As has been reported on this very site (And predicted by me last week), Blizzard will indeed be bringing more of their old classics to the GBA, at least two more anyway. Blackthorne and Rock & Roll Racing will both be coming to the GBA at unspecified times. Rock & Roll Racing is an isometric weapons-based racer set in the future (A bit like Rollcage then). Blackthorne is another futuristic game, this time a Prince of Persia style side scroller. This is along with their already announced port of the old platformer Lost Vikings. A new boxing game has been announced, Wade Hixton's Sucker Punch is an arcade style game with a quirky art style not entirely dissimilar to Majesco's Black and Bruised (Except MUCH more over the top). The characters include a gorilla, a pimp and a demon. It doesn't have a publisher or release date yet, but expect it in the first quarter of next year.

After the warm reception that the next gen console versions have recieved, you'd expect a GBA Robotech title to be announced. Well not only has one popped up, it's also shipped in America already. Developed by Lucky Chicken, it is a side scrolling shooter that has four player options. I'm not aware of a European release date, but importers should probably have it as we speak. And as you'll have heard a few stories below this article, Activision have announced that X-Men: Wolverine's Revenge will be coming to the GBA. To be released alongside the console versions next spring, it will have no GC/GBA link up options which is a shame, but you can take consolation in the fact that it's being developed by the always reliable Vicarious Visions.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES

A healthy ten releases this week to make up for the lack of any significant news.

BLACK BELT CHALLENGE: Fighting game from THQ with a silly plot about getting the 11 pages of some magic book or other (Incidentally there are also that many characters and 'arenas'). It claims to have a cute, comedy anime style, but I can't find any reviews to back it up. I'd avoid this until we see conclusive proof of its quality.

DINOTOPIA: THE TIMESTONE PIRATES: Based on the big budget TV series that's been doing the rounds on Sky One recently, this is a colourful, well animated platformer from the publisher and developer team of TDK and RFX that brought you the pretty good Lady Sia (Which is probably why the two games look so similar). Unfortunately Planet Nintendo say the gameplay doesn't match the graphics. It scores it 64/100, saying "Dinotopia is so close to being a good game. It does show off just how big levels can be on the GBA, and how great its graphics are. If it weren't so confusing and repetitive it could have been a sleeper hit. Instead, it's a fossil.".

EGGO MANIA: A puzzler that looks suspiciously similar to Tetris, this apparently isn't anywhere near as much fun. From Hotgen studios (Who have delievered a couple of dodgy star Wars handheld titles in the past) this sees eggs pulling shapes down into a trough, across a variety of modes. Edge magazine says "Fun for a few days, unfortunately, Eggo Mania doesn't have either the compulsive qualities of Tetris or the cerebral challenge of Puyo Puyo" and gives it 5/10.

INVADER: Just what old-school shooter fans have been crying out for, this is a top down scrolling space blaster from Formula games. With a neat, crisp visual style this looks set to be satisfactory at least. We refer to Edge once again who give it 6/10 and say "The lively Bangai-O style presentation and two-cart two player mode enrich the experience, but it's still a game that feels rushed: more than a shoot 'em up played straight, but less than Edge had hoped".

KELLY SLATER'S PRO SURFER: That's Kelly the MAN in case you were wondering, not some lady surfer. Coming from Hotgen studios (Who developed the average Eggo Mania, two above) this is yet another quickly done handheld translation of a big multi-format next gen title. The Official Nintendo Magazine says "Rewarding, but very frustrating at times" and gives it a respectable 7/10.

MEGAMAN BATTLE NETWORK 2: You'll probably all know this one. Sequel to the very popular and very good Megaman Battle Network. This Capcom RPG has garnered popular reviews all-round. One of them is from Nintendo Official Magazine again, who scores it 8/10 and says "This is a great GBA title that has everything adventure fans could want"

PINBALL ADVANCE: Yet another unneeded pinball game on the GBA, this one from obscure publishers ZOO Digital (Who have been rushing out an alarming amount of crap on the GBA recently). NOM (Again) isn't too impressed, scoring it four out of ten and calling it "too busy" and "A bit on the hard side".

PENNY RACERS: Crappy racing series finally makes its crappy way onto the GBA. I've seen no reviews for this, but from what reception it recieved on release in Japan (Near the system's launch no less, this is a very old game), it's probably something you should stay away from.

SOCCER KID: Telegames revives the horrible old platformer that you may have seen on the PC many years ago. Although from the one review I've dug up, it seems as if it may actually not be THAT bad after all. total Games Network calls it a "Fun little game" and gives it 74%. I'd still be suspicious of it though.

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?: ZOO Digital again, this time with a game that *GASP* isn't actually terrible? It would be hard to mess this up completely, so the decision of whether to buy the game you are depends on how interested you are in the show (Which I didn't even know was still going).