Disney Pixar's Cars ^{(PlayStation 2)}

Genre: Racing Publisher: THQ Developer: Rainbow Studios Players: ?

By Keith B (23rd Mar 2007)

Completely entertaining and enjoyable.

Pixar's Cars videogame roared to the top of the charts and quickly revealed its unique style that drew movie watchers and gamers alike. Unlike many other video games with the same name as their movie counterparts, Cars is not only a game that portrays scenes, graphics, and voiceovers that promote the movie, it also is actually a good game. It's kid-friendly (for the most part), and I have to admit that I had just as much fun playing it as my five-year-old son.

The movie Cars blew onto the big screen long after Pixar had already started its monstrous franchise campaign. I saw clothing, toys, dishes, food, and pretty much anything you can think of with the Cars logo. I have to admit that I even bought my son a pair of Cars shoes because he thought they were "cool" even before the movie came out in theaters. Now, here, several months after the release of the movie, I am still seeing more and more merchandise overflow store shelves. The funny thing is that people are still buying it! At first I bought into it as well when my boys continued to beg me for the newest Cars toys. Personally, after spending over $100.00 at least just on Cars products in the last few months, I realized that I had to enact a boycott for my own sake. No wonder they keep making new products. It's because of dummies like me who keep buying more crap that keeps them in business. Well, I had to break out of my self-proclaimed boycott when Pixar put out the PS2 game, but I swear it's the last Cars product I will buy (for now).

Two of the best features worth mentioning are the excellent graphic detail and the actual voice-overs that match the movie exactly. The town of Radiator Springs is laid out much like it is in the movie. The voices of Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy, along with the rest of the endearing voices from the movie move you throughout the game and make it much more authentic.

The gameplay itself is divided into two main categories. You can choose to play a simplistic version that was made especially for children, or you can play the game that was meant for all ages. The game that is meant for all ages is decidedly more difficult than the more simple children's version, but it is still relatively simple.

The main point of the game (I feel like inserting the word "duh" here) is racing. You can choose to race in the Piston Cup races, which on the adult version are quite realistic, or as much as a cartoon can be. It mimics NASCAR racing for the most part, except that Lightning McQueen can do some extra-cool stunts like jumping and tilting to get around the other cars. As you race in the Piston Cup, you are required to make periodic pit-stops. The interesting thing about the pit stops, unlike other NASCAR and NASCAR-like racing games, is that you have to click a series of buttons to complete each task in the pits. The faster you can hit the series of buttons, the faster your time, and the less likely you will be to lose your position.

In the children's version of the off-road racing missions around Radiator Springs, some annoying "safety" features get in the way of the gameplay. The game will allow the driver to veer slightly off course, but it only gives you a few seconds before it completely resets your car back onto the course. This happened so many times while my five-year-old was playing that I wanted to pull my hair out and stomp around for awhile. He was beginning to get frustrated as well (this could have been due to my loud stomping).

The other type of racing in this game involves several missions that race against the clock rather than race against other racecars. For instance as Luigi, you can drive around the town of Radiator Springs and gain points for the number of tires you collect in the allotted amount of time. The fun in these "off-road" missions is that you have more freedom to drive around randomly, as long as you can accurately bump into the floating objects to gain points. These wide track parameters are very helpful for younger players. After you complete several missions, more missions in the next chapter of the story will unlock.

Keeping in mind that all the cars are alive, just as they are in the movie, it is interesting to see how they react as you complete your missions. While you drive around completing your missions, if you choose to drive safely and avoid hitting other cars, the cars you pass will say nice, complimentary things to you. This is a nice touch, although they get repetitive after awhile. I thought it was more fun to drive around like a crazy person and hit everyone I could. In lieu of cursing, the cars yell things like "Hey, look out!" or "Watch it, buddy!" I rather enjoyed making everyone in Radiator Springs very angry at me.

The entire game takes the average player less than ten hours to play. This could be seen as a drawback, but there are also several mini-games to play that you will want to revisit.
I have to admit that my all-time favorite mission is the tractor tipping mission. The object of this mission is to tip as many tractors before the time runs out and before Frank catches you. You can't beat the hilarious voice of Larry The Cable Guy as he hoots and hollers while you try to tip the tractors. Also, I really enjoy the guttural sound the tractors make when they are tipped. It makes me giggle...almost.

Overall, this game was completely entertaining and enjoyable for me as well as my children. It's definitely a recommended buy, and its value far outweighs any other franchise game in its class out on the market.