Well, if you can update the code on the microcontroller then theoretically you could just take out what's there and replace it with your own code that doesn't have long delays. More work for you, of course 
No surprise about the 2A issue...that's just pure marketing. Without a big heatsink and/or a fan the L298 is limited by heat, not current. In a recent test on an L298-based motor driver product, we found that it goes into thermal shutdown at 1.24A on a single channel (other channel is off) or about 0.8A when both channels are on.
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The Gadget Shield: accelerometer, RGB LED, IR transmit/receive, light sensor, potentiometers, pushbuttons