There is something about Driver that reminds me of a cardboard diorama. Perhaps it is all the detritus littering the back alleys, the twig-like parasols, the stickered feel to some of the shop and house textures, or even the cars themselves which seem to have a thin layer of paper taped around some sort of firm but dentable filler. Florist foam blocks are my choice! It is particularly present when crashing. In lieu of modern day baked-in Unreal engine particle effects, the cars you crash into in Driver give off car-body coloured thin triangles; like pieces of grated cardboard.

As a child, the world and cities of Driver enchanted me. They had a very certain feeling that was unique to them. Bump up a small kerb and you would hear a gentle "thum-omP" sort of sound. Then you had the sun of Driver. Even brought up on the blue sky arcadia of Sega, nothing still quite compares to the sun baked streets of Miami; the games heavily marketed opening city. The vibes were strong. And surprisingly for a relatively empty world (by modern standards), the world felt lived in, even if only by cardboard figurines!

I even remember at the time of the game's pre release demo, that the notion of having back alleys was innovative which is surreal to think about if you are exploring this game from a different generation. Back alleys. A place to place destructible assets so it felt cool to plow through during a chase. Or a narrative tactic to make the cities feel ever slightly more real. I also remember that the back alleys in Driver were also kind of sparse and that the one they had right next to the demo area definitely felt cherry picked. Back alleys as a selling point! I remember feeling giddy many years later when GTA4 had back alleys galore all over its realistic feeling New York map. The map designer learnt it here first.

Learning the cities then became a sort of meta game, not only knowing where the back alleys are, but also tacitly understanding to always take the freeway in Miami as opposed to the narrow one-lane roads as to best avoid police blockades. Gaining 'the knowledge' of these desperate cities immersed you tightly into the character of a criminally employed driver. The different cities this game's veritable lava world, ice world and dungeon world, each with fully exaggerated gameplay differences to explore and learn.

Talking of gameplay, Driver is ostensibly an old school experience. When involved in an early chase of a monorail, you will be surprised at the constant "she got away" fail state even after just pulling out of your apartment and not following the invisible, most efficient driving line. With these failures, your mind is oddly cast forward to the same development company's Stuntman series. Some of the missions in Driver really feel like movie sets with a strict set of directorial buffers and constraints. A poetic rehearsal for a later game indeed. In all, the game hooks you into its way of thinking; to always drive fast, not mind the felony ratings (for the mission timers are too strict to slowball) and to always best utilise your 'knowledge', even if that knowledge is gained on your 23rd restart of a mission.

And because of the baked in difficulty, Driver has a timeless, old school-lean feel. It rarely gets old on you too, just frustrating. Even its stingy later missions or survival mode mini-game just adds to a feeling of a bombastic game of car-based asteroids. An eternal crashing of cardboard upon cardboard.

// Known as 'Speed Freaks' in UK //

A classic blockbuster rental this game. A game to rinse over the weekend and maybe have a blast on its 4 player split screen mode if you get some mates round. Come Sunday hand-in, you won't feel bad about the loss but suitability satiated by a solid kart racing experience.

I cannot help but feel this was internally pitched as 'Rayman Karting' giving the lack of limbs of our cutesy racers. It may have been rejected from this license but there is a good game here. Tires seem to touch the track as you course over various surfaces in a tactile way. Each track is colourful and flavourful enough too; and the pleasing sound when using the boost seems nestled into my childhood cupboard of memorable sounds. "vvvpppvvvpppffff..."?

What is there to say really, it is all above board and good, and perhaps only lacking an aforementioned license or gimmick to really set it apart. The sound effects, the characters, the weapon pick ups all feel polished and primed to deliver fun. Back then, that's all a game needed to be I guess.

The roads are way too wide. I know they used satellite imagery but I think that is to the game's detriment as the geographical ratios feel all out of whack. It is just way too easy to hold X and throw yourself into corners with abandon; all of the rubble areas and slants are incredibly forgiving and it just robs the experience of tension. Even if the time checks were more competitive the game would still lack an inherent sense of pressure; the baseline driving is just way too easy and forgiving. It never feels like you are battling against the environment to hold onto the track.

Such a shame as I really like the presentation and use of real-life courses. I doubt they are this easy to jaunt through though.