SFX

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Not a game, but sound fun nonetheless
by Dan Loosen

April 11, 2003

SFX is described as "the Ultimate Audio Tool." Unlike every other cartridge for the system available to the general public this was not designed to be a game, it was designed to be a tool. SFX allows you to play with the internal registers of the Lynx to see what types of noises you can make. The only people that will find this cartridge of any interest are people with programming knowledge or people that like to make interesting noises and try to see how they did it.

SFX does a very good job of presenting the user with a useable interface. The Lynx's controls are used in a very intuitive way to adjust all aspects of the Lynx's registers. You can play noises as you adjust them to see how they are changing or only when you reach the exact registers you want.

Unfortunately, SFX has some flaws that will keep it out of mainstream use. The user is not allowed to string together noises to create a song and therefore tends to SFX grow boring if you are not attempting to use it to create sounds for a purpose. Truthfully, if the registers were explained more thoroughly to the user, the cartridge would be a very interesting lesson in how computer games work. Since they aren't, the cartridge is more of a trial and error lesson in figuring out how the registers work. If you catch on to what's going on, you'll be one step closer to understanding the Lynx and programming in general. Not a bad deal for those of us that are curious about how everything works.

That having been said, if you consider the fact that SFX will only attract programmers and the curious it is sure to become one of the rarest and most collectable Lynx cartridges. Since SFX was only manufactured in limited quantities and was Songbird Productions first release, if you want what will surely go down as a historic Lynx release as well as a collectors item snag this one before it's gone.