When it comes to playing arcade classics from the 80s, the Game Boy has been dealt a pretty poor hand compared to many other formats such as the PlayStation.

We've already reviewed Centipede, Frogger and Breakout in the last issue, but the floodgates are ready to burst open over the coming months as Midway, Capcom, Namco, Konami, Activision and Nintendo prepare a diminutive digital assault on our senses with some absolute gems from the halcyon days of gaming. Remember, this was when graphics played second fiddle to gameplay and you chucked ten pence into a coin-op instead of a quid.

So why don't you sit back and relax as we take you through our special feature heralding every new release for your own personal slice of retro-gaming heaven - all in glorious Game Boy Color!

Midway has been responsible for some corkers, here's their new batch of arcade greats...

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Can Paperboy deliver? There's no reason why a perfect arcade copy can't be pulled out of the bag!

A huge hit in the arcades of the 80s, Midway has modified this paper throwing game into a great little cart. It features the same forced perspective view as you peddle like crazy along increasingly convoluted streets and parks to deliver the daily news. Make sure you deliver the absolute minimum number of papers or the angry residents will cancel their orders. Get the papers delivered while dodging the likes of potholes, kids and cars.

Game Category: Arcade
Players: 1-2
Link cable: No
Release: Autumn

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Grab serious air on the half-pipe in 720°. Improve your chances by buying new pads, boards and other equipment.

Ride the tarmac in this faithful conversion of the arcade smash. Avoid rival skaters and traffic in Skate City on your way to four skate parks. The only way into these parks is by collecting tickets, but don't hand around too long or swarms of angry bees withh chase you.

Once inside a park you can show everybody what you're made of by skating the downhills, half-pipes, slaloms and ramps to gain medals, points and a bigger ego! 720° - the only game to offer street cred on the Game Boy Color.

Game Category: Arcade
Players: 1
Link cable: No
Release: Out now

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A real arcade classic and the inspiration for many of today's top shoot-'em-ups.

If arcade games were regency, defender would be king. Undoubtedly one of the defining moments in gaming history, it pits you against a hoard of invading alien mutants, landers, baiters, pods, bombers and swarmers, who are trying to abduct helpless human inhabitants. Your only form of defence is a ship armed with a single laser and limited smart bombs and a hyperspace facility. Most of the fun derives from the frantic blasting action, need for lightning reactions and the increasing ferocity and speed of the aliens as you progress through the levels. The catalyst for hundreds of shoot-'em-ups and a true classic.

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It's surreal and simple. Stay alive by knocking rival jousters and other strange creatures out of the air with a javelin.

As a knight of old riding atop a giant bird of prey, you have to knock your opponents with nothing more than a javelin. Duelling in mid-air is just one of the objectives while trying to keep your ride as it passes over cliffs and lava pools. In later levels bounders, hunters, lava trolls and screeching pterodactyl will try to knock you off into oblivion. In the Game Boy Color version, you can go head-to-head thanks to the inclusion of a link cable option. Just hook it up and you're ready for some egg-smashing, javelin-poking fun!

Game category: Compilation
Players: 1-2
Link cable: Yes
Release: Out now

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Take to the road and become a demon driver as you blow away everything in your path.

Midway's second double pack features another favourite here at the Game Boy office - Spy Hunter. In what looks like being a faithful conversion of the highly acclaimed original, players take on enemy agents with an assortment to top-secret weapons! As you tear up the roads in a turbo-charged sports car machine guns, missiles, smoke screens and oil slicks all play an important role in this high speed espionage racer.

Danger is around every corner and it's not ony the roads that are treacherous.

Before long, you've dumped your car for a powerboat and have to fend off attackers from the water and from above. Bring on the enemies! Keep an eye out for the deadly Switchblade, Road Lord, Doctor Torpedo and the Mad Bomber - but miss the weapons van at your own peril!

Prepare for some buggy nights as you negotiate massive craters, alien UFOs and other ground-based targets in this six-wheeled off-road action!

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For lampooning lunar madness, Moon Patrol is hard to beat. Navigate a bouncing, weapon-laden buggy across the vast open surfaces of the moon while leaping giant craters and avoiding huge rocks that threaten to smash your ride to smithereens.

Steering the buggy is just part of your task though, because the threat from the skies is even greater. Pesky UFOs dance around your craft and bombard you relentlessly and ground patrols try their utmost to stop you reaching your goal. As if that wasn't enough, crater aliens leap out at the most inopportune moments and the clock is always ticking as you race through 26 different checkpoints, encountering increasingly hostile terrain the further you get.

Following closely in Midway's wake is Capcom - the arcade specialists with a string of hits longer than almost anyone!

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Wipe out wave after wave of incoming planes and ships in this power-up extravaganza, featuring loop-the-loops and a link-up option.

A massive hit in the arcades and on the Super NES, 1942, is a simple, but maddeningly addictive, vertical shoot-'em-up. It's pure, unfettered blasting action and instantly accessible to one or two players via the link cable.

Take to the great blue yonder dodging the swarms of enemy planes, pulling off loop-the-loops and picking up power-ups to increase fire power. Stuffed into this action-filled version of the original are 32 levels of plane-busting mayhem.

On later levels, battleships and smaller water-based craft attempt to take you out, but the piece de resistance is the end of level boss planes, which require more than a light peppering to take out.

Game Category: Shoot-'em-up
Players: 1-2
Link Cable: Yes
Release Date: November

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Seven levels on intense platform spookiness await any knight brave enough to take on the hoards of undead zombies, ghosts and ghouls in this arcade classic.

Long before Capcom scared punters with the horrific Resident Evil, there was Ghosts 'N Goblins - a simplistic sideways scrolling platform romp which featured (for the time) state-of-the-art visuals and an excellent soundtrack.

In 1986 it was converted from the arcade to the Super NES, now a decade later the next generation of gamers can sample the delights of the tough, but ultra-playable platformer. Players control the heroic Sir Arthur as he embarks on a quest to save his girlfriend through seven levels of zombies, gargoyles, flying demons and giant ogres.

Can he survive the journey through the haunted countryside and outwit the fiendish traps and enemies? To aid him in his adventures, he can collect money, weapons, health, powerful armour and other pick-ups, so he's get more than a fair chance of success.

Game Category: Shoot-'em-up
Players: 1
Link Cable: No
Release Date: November

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Take on thirteen of the most deadly fighters in this amazingly-accurate version of the arcade classic.

The entire Street Fighter series has a massive following and that is set to be extended by the release of Street Fighter Alpha on the Game Boy Color in the Autumn! All of the moves and attacks such as Super Combos and Alpha Counters will make it, as will 13 of our favourite characters (ten standard and three secret). Yes Chun Li, Ken and Ryu all make the cut.

As you can see above, the graphics look excellent and we expect the action to be slick and smooth too. In addtion, a training mode allows players to hone strategies and combos. Best of all though, will be the ability to link up or some two-player knuckle-splitting action with a friend. Wow!

Game Category: Beat-'em-up
Players: 1-2
Link Cable: Yes
Release Date: November

Like Capcom, Namco has a long tradition of brilliant arcade games. Let's have a look at what's hot to trot as far as retro-gaming is concerned.

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Control Namco's infamous yellow pill-gobbling critter as he negotiates fiendishly clever mazes to outwit the evil ghosts.

To coincide with the 20th anniversary of Pac-Man's original release in 1979 (heck, is it that long ago?!), Capcom have decided to release two titles. The first of these is Pac-Man: Special Color Edition. The original is one of the best selling games ever for the Game Boy, and this version throws Pac's pill gobbling antics into colour for the very first time - it looks identical to the arcade game!

Success depends on memorising every maze, but it soon gets tough and a photographic memory definitely helps!

Included in the package is a Tetris derivative called Pac-Attack, so you can't say it isn't going to represent good value.

Game Category: Arcade
Players: 1
Link Cable: No
Release Date: July

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Ms. Pac-Man comes with Super Pac-Man built in - a zoomed-in version of the original classic.

The second title to celebrate Pac's 20th anniversary, Ms. Pac-Man is another complete arcade game designed specifically for the Game Boy Color. Sporting slightly improved graphics, more colours, a bit of lipstick and a bow it's essentially more of the same.

There are more fiendish maze layouts than the original game, but Namco have managed to keep the game fast and fun. As with Pac-Man: Special Color Edition there's an extra game bundled with the package - Super Pac-Man. In this version, gobbling up certain bonuses increases Pac's size and speed when chasing the scared ghosts.

All of the action is zoomed in as well, so again this pack looks like great value.

Game Category: Arcade
Players: 1
Link Cable: No
Release Date: September

Konami has only one ace up its sleeve, but if International Track & Field proves to be a success who knows how many fantastic titles from its extensive back catalogue will make it to our beloved little handheld?

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Are you ready to strive for that illusive gold medal? We can't wait for the specially designed conversion featuring ten events and the guarantee of sore fingers and thumbs! Konami's all-new International Track And Field should set everyone who beat the original a whole new decathlon challenge.

In true Olympic style players must heave the shot put, jump with a pole vault, throw the discus, run the 100 metre sprint, jump the long jump and do many, many more gruelling events to come out on top. You can even create an athlete in the all new 'Success Mode' and then put them through two years of intense training until they qualify for the State, Country and ultimately the World championships.

Game Category: Sports
Players: 1
Link Cable: No
Release Date: TBA

As you would expect, the mighty Nintendo aren't exactly shirking the retro band wagon duties as these two superlative titles demonstrate.

All-new levels, three different camera angles and specifically designed two-player levels look set to make Bionic Commando an instant classic (again)!

There's one aspect of Bionic Commando that sticks in the mind if you've played the original and that's the way you swing around each scrolling level and platform using a titular appendage. Put simply, it's great fun and we hope that the gameplay has been translated perfectly by Nintendo.

The good news is an entire set of new levels, weapons and bosses have been designed to work specifically on Game Boy Color and the game features three new camera angles and new two-player options.

Game Category: Platform
Players: 1-2
Link Cable: Yes
Release: TBA

Legions of genetic mutations await players in this brilliantly playable shoot-'em-up. Have you got what it takes to destroy everything the Bydo system can throw at you?

Irem's original sideways scrolling shoot-'em-up was the first game to feature grotesque biologically engineered mutant creatures and a brilliantly conceived new weapon system allowing you to build up a powerful charge before unleashing it on enemy ships. Now you'll be able to blast alien slime and avoid heavy doses of incoming plasma death by playing five (count 'em) R-Type games in a virtual museum.

Players can experience R-Type or R-Type II in the original black and white format, or play colour-enhanced versions. The fifth, R-Type DX, combines the first two for some of the most intense blasting ever seen on a Game Boy. Expect power-up heaven, massive oozing bosses and infinite continues (you'll need 'em)!

Game Category: Shoot-'em-up
Players: 1
Link Cable: No
Release Date: June

So what do you think? There are some top arcade conversions coming to Game Boy Color over the coming months - and the great thing is that you don't have to keep putting coins in!