Hello again and sorry for the week's absence. It won't happen again.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS

Well of course the big news that has already been reported (And rumoured ever since the very first Advance Weekly) is that Metroid Prime on the GameCube and Metroid Fusion on the GBA will indeed link up. It is of course not known how the two titles will interact yet, but expect something special as nintendo should be keen to emphasise the potential for GBA-GC link up with two such popular titles. It would be disappointing to find they only had some sort of 'unlock a sound test or some mini-games' option worked in. Both titles are expected in america November 18th. Metroid Prime has been tentatively set a January 31st release date in Europe, but the Europe release dates have been so muddled up recently I wouldn't believe anything until I see it. I can only assume the GBA title will arive at the same time as the cube version.

A new platformer has been announced by EA, and its called Galidor. I know very little about it apart from what I've seen in screenshots but from that I can see that in visual style it's quite similar to the impressive platformer Lady sia. It also seems to have your hero (A man of sorts) taking on different upgrades such as frog's legs and bionic arms. what is more intriguing is that this game is based on a Lego cartoon (One that would appear to feature no lego characters whatsoever) of the same name. Apparently if you place your Galidor action figure next to your GBA while playing, it will pick up hidden signals from the sound output and the action figure will speak to you. Ambitious certainly, but I can't see it enhancing the experience much. The project is in development by Tiertex Design Studios (Previously responsible for MX 2002 and Lego Soccer Mania on the GBA and, bizarrely, a couple of Jaguar games) and is expected to ship to America at the end of October.

In the latest of a ridiculously long line of special edition GBA's, Nintendo, in their infinite wisdom, are releasing gold and silver GBAs to Japan. They do this for no apparent reason. RPG fans will be glad to hear that Ubi Soft are porting the Playstation title Lunar: Silver star Story to the GBA this November. It will be renamed Lunar Legends and will feature a faster combat system and some link-up features. News has been exceptionally slow on the GBA front, so i'm afraid that's all I have for you for now.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES

Just one this week.

Go! Go! Beckham!: Adventure on Soccer Island
Well it's got an absolutely ridiculous title and it's ANOTHER platformer. but things are looking more promising for this as it's developed by Denki Blocks coders Genki. Boasting bright cartoon environments and a sharply animated cartoon david Beckham this looks suspiciously similar to the horrible old platformer 'Soccer Kid' (Also due soon on the GBA 'thanks' to Telegames). but reviews so far would assure us that it's a lot better. NOM scores it 7/10 and calls it "something to bring a smile to even the most cynical gamer". Gamesmaster and NGC seem to have similar opinions, making this one to consider if you're a fan of platformers.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 5: Games to watch

there's a few little gems to look out for on the GBA in the coming months. Here are the ones I expect to do the best.

1. Final Fantasy: Crystal chronicles
2. Metroid Fusion
3. Ecks Vs. Sever 2
4. Kururin Paradise
5. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire