Cars (Sony PlayStation 2, 2006)

Cars is a racer that continues the story of the automotive characters who appear in the Pixar movie of the same name. Although it was targeted to a younger audience, the game would also appeal to those that would like to play a light arcade racer that doesn't take itself seriously.


What's Good:
The story mode! I like the fact that the developers made the game's plot take place after the movie. Often you'll find movie-based games try to cleverly add story plot points that are supposed to intermix with the movie because basing the game only on the movie wouldn't yield enough game-play time. But this way, you still get to play as your favourite characters (Lightning McQueen for the most part in story-mode) and you get to do so in your favourite locations, without the constraints of following a story line you already know.
Radiator Springs. The town is big enough for you to go cruising around and enjoy a leisurely drive in-between taking on new missions and races.
Unlockables. You have a decent selection of characters to unlock, and a number of different paint jobs and even a few chassis tweaks available for each character. The points required to unlock the bonuses (including movie clips and artwork) aren't too stressful to accumulate either.
Voices. You get many of the actual actors from the movie (including Owen Wilson) to do the voice acting for the game. It's always nice when the game characters voices match that of the movie.
In addition to the story mode I'm going on about, there is of course other modes included. These let you jump right on the speedway either by yourself or with a friend, or let you pick from a selection of mini-games such as Tractor Tipping!


What could have been better:
Driving in reverse is a pain because they automatically switch your view to looking backwards, which then switches your steering control. Of course, you shouldn't be driving in reverse all that often.
The steering control overall could be a little tighter.
Voices. Although the voice actors are the same, the production value isn't always there. Some of the dialog sounds like it's coming from a studio booth instead of the characters in their location.
I'm sure some more seasoned gamers who are also Pixar fans, would have appreciated a little bit more of a challenge.
Although the Radiator Spring courses are varied, the actual race track courses are pretty repetitive. Like NASCAR racing it's more about technique then the track itself. But since cars dumbs down the racing a little bit there's not much technique to worry about, so you find yourself just driving in circles.

A fun experience for gamer-families and "Cars" fans alike.

Cars isn't a highly innovative title and it has a few problems such as slow pacing - the pace of the game is a bit slow at the beginning and some technical errors, but for the most part the game is enjoyable and great for fans of the film.
children will absolutely love being able to play as Lightning McQueen, but Adults won't mind either because the racing is actually rather enjoyable. The racing aspect of the game isn't deep, but children aren't likely to care.
The audio is stunning and the game features the voicework of everyone involved in the movie, but it does become a little repetitive sometimes.
With licensed titles it would be quite easy for a developer to rush out the release but it seems like Rainbow Studios really wanted to create a solid title and they've definitely done this.
Cars is simply one of the best children's games released this year.

Cars, a Disney-themed family game for the Playstation 2, is one of the best. It is rated E for everyone and features fun for all ages. We highly recommend this game and own it personally. The game features both a story mode as well as an arcade mode for fast action. It has a few circuits and you can work your way up to open other circuits. You race against all of your favorite characters like Sally, Lightning McQueen, Luigi, etc. Only wish is that they had this game available on all platforms.

I wouldn't recommend this for hard core gamers but definitely great for kids and I found it very entertaining as a novice 20-something adult player who grew up with the original Frogger, Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog. If you enjoy games that have many small victories as opposed to one seemingly never ending battle, this would be a great choice. I found the mini games entertaining; each one has about 4 or 5 levels and they increase in difficulty as you pass on to a new level. I also found it exciting to explore the terrain and find hidden trails. It requires use of multiple controller buttons at one time in order to utilize some of the special features and to stay on track at high speeds but should be fairly easy to catch on to after a few minutes of continuous play. The story line is a nice addition too. The only negative is the repetitious comments from the announcer and other cars during the races and from passing cars on the terrain - it got a little annoying after a while.

I was really taken with this game. It's easy enough to get started, but leaves room for the player to improve. The graphics are great and there are fun additional games as well as bonus features that can be 'earned' with credits picked up while playing other games. As a first time (well, first time since the era of the original Atari games) player, I 'tested' the game for hours while the kids were in bed and I really enjoyed it a lot!

So what's the problem? The kids haven't touched it since we bought a second game for the system.... and they haven't even passed the first race. When they didn't have another PS2 game to draw their attention, they were just thrilled to drive around for hours (or as long as I would let them) and they rolled on the floor with laughter at the lighthearted animation of the characters. But for some reason, they just don't chose this game to play when given the choice.

The split-screen races ARE fun and the game is worth having just for those alone if you don't already have any racing games. But, I think that the big issue with this game is that game play is strictly 1 player and my kids are used to playing together (see my Lego Star Wars review). It DOES have that two player splitscreen racing "mode" but like many... if not most... games on the market, it's a one player game where they have to 'throw something together' to get the two player rating.

Also, you can't 'move forward' until you win the race... there is a lot to do without going to the 'next level', but the races are challenging (even for me - and I'm not 6) to win and the kids just gave up. Perhaps if the 'damage' from running into things showed and had repair features, my son would have been happy to race and until he got good enough to win.