THIS WEEK'S NEWS:

Following on from last weeks revelation that the new Pokemon games would be released in Japan in November, the names of the games have now been confirmed. As a bit of a throwback to the series' red and blue roots, the first GBA Pokemon titles will be Ruby and Sapphire. Fans fearing that the games may be getting a little tired will be pleased to learn that there have been a number of changes made from the Gameboy versions, with a new battle system in which you pick two Pokemon to battle together against the enemy. Apparently there will also be 100 new Pokemon, images of which shall appear on pokemon.com. There's still no news of a European or US release, and it's doubtful that the same scale of Pokemon fever will sweep across the nation, but maybe gamers will now see past the hype, and that it's a quality series of games? Also, I was hoping for some kind of GBA-Gamecube link-up, just as long as it's not Pokemon Stadium 3.

Famitsu magazine is hinting at some GBA related Final Fantasy goodness. This seems likely to be ports of NES so-so RPG Final Fantasy, and the far superior first SNES FF outing, Final Fantasy 2. Whether this proves to be the case, we'll have to wait and see. It's about time we saw something from Square though, it's been a while now since the shock announcement that they would be again creating game for Nintendo platforms.

Don't be fooled by the name, Kong: The Animated Series has nothing to do with Donkey and family, but is based on a TV show of the same name, following the adventures of a boy named Jason and an ape named Kong. From BAM this will be released in the US in the summer, and no doubt here in Europe sometime later. THQ will be bringing Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Simpsons Road Rage to the GBA, no release dates yet. Not content with appearing on the Gamecube, Godzilla will also be trashing buildings and fighting other monsters in Godzilla: Domination when it's released late this year. It includes a single cartridge four-player option, as well as Story Modes, custom modes, and more.

THIS WEEK'S RELEASES:

Well it seems like the tide of GBA releases is slowing down, with only one game released this week:

Stuart Little 2:
Based on the forthcoming movie, Stuart Little 2 is pretty much what you'd expect. A standard platform game, with plenty of bright colours and jolly tunes. There's a little variety with a few flying and driving levels thrown into the mix. As you'd expect, it's aimed at a younger audience, and fans of the film might enjoy it, but Mario it ain't. Review scores have placed it between 50% and 70%, but there are better platformers out there.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 5: Extreme Sports
Well, Tony is still king, but it's a growing genre, surely it's only a matter of time before someone topples the skateboarder?

1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
2. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
3. Matt Hoffman Pro BMX 2
4. Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
5. Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder

That's it for this week folk's, but we'll be back next week for all the latest from the land of the GBA.