Driver 2 Advance is an action driving game developed by Sennari Interactive and published by Infogrames for the Game Boy Advance, released in 2003. It is an adaptation of Driver 2, the 2000 PlayStation title developed by Reflections Interactive, redesigned from the ground up for the handheld platform. Game design was handled by Ian McIntosh, Alex Shatsky, and Craig Selby.
The storyline follows the original Driver 2 in condensed form: Tanner, an undercover cop, investigates the murder of a Brazilian criminal and finds himself caught between a Brazilian gang and the Chicago mob. The story is told through cutscenes that reuse stills from the rendered scenes of the PlayStation original, with dialogue adapted to fit the shortened narrative. Where the original moved across four cities, Driver 2 Advance focuses on two: Chicago and Rio de Janeiro, both with simplified but functional map layouts.
The cities are rendered in texture-mapped 3D, with cars and pedestrians displayed as sprites — a technical approach that pushes the GBA hardware harder than most driving games on the platform. Missions follow the structure of the original: reaching a location, following a target car, ramming a vehicle to stop it, tailing without being spotted, and pick-up and delivery jobs. Some missions are direct adaptations from the PlayStation version; others are new. The main Undercover mode is supplemented by a free-roaming Take A Ride mode in both cities, and five mini-games borrowed from the original — including a demolition survival, a checkpoint race, and a cone-following precision test.
The most unexpected feature is four-player multiplayer via link cable, with four exclusive modes: checkpoint racing, cross-town racing, free-for-all survival, and a cops-and-robbers team mode. For a GBA adaptation of a console game, it is a generous package.
Critics at the time were positive. GameSpot described it as "both impressive and enjoyable," noting that the game delivered an experience that worked for both series fans and new players. Gaming Target praised the game's sense of freedom, noting that it maintained that freedom despite its platform constraints, comparing it favourably to what Grand Theft Auto and Crazy Taxi had achieved in their own handheld translations.
Driver 2 Advance is a modest game by any modern standard, but for fans of the Driver series, it is a curiosity worth trying — a pocket-sized version of the series that kept Tanner alive on hardware that was amazing for its time.
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