Burton;s Bytes

ONE of the beauties of the extra horsepower beneath the slinky little Game Boy Advance clamshell is the opportunity it lends publishers to "revisit" classic games.

When Nintendo published the GBA's vital statistics, several observers commented on how close they were to the venerable Super Nintendo home TV console. It's no surprise then to discover that so many GBA titles are ports of classic SNES games.

Disney's Magical Quest is one such game. It's an update of a title that is now regarded as one of the best cartoon adventures ever published on the venerable console.

The updates extend to sharper graphics, a handful of mini-games and the ability to extend your gameplay if you also own Nintendo's Game Cube (and the 128-bit version of this title).

When Pluto vanishes during a routine game of catch, Mickey and Minnie are asked to go on a quest. Their adventure takes them to the kingdom of the evil emperor Pete, where they stumble upon scores of new enemies who must be defeated. Information can also be uploaded to the Game Cube, where your adventure continues back home.

It's a charming side-scrolling adventure that should keep players of all ages occupied - even adults, who can ramp up the difficulty level. If they ever get the GBA out of junior's hands, that is.

PRO CAST SPORTS FISHING Format: Xbox. Publisher: Capcom.

TO the ill-educated non-gamer, console titles are all about murder and mayhem. They conveniently overlook the fact that for every Soldier of Fortune shoot 'em up, there are scores of other fantasy adventures, strategy and dance titles. But even the biggest fan of the medium may be surprised by the recent proliferation of fishing games.

As sports simulations go, the gentle art of fishing may seem an odd choice for a game. After all, unlike popular subjects such as Formula One or Premiership football, anybody who fancies a spot of fishing can buy a rod and try it for themselves. What's the point of playing it indoors? It's a bit like those drivers who insist on wearing a hat in the car. Do they think it's going to rain or something? The whole thing seems a bit pointless.

Still, fishing games - along with other sports like horse racing - have slowly made their way onto European store shelves over the past few years.

Pro Cast Sports Fishing has three modes - arcade, simulation and free fishing. Arcade mode will probably be your first port of call on the menu. Here, it's a simple matter of dangling your tackle in the water and waiting for a bite. You take part in a competition and have a certain amount of time to hook the biggest bass possible.

Simulation ups the difficulty level by allowing you to enter a tournament (provided you can afford the fees) and the bigger the fish you land, the better the prize money. Still, you'll need the cash because as well as your rod 'n reel, the game also makes you lash out for lures, line, boats and even items of clothing. The free fishing mode allows you to fish at your leisure with no competitive pressures.

I'm no fisherman but the controls make it simple for even a novice like me to quickly gets to grips with the game. The control pad chooses your casting style, the A button casts off and the right trigger reels it in. When a fish spots your lure, it will follow and, hopefully, take a bite. Use the left hand trigger to reel 'em in but don't be too hasty or your line tension will exceed the safety margin and it could break.

Your boat can be moved around for a more advantageous fishing spot.

The game looks terrific (the programmers have really put those Xbox graphical tricks to work on the water reflection effects) and the fish models are very convincing.

In fact, after a few goes, I reckon you'll be pretty much hooked!

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