Basketbrawl on the Atari Lynx is a 1992 conversion of an original Atari 7800 game, first released in 1990. It is a ‘no-holes-barred’ basketball game were you can attack opposition players while trying to win a tournament and become “the baddest gang in town“.

To win the “Basketbrawl” tournament you must play three games against five gangs in your city. “No-holes-barred” means “no rules” and that is essentially what playing basketball in this game means; there really are no rules, other than to score more points than the opposing team. Each basket is worth two points (there are no three-pointers). If the game is tied at the end of regular time then the first team to score in overtime is the winner.

The basic controls are: tap the ‘A’ button to shoot at the basket; hold down the ‘A’ button to pass to a teammate. Pressing the ‘B’ button while defending will jump kick your opponent; pressing ‘B’ while attacking with power throw the ball at an opponent.

Players can also punch and even pick up weapons – like knives, whips, chains, sledgehammers, baseball bats, and even guns in later stages – in order to attack the other team’s players. Each player has a set amount of health and each time they are attacked they lose some of it. When a player’s health is reduced to zero they are knocked unconscious for a short time. If you’re knocked down, mashing the ‘A’ button will bring you ’round more quickly if this happens.

There are five different power-ups that appear randomly on the court and can be picked-up by running into them. Milk replenishes your health; a lightning bolt will increase your shooting skill; the fist increases your brawling power and allows you to shoot farther; the heart increases your stamina, and collecting the sneakers will speed you up.

Basketbrawl could’ve been a great game on the Lynx, but it doesn’t really require any skill to master and is way too easy. The animation and movement of the players is pretty poor too (no one seems to run – they just walk around with long strides…), and shooting baskets isn’t as much fun as it should be.

You can choose between ten playable characters at the beginning, although they don’t make much of a difference to the game. The courts do change, but only every fourth game (level codes are available, though, which is good), and opponents taunt you before and after games (even if they lose, which is nonsensical).

Lynx Basketbrawl does lack options – at least compared to the Atari 7800 original – and while it is fun for a short time I did get bored of it fairly quickly. Which I think you will too.

More: Basketbrawl on Wikipedia