Game Gear and Atari Lynx performance comparison

Not an episode of anything - just a quick 10 minute edit I tossed together. A quick demonstration of 60fps vs 15 or 20fps. In the side by side format it's much easier to appreciate the benefits. This video is a visual aide for a discussion I was having not an actual comparison of Lynx and Game Gear capabilities.

[darkx]

Since my other comment went missing due to the thread being deleted, here's another post for those confused about frame-rates in classic games.

Analog TV is somewhat confusing so I can understand how some folks might misunderstand how these games function. The 240p "double strike mode" works differently from how conventional broadcasts update the image of a CRT. When displaying 480i, the TV will update odd lines followed by even lines a total of 60 times per second - which means each set of lines are only updated 30 times a second. It's still possible to show motion fluidity of 60 frames per second (as consoles like Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox and Gamecube all output 480i to an SDTV and can clearly display 60fps) but some of the image data is missing as a result of the interlacing, you could say.

Classic game consoles do not use this mode at all. The NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, TG16 and Atari Jaguar (to name a few) all use this 240p mode. This is a progressive scan trick usable on older SDTVs where only the odd lines are updated while even lines appear black as there is a small signal adjustment which takes place effectively updating only one set of lines. So rather than drawing odd line then even line then odd line - 240p will draw just odd lines but do so 60 times per second. As a result, you're seeing the full frame with each frame. It's a progressive image with no flicker and a proper 60 frames per second is possible.

This is the standard on which these systems are built. The default frame-rate for most games from this era is 60 frames per second.

Here's a video demonstrating it. For Contra 3, the left side is native 60fps Super NES capture while the left side is intentionally missing half its frames to demonstrate what 30fps would look like. I also use Pitfall The Mayan Adventure - which is 60 frames per second on Super NES but only 30 frames per second on Jaguar (it's a lousy port - the Jag can do much better, obviously). This video is captured entirely from original hardware - not emulation.


Now the Lynx works very differently since it's a blitter rather than tile/sprite focused hardware design. It isn't really able to deliver 60 frames per second in 2D tilemap style games but it has other crazy advantages that allow for unique visuals unlike anything else at the time. The developers of the hardware likely felt that its ability to manipulate objects in such a unique fashion was worth the trade-off since it could deliver pseudo-3D experiences that were barely even possible on console hardware let alone handhelds. It's a technical marvel. I apologize if this particular video confused some into believing I was suggesting the Lynx isn't impressive - it was only meant to serve as proof that 60fps appears smoother than 15 and 20 to the eye. I mean, it's not like the Game Gear could ever handle something like Stun Runner, right?

In the future, I plan to cover both the Lynx and Game Gear using original hardware fitted with the video out mods. That would appear on our main channel as a DF Retro episode, however, I'd imagine.

[themriron]

This certainly surprised me - I didn't expect the Lynx to be so outclassed here. With that being said, the Lynx deserves some serious credit, being able to do better Mode 7-esque scaling than the SNES of the same year.

[saturndual]

Very interesting. Would be cool to se a similar video, but with games that were on both systems: Lemmings, Desert Strike, Off Road, Skweek, Klax, etc.

[Ohlukei]

If you think the Lynx can not do better just try Roadblasters and Shadow of the Beast.=P

[TheSonicx]

Maybe a DF Retro video on both the Game Gear and Atari Lynx?

[alaggan]

The Game Gear was probably better optimised for 2D performance, but it couldn't touch the Lynx's 3D blitter capabilities.

[SockyNoob]

Please for the love of god do a video on the Lynx. It's such a powerhouse with a bright homebrew community.

[DehnusNorder]

They were very different machines with different strengths. The Lynx could do some awesome effects that simply wasn't possible on a GameGear, sound wise it also was a better machine. I am a SEGA fanboy, but to say the Lynx is running at 15fps is just silly :P. It was a typical Atari Machine vs a Typical SEGA Machine :P.

[topperHarley]

Ah the Lynx...you should definitely do a DF retro about that piece of hardware. Still have my lynx 1. Such great memories.

[stevemelo]

What game is the music from? I know I've heard before back in my youth days but I can't for the life of me remember now and it's driving me crazy.

[PvtHudson]

How did you record this? AFAIK, neither system has video out.

[bangerbangerbro]

The lynx has a blitter-based "sprite" system instead of one with actual sprites which means that framerste will usually always be inferior, though it does have some graphical advantages.

Edit: I have since learned that the lynx does have hardware scrolling so games should be able to be faster than this at the cost of some memory. A lot of developers probably wanted to avoid this and didn't want to spend time developing a good system to take advantage of smooth scrolling with a little RAM and so probably just drew the whole scene again for every frame.

[ExtremeWreck]

The framerate of most Lynx games just have an interesting *feel* to them, like it's some kind of slow-motion... thing, I don't know the exact terminology for this kind of slow-motion framerate technicality to it, just the idea that there are less frames per second & a lot of Lynx games are sort of meant for the framerate in mind.

[greninja]

do a df retro on painkiller for xbox and pc c:

[TheAgradeneu]

Lynx games are mostly working at 30 FPS. Suzy (Lynx gfx chip) is updating sprite data/SCBs, player Input and collisions every frame while animation speed is something between 15 - 20 FPS. The slow Lynx Screen "motion" blurs low frame rates, so 20 FPS was something like the sweet spot for many Lynx games.60 FPS was really not a selling point for these old games, SNES classics like Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario World are rendering either 25FPS/50Hz (PAL) or 30FPS/60Hz (NTSC). Emulators are working with 60 FPS render output to work with modern LCD Panels. They emulate framerates from 15 - 60FPS. Don't confuse emulators with real hardware. If you cut Emulators to half speed, you will see 10 - 15 FPS with most SNES games, as youtube videos illustrate.Slapping the "60FPS Marketing push" on 25 years old games might be the most grotesque agenda ideololgists are willing to promote, because its basically a part of This should be challenged, as this is an attempt to manipulate technically and historically misinformed consumers.

[zombiedeutsch]

i like prehistorik man on snes, maybe check it out please ?

[bangerbangerbro]

Lol I watched a video of GG Shinobi which I had never played before and wondered where I had heard one of the tunes before. Then I watch this again and it clicks.

[DTM-Books]

Yeah, the Lynx was terrible at 2D platformers. Only Toki, Rygar and Ninja Gaiden were any good. It certainly didn’t help that software developers were small and given few, if any, resources. You rarely see the kind of polish found commonly on Gameboy and Game Gear. As always, the original Epyx titles and arcade translations are the best for Lynx, and after that things get very rocky.

[MitchellAzevedo-ex]

This is an example of intentional disinformation, comparing Fat Bobby, one of the slowest Atari Lynx games to Donald no Magical World one of the fastest GG games . Atari Lynx was capable running at 74 frames per second and the games that do like Roadblasters and S.T.U.N. Runner show it out perform the Game Gear.

[Blasublasphemy]

Too bad Treasure didn't make any games for the Lynx...