The Japanese publication Famitsu has secured the first details on Nintendo's latest entry in the Pokémon series. The game, tentatively entitled Pokémon GBA, will feature the existing 251 Pokémon characters from the Red, Yellow, Blue, Gold, Silver, and Crystal versions of the game. There will also be 100 new Pokémon introduced in the game, a number of which will appear in the upcoming Japanese film Pokémon 2002.

Unfortunately, the graphical side of things looks a bit below average, at least for the standards set on the Game Boy Advance by games such as Golden Sun; nevertheless, there will be some head-turning aspects to the graphical style, including water reflections, shadows, and footprints on various terrain. The shadows in particular give the game the illusion of depth sorely lacking in its 8-bit predecessors.

Three of the new Pokémon have already been revealed by name: Bulbeet, Yomawaru, and Sornano, which appear to be plant Pokémon, are the first of the new additions to the Pokémon bestiary. Gamers will nonetheless still have some time to go before being able to use these or any other Pokémon; while Nintendo has indicated it wishes to release Pokémon Advance in both Japan and North America by the end of the year they have thus far been unable to provide a firm date for either territory.