Gaming Target - Game Boy: Driver 2 Advance

Written by Matt Swider on January 14, 2003

Review: Voted the best in its class ever since Grand Theft Auto stalled-out!

Driver made its debut in 1999 when it released onto the original PlayStation, offering a unique blend of vehicle driving gameplay and mission-oriented objectives. This novel approach was then repeated the next year with a sequel boasting a variety of improvements and a whole new set of challenges. The third installment of the series is currently being revved-up for this fall, which is when Driver 3 is slated to release onto the streets of all three major consoles. In the meantime, Sennari Interactive has taken the wheel of Driver 2 and ported its driving experience onto the Game Boy Advance. While two of the four cities were cut for the Game Boy Advance version of Driver 2, the rest of the game remains an excellent translation by either matching or mimicking the version released two years ago.

The thirty missions in the undercover mode make up the main portion of Driver 2 Advance. In each stage, players take control of a skilled wheelman named Tanner who rides alongside his partner Tobias Jones. Together, these two agents of the law go undercover to infiltrate organized crime in Chicago and work for crimelord Solomon Craine. With this inside position, they can attempt to neutralize the international gang war that is taking place on U.S. soil and down in parts of Rio. This plotline, which is told through a series of images and many lines of scrolling dialog, unfolds when undertaking each new mission and remains engrossing from start to finish.

One of the more appealing aspects in Driver 2 Advance is that all challenges don't consist of merely driving from point A to B in record time. Instead, the objectives are varied enough to keep the entire experience interesting every time. Many missions encourage you to steal cars, ditch the cops, tail key suspects, and even ram certain vehicles beyond repair. Of course, this means you must also keep a close eye on your own damage meter to ensure that your car doesn't turn into a fiery wreck. If this should occur however, it's always possible to carjack some innocent victim for a fresh set of wheels or take an amusing joyride in a stolen police cruiser, if that's how you get your kicks.

Despite all the intense challenges that Driver 2 Advance brings to the handheld, its gameplay remains quite simple with very basic controls and straightforward driving mechanics. The real difficulty comes when trying to find the best route of travel during the missions, especially ones that are timed. Since the cities and so expansive and players are free to cruise the streets as they please, it's easy to get lost, turned around, or even preoccupied with other aspects of the level. Having the freedom to roam around is a leading reason for the success of the Driver franchise as well as other vehicle-associated games ranging from the Grand Theft Auto series to the Crazy Taxi trilogy. It proves just as entertaining on the Game Boy Advance and is the most noteworthy accomplishment within the handheld translation.

Whether you are weaving in and out of traffic, nearly running down bystanders, attempting to dodge the cops, or simply experiencing the freedoms that Driver 2 Advance allows, it's impossible to miss the lavish structure of the cities. From Chicago to Rio, the map is sprawling with large buildings as well as a couple of eye catching scenic parks, bodies of water, and so forth. The level design is teeming with both obstacles and alleyway shortcuts, which are the keys to playing successfully.

Along with immense freedom, Driver 2 Advance creates another first-rate technical quality through the atmosphere of its two cities by brining them to life in very different ways. The streets of Chicago take on everyday America with predictable 70s tunes, lampposts at each corner, and swarms of police cars echoing their sirens through the city. When you hit levels located in Rio, the sights and sounds change just enough to represent the culture down in Brazil. South American music plays with an upbeat feel, palm trees appear around every bend, the wailing of a European siren takes the place of the one Americans are used to hearing, and the cops shout warnings in a different language and no longer in English. The rest of the sounds are made of up typical car noises from when the engine starts up to when the entire body crashes. It's pretty remarkable to clearly hear the many distinctions between Chicago and Rio, especially when there's usually very little to be found when it comes the audio portions of Game Boy Advance games.

Upon completing all thirty challenges within the Undercover mode, players will be able to expand their skills as a wheelman by taking part in various driving minigames. In a section of it's own is Take a Drive, which gives you the chance to hop in a car and take a tour of the city without any objectives standing in the way. Within the actual Driving Games menu are Quick Chase, Quick Getaway, Trailblazer, Checkpoint, and my favorite, Survival. Quick Chase times how long you take to completely damage a highlighted car while Quick Getaway does the opposite by seeing how long it takes you to ditch a cloud of police cars. Trailblazer and Checkpoint are also alike in the sense that one has to follow a trail of cones whereas the other uses dots plotted on the map. The final minigame, and possibly the best of the bunch, is Survival. This determines how long you can avoid the extremely intense pursuit of police and stay in one piece.

Those looking to experience the four multiplayer minigames within Driver 2 Advance will have to seek anywhere from one or three friends with a copy of the game as well. The first is Cops СN' Robbers in which one player is selected to be the thief while everyone else takes pursuit in a police vehicle. This can be the most entertaining when all four people participate and take the wheel of justice into their own hands. Free 4 All is best described as a minigame with a setup that's similar to Destruction Derby where the main objective is to simply ram into opponents until everyone else is left with a fiery wreck. Besides these two minigames, Driver 2 Advance also features less chaotic action within Checkpoint and X-Town Race, both of which are a hunt for the finish line. While finding an individual with this game (let alone three) may be tough, the effort is worth any minors hassles thanks to the thrilling hours that can be spent playing Cops СN' Robbers and Free 4 All.