Review: GT Advance 2 - International Rally Championship (GBA)

GT Advance Racing was a fantastic launch title when it appeared on the shelves next to the likes of F-Zero and Mario Advance. It offered officially licensed cars, plenty of tracks to race across and some decent high-speed thrills. THQ have decided now would be a good time to release the anticipated sequel, is it as fun and playable as the first version? Or will you be wishing it never made it past the first checkpoint?

GT Advance 2 shares many similarities with its older sibling although it suffers because of a certain competitor that we will mention later. One of the first things that many people noticed with the original game was that everything was rather flat and devoid of even the tiniest bumps in the road. This has been fixed for the sequel with some massive jumps and dips to help increase the experience of tearing through treacherous terrain. One addition that is sure to please many gamers is a proper battery back-up feature (unlike the useless password system previously employed). As soon as your Subaru roars and slides effortlessly across the screen you just know you can expect an impressive front end and the game does not disappoint.

The menu screen is very tastefully put together with some great looking black and white pics to display the various options. As well as the expected World Rally you can also find Time trials, Single Races and a License section to round off a decent selection of game modes that should keep you busy for some time. All the cars you have, spin stylishly around as they are waiting to be picked and you get a chance to change various stats on your vehicle before it hits the (dirt) track. Decent little replays also feature within the game and although strange to see them on such a small screen, look very nice and add that little something extra. Apart from the rolling hills, which have been added its pretty much business as usual as far as the visuals are concerned. The mode 7 styled tracks although displaying various surfaces, snow, dirt etc are very sparse with just the odd plant appearing by the side of the track.

Speed is one thing that has remained and it still remains great fun sliding round hairpins at a 120 mph plus. The cars do not break up when turning corners (as in the original) and are nice and easy to spot in the distance as you contemplate how best to overtake them. Sound is likewise adequate instead of impressive, with jolly tunes and decent engine effects. Although the tracks do not really suit the in-game action, they are inoffensive enough and will not have you reaching for the volume control. There is a fair amount of speech in the game as your co-driver shouts out directions and luckily it does not suffer from the usual problem the Advance's tinny speakers sometimes produce with his orders coming across with only the slightest amount of muffle. GT's visuals and sounds may not be winning awards anytime soon, fortunately however the gameplay of the original has remained more or less intact with the main emphasis still on sliding recklessly round corners whilst chasing after your opponents.

The inclusion of the hills and jumps add a lot more fun to the proceedings with your car being able to turn round in mid-jump (not realistic but very amusing). The track can still be difficult to see and it will be some time before you can complete some of the later courses on your first attempt. One thing that does make an unwelcome return is the ability to cheat by cutting out most of the corners. Although fun at first it soon becomes obvious that the game is too easy to complete and as a result within a day you will see all 42 tracks that the game has to offer, making for a fun but disappointingly quick game.

A two player link-up adds some enjoyment, but again the fact you can cheat on tracks gives you a massive advantage over other players and before long youÂ’ll be switching F-Zero back on. Yet again we end up with a sequel that does not attempt to add anything new to what came before it (apart from the useful battery back-up), and the developers seem content to rest on their laurels rather than produce anything different. Now, a quick word on that competitor we mentioned earlier. GT2 is a solid unspectacular game that would sell very well if it were not for the debut of a certain V-Rally 3 from Atari. Boasting incredible visuals that make THQ's game seem prehistoric in comparison it's well known brand name along with the superlative visuals will ensure that this will be sitting on top of many Advance charts for some time to come. A shame really as GT2 play really well and does deserves a decent shelf life, instead it will be heading swiftly to the bargain bins.

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Darran Jones