Your weekly update of GBA news and screens.

I admit, it has been two weeks again. I just simply didn't want to annoy you with an edition of Advance Weekly of only 2 paragraphs last week, so I decided to skip an edition once more. The result of that lies beneath: a brand new (and not too short) Advance Weekly-feature.

No hardware section either this time, it's games, games and more games. First of all, let's start with Konami's announcement of a sequel. You must've heard about a vampire-hunting RPG carrying a solar-sensor... Boktai! Zoku: Bokura no Taiyou (the Japanese title) will be a completely new action RPG using the solar-sensor. Not much is known yet, but the solar-sensor will become even more important than before. The game will hit the Japanese market next summer. For the first screens (scans), please scroll all the way down to the game-assets list.

Japanese magazines showed more. One magazine showed the first images and info on Rockman Zero 3. In this version, Zero will feature a new weapon: the Recoil Rod. The rod is described by our source as "a shape-shifting blade of light can be used to break open obstacle objects and enemy shields". Capcom added that Rockman Zero 3 will be able to link up with Rockman Exe 4 Tournament: Red Sun / Blue Moon. This way, various enemies can be transferred between the two versions.

Famitsu brought even more news from Japan. A Mega Drive classic 2D shooter called Steel Empire is currently in development for the Game Boy Advance. The game is scheduled for a release in April 2004 in Japan. For those of you who aren't afraid of seeing Japanese characters, here's a minipage on Steel Empire showing some small screenshots of the game.

Fans of Sonic the Hedgehog, awaken! Sonic Advance 3 was announced last year, but now the first informatio and screenshots have arrived. Dr. Eggman is up to his dastardly tricks again. The demented genius has smashed the world into seven parts with Chaos Control, and plans to build an evil Eggman Empire amidst the confusion! It's up to Sonic and Tails to return the world to its original state again. Separated from their friends, they have to team up and track down all seven Chaos Emeralds and use the power of Chaos Control to undo Dr. Eggman's mischief.

Five of Sonic characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Cream and Amy) are available for playing with. But that's not the only choice you'll have to make... In Sonic Advance 3, you'll also have to chose a team mate. Twenty possible team combinations means twenty unique routes through the game (since each combination of primary/secondary character opens up new routes). This 'new' idea is also available in the brand-new multiplayer co-op mode, in which you and a friend can team up and be an unstoppable team (or so, we hope for you).

Seven huge Zones with multiple Acts and Boss stages, all-new mini games to reach bonus stages and a multiplayer battle mode (an up-to-four-players race to the finish) are all included, making Sonic Advance 3 a nice title to look forward to.

More teaming-up came through Vivendi last week. Vivendi announced that their top-characters have joined forces in order to create two nice new games (and of course fight some evil villains, but it's the games that count). Crash Bandicoot Purple: Ripto's Rampage and Spyro Orange: The Cortex Conspiracy are scheduled to ship in Q2 2004.

In these single-player side-scrolling adventures, gamers can also link up with as many as three friends for numerous multi-player modes, including Party Games, Wager Games and Card Trading. Players can compete and win in mini-games galore, found throughout the environments, which reward with trading cards (a new feature for both titles). Connecting both titles gives gamers the option of unlocking special content and allows them to trade and/or wager the cards with their friends. In Crash Bandicoot Purple and Spyro Orange, Dr. Neo Cortex (Crash's nemesis) and Ripto (Spyro's nemesis) have accidentally met up through underground portals and are set on taking over the entire universe. In an attempt to share resources and expand their territories, Cortex and Ripto are using portals to flood their two worlds with their evil minions. Crash and Spyro must team up with each other to discover the identity of the new menace and save the universe from this evil plot.

Next up are some new Atari titles, or at least some releasedates for Australia. Starting on the first of June 2004, Atari will release Yu-gi-oh: Reshef of Destruction. Only 10 days later (June 11, 2004), Duel Masters: Sempi Legends will hit the stores. This game is currently described as an adventure, with no info available whatsoever.

The next game was already announced and was scheduled for August 2004 in Europe and the US. However, Australia seems to get the game on the 2nd of July 2004 already. We're talking about Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors here. Again, the game is described as an 'adventure/rpg', which makes it almost certain we're not talking about a possible translation of the recently announced DBZ fighter by Banpresto. Finally, Zoids: Legacy was given a date aswell: 17th of September 2004.

The last news I'd like to share with you all this time came from Nintendo of Japan: some new information on Mario Golf: Advance Tour has been released...

First of all, the game will be accompanied by a wireless adapter in Japan (not a word on the US or European releases). Using the wireless adapter (or a normal link-cable), you will be able to unlock several new clubs. You'll start with only 7 clubs, but a total of 16 are included in the game. As for game-modes, 'multiplay', 'quick start', 'story mode' and 'Golf Jiten' are confirmed. What the last mode will be exactly, remained unclear.

All this leaves me just one more thing: a small list I promised you in the beginning of this article.

• Zoku: Bokura no Taiyou (scan)
• Rockman Zero 3 (scan, screens)
• DBZ: Buk�t�geki (screens)
• Pokémon Leaf Green & Fire Red (screens)
• Sonic Advance 3 (screens)
• Crash Bandicoot Purple & Spyro Orange (screens)

And that was everything for this edition. Comments are welcome and can be send along, or simply drop a message at the boards.

Dennis Stam (aka Blackbird on the boards)

[email protected].