8.9

   Toki is a shoot em up published in North America by Fabtek. Toki was a popular game ported to several home consoles including the Atari Lynx, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis. Some verisons include health bars and other improvement's. The Genesis version called Toki going ape spit doesn't have the football helmet power up, but it does have improved graphics and more levels, and is my personal favorite of the Toki games. The Toki games are know for there silly, tongue in cheek humor and fun game play.   We are going to focus on the Atari Lynx version Toki. You are a tribal man that is turned into an ape by an evil wizard. The story in the Lynx version isn't as apparent as the Genesis version. The game is pretty difficult because you die with one hit. You will have to be able to dodge one enemies projectiles while killing another enemy, and trying not to fall of a platform. Your attack is very humorous, it is know by gamers as monkey skip, or monkey vomit. Your attack is a projectile that you shoot out of your mouth. You can get upgrades for your attack like multiple projectiles, and fire balls, you can also get upgrades like a football helmet and shoes to help you jump, but you better use your power ups while you have them because they have a time limit, and when it runs out its gone.   The graphics are very good for a hand held game. The back grounds are beautiful, and the game has over all colorful and appealing. The controls is really what makes this game so fun. The controls are so smooth and fluent. When you jump you know exactly where you will land. You can shoot in multiple directions instead of just straight forward. There are a large variety of enemies like birds, zombies, monkey's, fish, and bugs, that all have there own attacks and jump, fly, or run in completely different patterns which keeps the game fresh.   Over all this is one of the best games on the Atari Lynx. It is difficult but its also highly addictive and one of the best shoot em ups or run and guns. If you are looking to find a game to introduce your self to the Lynx this is the perfect game for you. It truly shows just how grate the Lynx can be.