Feature: Advance Weekly #35

Posted 10 Apr 2004 at 01:25 by guest

Your (usually) weekly update of GBA news and screens.

Written by Dennis

Okay, the last few weeks have been a little rough for Advance Weekly. Sometimes there simply wasn't much to say, other weeks I was dealing with exams and then there were a few personal problems (should be resolved by now). However, after almost a month of being absent I'm back with a new edition of Advance Weekly!

I think the easiest way to deal with one month of news is by simply discussing the major headlines and supplying some extra links for all the usual small-talk. Let's begin with a new game, based on a Disney movie: Disney's Home on the Range. The game takes up where the movie left off. Alameda Slim, Rico and the three Willies have escaped from jail and are up to their old tricks. Ever since Buck, Maggie and the other farm animals helped put the outlaws behind bars, they have been schemin' to escape jail. Now, they're out and it's up to Buck, Jeb, Lucky Jack and the others to round them up once more! Many familiar locations from the film are revisited in this high-spirited action adventure. You play as Buck, the brash, karate kickin', muscle-bound stallion who previously sent Alameda Slim, Rico and the three Willies into "retirement." After proving himself to be a true hero, Buck is ready for action and a rip roarin' good time as he rounds up outlaws on the loose. You also play as Jeb, the cranky, tin can collecting Billy Goat from the farm. It's up to Jeb to round up the "wanted" posters for each escaped outlaw before Buck can track them back to their hideout. Throughout the game you'll get to play simple platform-levels, semi-3D races such as seen in The Lion King and stuff like fighting games as Double Dragon.

Zoo Digital decided the GBA will last at least for another year. They supplied us with a nice release schedule with some interesting titles: Kill.Switch is set for a release on August 27th, 2004. One week after that (September 3rd), both PacMan World and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2 will hit the stores. Premier Manager 2004-05 is set for a release on the 29th of October. But there's more... I-Ninja is already known from other platforms and is now also scheduled for a release on the GBA. November 5, 2004 is the current plan so we might want to keep an eye on that. A few weeks later (November 26th), Zoo Digital is planning to release Dead to Rights. And finally, on the 21st of January (2005!) the GBA will still be supported and Smashing Drive will become available.

Quite recently, Nintendo declared that their Famicom Mini series has sold over 900.000 copies in Japan already. Reason enough to believe that the US versions will be a success as well. Two weeks ago, Nintendo has officially announced the Classic NES Series: the US version of the Famicom Mini's. Bomberman, Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Ice Climber, Legend of Zelda, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros, and Xevious are set for a release on the 7th of June, 2004 for a (small) price of $19.99 each. Nintendo will also release a Classic NES Limited Edition GBA SP, looking like a classic NES controller.

For a small image of the newly designed SP unit and a few of the boxarts, check out this link.

Nintendo of America didn't think the Classic NES series was enough to handle, because they decided to throw in a few new plans as well. First of all, Nintendo will release the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which allows players to compete head-to-head without the use of cords. The adapter will be packaged with the September release of Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green. In Japan, more than 2 million copies of Pokémon Fire Red and Pokémon Leaf Green featuring the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter have been sold since their launch at the end of January. The June 28 release of Mario Golf: Advance Tour for Game Boy Advance also will make use of the adapter, which will be sold separately. Then there's the Game Boy Advance Video from Majesco, remarkable new video paks that allow two cartoon episodes to be played on the Game Boy Advance, will be available in June. I just keep saying it: Spongebob on your GBA...

And what about new games? Mario vs. Donkey Kong on May 24, Hamtaro 4 in July, F-Zero 2 (currently also named F-Zero: GP Legend) in September and Mario Pinball, Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario Tennis, a new Kirby game (the one with the 'mirror' in the subtitle) and a hand-held Mario Party title in the fourth quarter of 2004.

Just hold on, we're almost there (for the major news, that is). Today, Square-Enix appeared on the front stage by showing their newest project in a Japanese magazine... You can feel it, can't you?

That's right! Final Fantasy I & II are on their way to the GBA, a remake of the first two Final Fantasy games, featuring additional stories and dungeons not found in the original game. Final Fantasy I will feature a new dungeon (Soul of Chaos). In this dungeon you'll have to search for the four 'Soul of Chaos'-monsters, while finding various powerful weapons, armor and valuable items. Another change in the remake is how the magic system works. From now on, it works just like in all the other FF games. Final Fantasy II will feature an extra story called Soul of Re-Birth. Four heroes died in the story, and features additional stories for each of these heroes.

The scan of the article and some screenshots can be found here. Just click the image fora full view of the scan.

News Snippets:

  • THQ announced that they will publish a second Finding Nemo game for Game Boy Advance scheduled to release this fall.
  • Activision supplied some new releasedates. Shrek 2 will hit the stores on the 25th of June. 2 weeks later, our webslinging hero reaches the aisles of the European stores: Spiderman: The Movie 2 will be released on the 9th of July. Last, but not least, Shark Tale will be available during Q3 2004.
  • Capcom had new release dates for us as well. According to their release schedule, they are planning only 'Mega Man' games for this year. Megaman Battle Network 4 Red Sun, Megaman Battle Network 4 Blue Moon and Megaman Zero 3 will be released in September 2004.
  • THQ and Nickelodeon threw in a few new titles. If you also read the news on Cube-Europe's main page (of course you do), you might have read this one already. However, for 2004 at least 4 games are planned: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The Fairly OddParents, Nicktoons and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: Attack of the Twonkies. For information on these titles, click the link.
  • Majesco will soon release the first Game Boy Advance Video's, but what good is portable video-playback when you can't listen to it? As part of the company's aggressive roll-out in support of its Game Boy Advance Video line-up, Majesco announced that it will be the North American manufacturer and distributor of the officially licensed Game Boy Advance SP Neckband Style Headphones. The first image as well as some quotes and information can be found here.
  • Last week, some rumours appeared on the web on the Famicom Mini series. According to the German website 'GameFront', Nintendo Japan has plans to release more games as Famicom Minis. The rumours say that Nintendo releases them on the 21st of May. Mario Bros, Kuru Kuru Land, Balloon Fight, Wrecking Crew, Dr. Mario, Dig Dug, Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima, Makai-Mura (Ghost 'n Goblins), TwinBee and Ganbare Goemon! Karakuri Douchuu are said to be the next ten games in line.
  • Enterbrain President Hirokazu Hamamura spoke to Reuters about the upcoming E3 event..."This will be a product unlike anything available right now and it will come with a touch panel," said Hamamura, adding that Nintendo was prepared to unveil 30 "DS" titles at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles in May.

Media Assets:

Other Links:

Last time, I finished by not saying "until next week", which turned out to be a month. The industry is regaining its vitality and news is slowly starting to drop in again so maybe... "until next week".

Comments are welcome and can be send to [email protected], or simply drop me a message at the boards (we also have GBA boards which can also be used to discuss all the items).

Dennis Stam (aka Blackbird on the boards)


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