Driver

"Surprisingly Good"

I must say, this game is quite a surprise for me. I went out and bought the small little game in your average little store, and found that it exceeded much of my expectations. Expecting your average driving game on a small console such as the Game Boy Color, I greatly thought it would be much of a simplistic little game. Since it was going from 3-D to top down, what else could I expect? But what I did find was far beyond my expectations.

Graphics -

Pretty average. Every car has their simple plain red or green colors, while the police cars are black and white. The buildings are pretty bland, and since you can never see anything but their roofs, they're not much to look. Little details such as benches and such add a bit more involvement, but not much, I'm afraid.

Sound -

I'm not really sure what a good sound-style would be, but I'm sure this isn't one. The music in the game is your classic little beeping noises, and the car crashes and skids are the usual squeal of synthesized sounds. While they're enough to make you happy, you may find yourself wishing for just a tad more realistic sounds.

Gameplay -

A good point of the game, though it falls in a few categories. The controls are simple, one butoton is acceleration, one is reverse, etc. etc. The cars sometimes seem to have TOO good of a steering system. The top down perspective can cause some problems, if you're chasing after a guy you can't see far enough ahead of you to know where the heck he is at.

Lasting Appeal -

Good fun. Though the missions at times may be incredibly painstaking, going out for a fun ol' drive in one of the three cities in the game adds up to a long time of playing. The game only uses a password save, which can get annoying at times. So it is half-and-half, if you will. Some parts are good, others are bad.

Buy or Rent -

I'd rent it first, just to make sure. Many people may not like this game at first, and might take them a bit longer to enjoy it's true beauty. Although if you like driving games, such as Driver and Grand Theft Autos, you'll probably love this game.

OVERALL

A good game, that allows you to go about and drive around however you choose. Surprisingly good, given my prior expectations.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/02, Updated 06/16/02