Driver 2. A name known by many gamers from different platforms. Now, the GBA-owners get their chance on proving their driving skills with the (almst a direct) port from PSX´ Driver 2.

Just putting a PSX game into a GBA cartridge won´t work, but Senari Interactive used the Raylight 3D-engine. The result: Chicago and Rio de Janeiro on your GBA-screen. The cities truely are alive, including the pedestrians (actually walking), palmtrees, litterbins and other vehicles.

You´re playing as the undercover cop Tanner, trying to fulfill several missions in order to track down the crime-bosses. 30 Differet missions will be available, varying from escorting someone, escaping from criminals (or police) or even destroying other vehicles. To finish these missions, Tanner can step into cars, or go on foot (like in GTA3). This is a really cool option when trying to get away from someone: just go through some alleyways.

Cruising the city isn´t to hard, but when you´re trying to avoid several other vehicles, things can get pretty tricky. The problem is, that when you crash onto a wall, you´re car isn´t visible anymore! When you´re following someone (or vice versa), this can get pretty annoying, since you´ll probably have to start that mission all over again.
Another problem is the minimap. Due to the fact that it´s so small (understatement), you can´t see which direction the arrow (representing your cars) is pointing. You can avoid this problem by pausing the game every once in a while, to check on the ´full-screen´ map. Nontheless, it´s quite annoying, which could have been fixed by using a different or bigger arrow.

Furthermore, the game can keep you playing for a while, especially when you know some friends who own the game too. Free for All, Cops ‘n’ Robbers, Checkpoint and Cross-town Race modes are the available options, so you decide in which way you´ll humiliate your friends today...


But wait, let´s see what has become of the promises Atari made during E3 2002:
Game Features:

• Spectacular collisions, with realistic damage modeling, that affect vehicle performance - Yeah, parts are flying, and the car hasn´t become easier to handle
  
• Ability to leave your car and commandeer any other car on the road - Told you about that already
  
• Single-player missions include ´A to B´, Tail, Seek and Destroy - Seen it, done it, it´s true
  
• Multi-player support allows up to four players to burn rubber in Free for All, Cops ´n´ Robbers, Checkpoint and Cross-town race modes - Just a few lines up
  
• Superior driving physics and graphics include sliding and crashing, fire and car shadows - ´superior´... nah, but it looks promising
  
• In-game audio realistically recreates tire-screeching, engine-howling, roars and driver screams - You could also hear these sounds in a zoo...

Atari did a nice job, maybe a little exaggeration...

Reviewed by: Dennis