Ah, the Atari Lynx. Atari’s only entry in the handheld video game market, and one of the grossly overlooked gems in video game history. While there have been previously known prototypes of “Alien vs Predator” discovered in recent years that showed some minor differences between them, a new one was recently discovered that had offered a variety of features that the other prototypes did not have incorporated. While the game was ultimately never released, we have some details on this discovery that could very well be of interest to not just “Alien vs Predator” fans, but fans of the Lynx as well. (And with the recent news of a brand new entry in the “Alien” series, complete with Sigourney Weaver being signed up for the project, what a great time to bring something like this up!)

It has been reported that the reason for the games cancellation was so that Atari could focus more on the Atari Jaguar version of the game. By the time “Alien vs Predator” was nearing completion for the handheld system, the Lynx was already at the end of his lifespan, while the Atari Jaguar was still a somewhat new console, only being available for a few months at this point. This newly found discovery offered nearly 8 months of advancements based on the earliest Lynx prototype known. While the oldest known prototype dates July 13, 1994, this revision dates March 7, 1995.

Some of the features of this newly found prototype include slightly more animation when it comes to the enemies, as well as shaded ceilings and floors. in enemies and shaded floors and ceilings. Add to that more detail in the levels and story frames found in the game. AtariAge forum member “Willard” also had this to say, in regards to the discovery that the “Alien Mode”, previously thought unavailable in some prototypes, was actually in all of the previously discovered demos all along:

“They probably took the alien mode out for good reason (because the game has you moving down narrow corridors so there’s no way to implement any strategy into an alien mode) but cool for people who were thinking that maybe this material would never come about.”

However, just because new discovery is technically the latest revision, it doesn’t mean that it was the most complete of the known prototypes. As you can see from the chart above (click for larger view), some features were added and omitted as time went on. Willard explains:

“They all are different, and some people may prefer some elements over others. Check out that grid. I’d go with the earliest one. It has no ammo / energy pickups, completing mission objectives is not mandatory, and the level architecture is missing a little refinement. But both enemy types are present, the floor and the ceiling are shaded, enemies attack (they still don’t hurt you, hit detection on the player is not present in any version), and you can play through as the predator. The game gets a speed boost without the shaded ceiling and floors. But, I prefer the looks of the shading, and the extra speed isn’t that much or that necessary… I have to wonder what other elements are in the newest versions (the currently available B&C version and our 03.07.1995 version) that are remnants from earlier revisions that were just disabled and not taken out. If there were a debug menu that’d be really cool.”

With all of this information, it should also be known that a public release of at least one of these prototypes is currently in the works, but it is unknown when this will come to be, nor do we know at this time if that release is to be in ROM or physical cartridge form.

Sources: AtariAge, Retro Gaming Magazine