A Collector of Collections
Retro collections are great for people to potentially play games that they may never have had a chance to otherwise.
That’s how I look at them, and I will openly admit this time around to never even having heard of Epyx before. But The Epyx Collection: Handheld is a collection of games from the studio, all having released on the Atari Lynx, designed in conjunction with Epyx. There is an interesting mix within for such a relatively small collection, but may be a compilation for only the die-hard fans of the portable device.
There are seven games in total: Blue Lightning, California Games, Chip’s Challenge, Electrocop, Gates of Zendocon, Todd’s Adventure in Slime World and Zarlor Mercenary. For games like California Games and Chip’s Challenge, it is the Atari Lynx version of them, which is unfortunately not the best version of these games.
But this handheld does mark the first time any of these games have arrived on Xbox, they don’t even appear in the Atari 50 collection, unlike so many other compilations that feature a lot of repeats.
A Resolute Issue
The Atari Lynx featured a screen that was 160×102 pixels, or 16320 pixels. By most modern TVs, that would barely scratch the surface. The Epyx Collection does have a couple of display options for you to play around with, but they all feel on the large side. The smallest one, Exact, has a black border around the screen. And, unlike other compilations with 4:3 ratios, you cannot apply a themed border around this.
Secondly there is Fill, which increases the size of the screen until the vertical is filled. Finally, Stretch does just that, filling the entire screen. When Exact looks like it is stretching the screen already, Stretch itself just looks ugly.
You can apply the usual filters on these such as CRT, LCD and Modern. LCD probably looks the coolest if you’re interested in seeing a little bit into the design of these games, but on a larger screen makes them even less kind to the eyes.
The Games Themselves
But let’s start with probably the biggest title in the collection: California Games. This version features four of the events found in some of the other releases, those being BMX, surfing, half-pipe and footbag. California Games on other releases is a great party game between friends. Here, it has clearly been dumbed down to fit on the Lynx. Fewer games, simpler gameplay and just the ability to play individual events rather than combine your score across events.
If you were looking at The Epyx Collection for California Games alone, sorry to say this compilation represents arguably the weakest port of the game itself.
My personal favourite turned out to be a new game to me: Chip’s Challenge. The games in this collection offer up some real variety and Chip’s Challenge was right up my alley. A puzzle game, you need to collect the chips in 140 different puzzle rooms. You can try each room as many times as you like, as the clock ticking down is your only enemy here. In amongst games that were punishing difficult or just very generic, Chip’s Challenge shines through.
There is a password feature to allow you to return to a room you have unlocked, but why not use the save feature that has been added instead? Each game has four save slots, whether it be for saving leaderboards or reaching critical points in the likes of Electrocop or Todd’s Adventure in Slime World, this save feature is very useful.
However, aside from California Games and Chip’s Challenge, the remaining games are very much what you’d expect from games of that era. Todd’s Adventure in Slime World is a 2D platformer with a neat little regeneration feature, but precious little else. Electrocop attempts a 3D perspective but doesn’t quite get there, Blue Lightning is a poor man’s Space Harrier, and Zarlor Mercenary is a generic top-down shooter, the likes of which you’ve played a million times before.
Best Of The Rest
I’ve purposefully left Gates of Zendocon until last. It’s pretty good, but it feels incredibly easy for what is a side-scroller shooter. These games are difficult as a default, but Gates of Zendocon looks like it is running at about three frames per second, and for that reason just feels a lot easier than other games of the genre. And it has some interesting enemy design – if they stay on screen long enough before you blast them away.
A Mixed Bag of Handheld History
It’s always a good thing to see classic games re-released in a compilation, making them more accessible. But we have to be honest sometimes and say these aren’t the best examples of classic games. Even with the likes of California Games on The Epyx Collection: Handheld, an example of a classic game, it is a very disappointing version of it. That said, two out of the seven games I would say I’ve enjoyed, despite not knowing they existed beforehand.
But that’s the beauty of these compilations, and The Epyx Collection: Handheld on Xbox is no different; you’ll probably find something new to enjoy regardless of the overall quality. And it is now also adding Save States and a few display options (none of which are very good to be fair), alongside a Rewind feature that seems par for the course with these older games.
And perhaps one or two more games wouldn’t have gone amiss either.
Your Links
It’s a Retro Revival with The Epyx Collection: Handheld on Xbox Series X|S, PC and Play Anywhere – https://www.thexboxhub.com/its-a-retro-revival-with-the-epyx-collection-handheld-on-xbox-series-xs-pc-and-play-anywhere/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/the-epyx-collection-handheld/9P3RJF4XTV72/0010
Edit:
Our review initially mentioned that there was no Rewind feature included in The Epyx Collection: Handheld, but that was inaccurate. You’ll find it sitting under the Left Trigger, available for all games in the collection. We apologise to the publishers and our readers for the initial inaccuracy and have amended our final paragraph to suit.
