Driver 2

Until Grand Theft Auto 3 came along and completely blew every other mission-based driving game out of the water, the Driver games were king of the hill. Ok, the second version with its hideous pop-up issues and unfinished feel tarnished Reflection's reputation somewhat, but it still sold by the bucket load. But that was two years ago - and surely the GBA can't cope with the graphical demands that even the PSX couldn't cope with?

The answer right from the word go, is comprehensively, unavoidably, no. Anyone even vaguely familiar with Driver 2 will take one look at the GBA version and wonder why they bothered.

The signs, to begin with, a quite promising. The familiar mission structure is there, but right from the word go you're wondering why the car is so small, and why Tanner now resembles some kind of stick man. The buildings look more or less the same, while the actual driving lacks any of the subtlety of the game it is based on. And as for the sound, I guarantee if someone was playing this on a train, and you were sitting near them, you'd have to wrench the GBA off them to save yourself and your fellow passengers from impending madness. It's so screeching and annoying, it's almost funny.

It's like the whole thing has been reduced to its basic elements, in some kind of vile contractual obligation. On the surface it's all there. The missions are much like the original (drive to point X, chase him, bash baddie off the road, etc), while the extra mode such as Take A Ride, Checkpoint and Survival are there, but I challenge anyone with a pulse to play them for more than three minutes and have any compulsion to play them again. One mode we didn't get to play was the multiplayer mode. But don't get your hopes up.

If you've got £35 burning a hole in your pocket, do yourself a favour and buy the two PSX Drivers. Don't even think about investing in this travesty.