Joust Reviewed by Adam Pratt on . Rating: 71%

Joust

You don a suit of armor, chose your weapon- a worn but sturdy lance. You climd onto a cyborg ostrich, grab the reins of your faithful mount and fly off to wage battle against the enemy.

In the distance you see an enemy vulture appear on a creator pad. You ready your lance and prepare to do battle. As you draw close to the enemy Bounder, you rise above him and prepare to defeat him with a quick swooping attack. You sweep down from the sky and dismount the enemy rider with a powerful blow. You have defeated the enemy...this time

Ahh, Joust. One of those games that brings back good memories. And it's on the Lynx as well, a very killer version I might add. This is one of several arcade games that are on the Lynx, and so far, it's one of the best I've played. I felt it was better than the arcade(due to the fact that the only arcade I've played Joust on was not taken care of). Although it doesn't have as much detail due to the smaller screen, it still looks and plays really well.

For newbies, the opening description should give you the gist of the game. Dismount all enemy riders and you win. After you dismount one(by landing on top of them with your bird), they turn into an egg which you can collect for extra points. If you take to long to collect an egg, it will hatch with a new rider, one who is smarter and faster than the one you previously put out of commission. Also if you are taking to long, a pterodactl will come after you, and he's very difficult to kill. The enemies get smarter and faster as the game goes along, in pure classic style ... Eventually(well, after three levels :) the bridge on the bottom burns up, and the Lava Troll can get you. All of these elements add on to each other to make the game increasingly difficult as well as fun to play. Every so often you get to an 'Egg Wave' where there are no riders on the screen, just eggs, sort of a bonus round. Other specialty rounds include Survivial(earn 3000 extra points if you never die during the wave) and the Ptreodactyl Wave (start off with a p-terry on the screen).

The Lynx version has everything the arcade has - great, colorful graphics, phenominal gameplay, easy control, etc. Although there are more animations on the Lynx version, and it sounds a little different, but it's certainly nothing to complain about. This game is also ComLynxable up to two players. Overall, a great game to have in your collection. -Adam