. Marvel Heroes

61. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

62. Ben 10

(Images courtesy of mobygames.com)