quote Source - Gamespy

It was quite a surprise when Nintendo announced two new Zelda adventures for the Game Boy Color back in 2001, and even more so when it was revealed that they would be developed by none other than Capcom ... or a Capcom studio called Flagship, anyway. A non-Nintendo Zelda game? Blasphemy! Of course, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons turned out extremely well, and life went on. Just recently, Nintendo sprang another surprise on the world (or at least a small room of ten or so gaming journalists) when it revealed the existence of a new Nintendo-Capcom Zelda collaboration called The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

The Minish Cap is an all-new adventure made exclusively for the GBA. In it, Link gains the ability to make himself (and this clothes, thankfully) shrink down to a miniscule size. Why would he want to do that? To have grand, miniature adventures, of course! I dunno. I don't think he thinks these things through sometimes.

Anyway, I got to check out a special demo version that'll be playable on the E3 show floor, and came away rather entertained. The first half of the demo threw me right into the beginning of the adventure, and Link was soon shrunk down to micro size, thanks to a magical tree stump. Link's newly miniaturized sprite took up only a handful of pixels, and a little arrow floated above his head and provided a magnified view to show that yes, this blob of color was indeed the Hyrulean hero. I maneuvered my little blob onto a quickly moving lily pad, and crossed a small pond to reach the next screen.

This area was zoomed-in ... that is, Link looked normal sized, but blades of grass towered above him, while insects provided a larger-than-life threat. Heading north brought me to the entrance to the first labyrinth. It had looked tiny when glimpsed before, but now that Link was also small it was as imposing as a dungeon can be. Heading inside, I found the dungeon was only a few rooms long -- this was a demo, after all. I got a cool item that let Link vacuum or blow air, which we could use to pull items or shoot them away. A number of puzzles involved this, and it was also necessary to topple the huge boss and throw him into damaging spikes.


A short cut to mushrooms

The boss ended up killing me, so then I tried the other half of the demo: A small town area. This highlighted another new feature of the game: kinstones. Basically, each kinstone you find will have a matching half, usually in the hands of another person. Find the person and reconnect the two stones and something wonderful may happen ... you might find an item, open a cave, or something entirely different. This little innovation might actually make towns interesting to explore, again, as you scour every inch for more kinstone halves.

That was about it for the demo, and I walked away with the feeling that another solid Zelda game was headed our way. Between this, Four Swords Adventures, and whatever other Zelda surprises Nintendo might unveil at E3, fans of the storied series should have plenty to keep them busy well into 2005. And that's a secret to nobody

quote n-insanity.com

Halo not coming to GBA


06.15.04

Bungie denies rumour


The official Bungie website has cleared up that Halo is not coming to the Game Boy Advance.

After the recent rumour at IGN stating that Halo was in fact in development for GBA, the official Bungie website has said,

"There is no Game Boy version of Halo planned, and none in production. It's very unlikely that such a version would ever happen for all the obvious reasons, and the less obvious reasons, that the ColecoVision talks fell apart and The Bandai Pippin version is taking up all our development bandwidth…"

quote n-insanity.com

Mario Pinball Land


06.17.04

Name change...


The upcoming pinball title for the Game Boy Advance, called Super Mario Ball has changed its name in North America

Nintendo of America has decided to rename Super Mario Ball, to the new name, Mario Pinball Land.

The game tells the story of how Mario was transformed into a ball by Spherifier and sent to another dimension, one that looks like a Pinball board.

Mario Pinball Land should be released on October 4th of this year.

quote n-insanity.com

Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun and Blue Moon


06.29.04

New GameBoy Advance titles!


Capcom, today announced the release of Mega Man Battle Network 4 in two versions- Red Sun and Blue Moon for the Game Boy Advance video game system. Each version presents many challenges for players as they encounter different enemies, battle chips, souls and characters. A Game Link Cable can be used for competitive gameplay and battle chip exchanges. Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun and Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon are now available at retailers across North America and carry an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

The Battle Network series features a school boy named Lan and his friend, Mega Man.EXE in their adventures to rid the net of viruses and other cyber world enemies. Players experience varied environments as they traverse the real world with Lan and navigate the virtual realm with Mega Man in action packed battles.

Unlike previous games in the Battle Network series, the main focus of Mega Man Battle Network 4 is a tournament system where players will encounter a variety of cyber enemies that must be defeated. A new "Soul Unison" system is introduced for these two games. During the game, some of the souls of those which have fought with Mega Man will "synch up" with his during battle. When this happens, Mega Man will be able to transform and use the special abilities of these souls during battle.

Players must be careful though, as there are forces of good and evil pulling at them throughout the game. In contrast to the "Soul Unison" system, there is a "Dark Soul" system in place. At times when Mega Man is in a pinch, a powerful and attractive "Dark Chip" will appear to tempt him. The more times these chips are used, Mega Man's Net-Navi will become more affected by evil and consequences will occur, including the inability to perform vital "Soul Unisons."


Mega Man Battle Network 4 includes the following features:

· Tournament style gameplay – The battle structure is based on lots that are drawn to determine who will challenge who, resulting in an endless combination of battles for expanded replay; Fight to win each game's respective final tournaments- Red Sun and Blue Moon

· "Soul Unison" system – Allows players to utilize special abilities from opponents' souls encountered in the tournaments

· "Dark Soul" system – Powerful, tempting chips that must be used sparingly, if at all, otherwise Mega Man will be lost to the dark side

· Navi Customizer system – Allows players to customize Mega Man's abilities by assembling program parts in a memory map; Players must take care to follow rules and keep parts compatible, otherwise it will hamper progress

· Game Link® Cable compatible

. Trade programs and chips

. Compare records and have Net battles with your friends

. Connect Red Sun to Blue Moon to trade Navis for expanded storylines

. Players of Red Sun can battle against those with Blue Moon and vice versa

. Collect Navis from your friends and host your own free tournament

· Distinct features for Red Sun and Blue Moon

. Separate storylines in each game

. 6 souls per game, for a total of 12 souls, that can be used in the "Soul Unison" system

. Assorted battle chips for each version

. Enemies that are unique to each title

. Variable strategies for winning - With unique tools available and different enemies players face in each game, the strategy for mastering them will change

quote

Here's from www.classicgaming.com/tmk...

August 11th, 2004
Coinciding with the release of the third "Famicom Mini" set in Japan, Nintendo of America has confirmed a second volume of "NES Classics" for the USA. Faithful reproductions of Dr. Mario, Castlevania, The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Metroid will be released for the GBA on October 25th.