Driver 2 Advance faithfully recreates the bumper-to-bumper action of its bigger brother in a portable package. Assuming the role of Tanner, an undercover cop posing as a driver for hire, players take on a variety of missions and modes, including such favourites as Trailblazer, Checkpoint, Capture the Flag and Survival, all familiar from the Psone incarnation, but with that special GBA twist. Ramping up the intensity is a variety of multiplayer modes that allow up to four players to tear through the city streets.
Sennari Interactive, the developer behind Driver 2 Advance, have their very own technology for powering GBA games, and that means Driver 2 Advance features superior driving physics including sliding and crashing, as well as visible vehicular damage, and special effects such as engine and tyre smoke, fire and vehicle shadows. The biggest plus, however, is that the developer has managed to bring us Driver 2 Advance in full 3D, with absolutely no concessions to graphical wonder. Driver 2 Advance looks as good as we'd hoped for.
Underscoring the vibrant, colourful on-screen mayhem is a cool rhythm and blues soundtrack, as well as in-game audio that realistically recreates the sound (but, sadly, not the smell) of burning rubber, the roaring engines and hoots and hollers of drivers pushing their machines to the limit. It's fair to say that the in-game cars are not the only machines being fully tested; the console is pushed to the edge too. Surely Sennari couldn't have managed to pack any more into the cartridge, and this is why we're really impressed with Driver 2 Advance. It's brimful of options and modes, and for a portable version of one of the most revered Psone games, it will not disappoint those looking for oodles of gameplay on the move.