I've not got what one would call stellar dexterity so the idea of driving a car on a little gamepad as opposed to a steering wheel or analog joystick was a bit daunting to me. Starting my racing career off in a Nissan 240SX that backfired whenever I turned, shifted, accelerated or braked made it rather nerve racking. But, eventually, I fell into the groove and found myself reaching those "dangerous speeds" they so cautiously warn you about at the beginning of the game.

Having poor dexterity, I generally spend time with GBA games on the GBA then end up throwing them into the GameCube adapter for the freedom of a larger controller. For the first time in my two years of playing (and avoiding) GBA games, I found that this game performed significantly better with the GBA controller. So much so, that when I was later testing some graphics (I'll get to that in a bit) I used a GameBoy Player adapter so that my GBA remained my gamepad. I give EA kudos on this…making a game easy to manipulate in a confined space is hard enough, never mind one where you're speeding around corners at 200+ miles per hour.

As I mentioned I started off with my box on wheels - the Nissan 240SX. Not the greatest handler in acceleration in the garage and topping out at about 160, I quickly found myself limited in capabilities. Not to worry, though. There are 18 cars available in the GBA version - some old standards such as a Toyota Celica and some not so standard such as the Nissan Skyline. There are also ample locked cars, assuming you don't spend your points trying to make your car powerful enough to earn the points to buy them.

There is a significant after-market purchase feature for improvements to your vehicle. You will unlock certain upgrades as you complete races but also purchase them with points earned by winning races. As much as I enjoyed the upgrades it was somewhat disappointing not to know exactly what the effect was they would have on my vehicle. Yes, I upgraded to 3 Stage Headers, but not being a mechanic I had no idea what this would accomplish beyond improving my exhaust system (it didn't help the annoying backfiring at all). However, with each upgrade you will feel a performance change in the handling of your vehicle. After several upgrades, the change is significant - and again this is on the GBA.

The game boasts four play modes - Circuit, Drag, Drift and Bonus. All can be played "freestyle" - for practice without scoring or affecting your profile. Circuit is simply lapped tracks around the city; Drag is drag racing (my favorite); Drift is your ability to slide around corners using acceleration and a handbrake (also fun!); and Bonus, a series of mini-games where you attempt to tune your engine. As stated before, each can be played freestyle but when going "underground" to the world of illegal racing the scoring begins. From here you earn visual and structural updates, unlock other challenges and generally attempt to crash as little as possible. With 80 events in all, you'll be busy for sometime.

I found the sound to be annoying and played with it off more often than not. The constant backfire of the vehicles, the extremely repetitive music and the poor screeching sounds of the cars as they took corners (or crashed) was enough to make one wish for fingernails on a chalkboard. Make the "vroom vroom" sounds yourself - you'll be much more satisfied!

Graphically, the game makes the best of what is a very small canvas. Areas are unique and textures vary as much as possible. The cars are distinct and visual changes to them obvious. The one problem I found was playing on a GBA, not a GBA SP. When drag racing, it's fully conceivable and expected that when barreling through an intersection near Mach 1 you won't see the vehicles coming in the opposite direction. However, I found myself hitting the vehicles (and not seeing) them so often I wondered if it wasn't a problem with the limitations of my console. Sure enough, I put it in the GameBoy Player and I saw that pixel in the split second necessary to swerve. As such, I don't recommend this game unless you have an SP or the Player.

So…no quarters, no steering wheel or joystick and yet hours later I'm still racing down the streets. Or drifting the corners… I have to say, NFSU2 is a most enjoyable GBA game - specifically on the GBA. Take it on your next trip - just make sure the people in the front seat don't hear you say "vroom vroom" too loudly.