The developer mentions Carzilla is “…Outrun meets Carmageddon…” and after playing the demo, I can say, that is actually quite fitting. The version I am discussing here is an updated release from the Lynx Jam entry. If you are a fan of Outrun, or Carmageddon, you are going to be decently served here.
Run Over Creature Scum
I would say being a fan of Outrun would give you a leg up on Carmageddon fans when loading up Carzilla. The gameplay is very much Sega’s classic arcade racing game format.
Your car is at the bottom of the screen, middle of the road and you hit the gas to go, brakes to stop and steer left and right. While in Sega’s take on this style racing requires you to avoid obstacles, Carzilla makes the obstacles the reason to race in the first place.
The action may seem simple, but it can get challenging quickly. Creatures litter the road, as well as batteries that extend the timer. You will face situations where you need to decide to brake to hit that creature or gas it through a turn to attempt to reach that battery coming up.
Showcase of a New Engine
Over on [AtariAge, LordKraken mentions] https://forums.atariage.com/topic/378085-new-mini-game-carzilla-a-fast-arcade-racing-game/) that Carzilla came to be from their efforts to create an engine similar to Sega’s “super scaler” arcade games.
After giving Carzilla a few playthroughs, I feel LordKraken is on the right track with that idea. Their work is on my radar now to see what else they create, maybe we will see some “fanmakes” on the Atari Lynx based on some of Sega’s super scaler arcade efforts.
In the forum thread on AtariAge, LordKraken mentions an upcoming “deluxe” release on cartridge. Definitely good to know work is continuing on this and Carzilla is not just a tech demo. I just hope the ROM of the deluxe version is made available somehow (free/paid) because not everyone has the hardware to play Lynx games anymore (if ever).
Check out their other Atari Lynx works on itch.io.