Ever try to drive a race car from the god perspective? You know, high above in the clouds, at a bit of an angle but with a very limited viewing range.

That is the principle problem with Driven, a Game Boy Advance release from bam! This game is inspired by Sylvester Stallone’s film of the same name, but really fails to capture the essence of racing. With its pint-sized cars racing around a flat, two-dimensional track, the game will lose most players in the first few minutes after launch.

And that is too bad, because the game does have some nice features.

There are several ways to play the game. You can choose your driver (from one of the 12 offered – each based on characters from the film), then launch into an arcade style game and race the clock. Finishing in the top three allows you to advance to the next level of the game. There is also a single-race mode in which you take turns around one of the six available tracks. If you are not up to race against the clock, then enter the Testing Session.

The Story Mode has players challenging Joe Tanto and Jimmy Bly (movie characters) in scenarios taken from the film. There are Bonus Stage and Championship Mode styles of play, and the game – with the proper accessories – does support multiplayer games.

The options package is rather limited. You can choose your difficulty level, and the number of laps you wish to race. The controls are kept very simple: the D-pad controls direction, the A button is for accelerate and the B button is for brake. You really can’t get much more elementary than that.

The game’s sound is average for the hand-held console system.

Graphically this game does not live up to Game Boy Advance standards. The capability of the GBA may have allowed a smoothness to the graphical elements, but even the crashes and car disintegrations look simple. Though the graphics are not terrible, they are not visually appealing. And therein lies the game’s biggest problem.

The world of racing games has really improved. Players are put behind the wheel on a fast track where you either put the peddle to the metal, or eat the ‘dust’ of other drivers. This program takes the genre backwards, not forwards.

It is rated for Everyone, though it does contain mild violence.

Gameplay: 7
Once you begin a race, the game moves from starter’s row to the checkered flag seamlessly.

Graphics: 5.5
Though not really bad, this game is not even average for the genre.

Sound: 6.5
Nothing special here.

Difficulty: 7
The game has several difficulty levels, and the controls are kept very simple – which will enable any player the opportunity to compete.

Concept: 7
This program has a wonderful array of ways to play.

Multiplayer: N/A
You can hook up GBAs to each other for multiplayer gaming, but that option was not available at the time of the review.

Overall: 6
This game does have some very nice features, but falls apart in the graphical department.