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"What's the best traditional 2-D shooter on the Lynx?" I keep being asked. "Who the hell knows," is my typical response. I'm like that. The thing is, though, while Zarlor Mercenary has the graphics, Gates of Zendecon has the killer scrolling, and Raiden has the, er, branding, none of them is quite compelling enough to warrant my stamp of approval.

So, then, does Turbo Sub offer the complete package that its portable peers lack? Sadly not. A few notable attempts at innovation are made, however. You take the helm of the Turbo Sub, a flying and diving aquatic killing machine. In each level, you have the choice to fight in the air or underwater. Get past the round, and you get to load up your sub with extra fuel, additional ships and upgraded weapons with the gems you have gathered in the course of the game. Other than that, Turbo Sub is your run-of-the-mill shooter, with your main objective to blast everything in sight.

As is the case with other Lynx shooters, Turbo Sub's scaling and scrolling effects are terrific. The graphics are simple but attractive, but the music and sound effects leave a lot to be desired. The biggest shortcoming rests in the blurriness of the screen. As you'd expect, the passive-matrix display has difficulty in keeping up with the fast scrolling of the game. Curiously, Raiden doesn't suffer from the same blurring problem. If you must have a shooter on your Lynx, then go with Raiden. But a better bet would be to pick up a TurboExpress. It has a brilliant active-matrix screen and a prolific library of shooters.


Title Turbo Sub
Publisher Atari
System Atari Lynx
Graphics 7
Sound 4
Gameplay 4
Overall 5
Reviewer Keita Iida