Driver
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: GT Interactive Developer: Crawfish Interactive Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Racing/ Action
Graphics & Sound: The graphics in Driver are good, for what they’re worth. The cars are basically little boxes that zoom around on the screen, with large gray and blue obstructions, er, buildings, that get in the way of your rampant criminal behavior. Nothing spectacular here, but they certainly get the job done. An arrow capable of pointing in eight directions shows you the way to your next location as well, although you’d have to plow through a few buildings to follow it directly. The map, which is indispensable, is clear and understandable, with little blips showing both your location and the target’s location. Use the Map, Luke. The sound is nothing special, but it’s not irritating either, which is always a plus on the tinny speakers of the GBC.
Gameplay: Driver was an enthralling game on the PSX (even though I sucked at it), with its mile-high jumps and cop dodges. It still sells like crazy. Crawfish did a good job of porting as much as possible of the gameplay over to the GBC, and as such, Driver is an enjoyable little title. You’re Tanner, an undercover cop working for the bad guys to try to get to the bottom of the evil crime syndicate. On the way, you’re going to visit three different cities (well, the maps are unique, if nothing else), and have to do a multitude of different ‘jobs.’ These jobs can be simple, with little cop annoyance, to damnably difficult, with you having to trek all the way across the city and back with the cops hot on your tail. As you collide with cars, buildings, and whatnot, your vehicle gets more beat up, until it just gives out on you. And every time a cop sees you do something naughty, your Felony meter rises, and they chase you down. Fun. You’ll learn to shake them off by diving down side roads and driving in the wrong lanes. Good, clean, illegal fun. If you get tired of the game proper, you can play a variety of mini-games, such as Checkpoint, where you have to try to get to various points in the city as fast as possible, Getaway, where you’ve got to shake a cop pronto, Pursuit, where you chase down a car and ram the crap out of it, and the ever-favorite Survival, where suicidal maniac cops chase your sorry butt down as you try to hide in the city and fail miserably. Along with these, you can just cruise aimlessly in a city in various cars, although you’ll probably not find this one as scenic as it was on the PlayStation.
Difficulty: Until you master the controls and the art of getting away from the cops, you’ll be stumped on the first few missions. Get it under your belt, though, and learn the sweet spots of various streets (down the yellow line is often a winner), and you’ll find yourself getting much farther in the game. Just don’t ever expect to last too long in Survival.
Game Mechanics: The game’s controls are simple and intuitive, with A being gas and B being brakes. Steering is done ‘true’ style, with left and right turning instead of pointing you in that direction. I like it. The menus are easy to navigate, and the game’s nice enough to remember the password for the last level you attempted since you’ve turned the GBC on, so you don’t have to re-enter it if you try out another game mode for a bit. Sure, Driver doesn’t have all the features that the PlayStation version has. How could it? But it’s still an enjoyable game in its own right, and if you’re a fan of the genre, you should definitely try it out.
-Sunfall to-Ennien, GameVortex Communications AKA Phil Bordelon
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