Cars Hands-On

THQ and Rainbow Studios served up a well received current-gen console game based on the Pixar movie of the same name earlier this year. This original game will pick up after the film's conclusion and finds poster boy Lightning McQueen returning to Radiator Springs. However, the magic of flashbacks ensures that you'll be able to relive key moments from the film. We had the chance to try out a playable demo of the upcoming Wii version of the game to see how it is faring on Nintendo's console.

If you played the current-gen version of Cars, you should be familiar with what to expect from the Wii game. The game will let you roam the town of Radiator Springs and its surrounding areas, engaging in a variety of different race types. You'll be able to play as Lightning McQueen and unlock several familiar faces from the films, all of which have their own unique handling.

The demo we tried showcased the unique twist Rainbow is putting on the game for the Wii: the control mechanic. The game makes sole use of the Wii remote, requiring you to hold it sideways, with the D pad resting under your left thumb and the numbered buttons under your right thumb. As with Excite Truck, you'll use the controller to steer your vehicle during the races, while the 2 button will accelerate and the 1 button will boost. Holding left on the D pad will let you powerslide and holding right will let you get your car up on two tires. Quickly moving the controller up and down will let you jump; if you time the move correctly, you'll be able to catch an impressive amount of air while doing so. Steering didn't feel quite right, although we expect the issue to be a mix between Rainbow balancing the way the game controls and us getting used to the Wii controller's handling. The version of the game we played didn't feature any support for the Wii remote's built-in speaker.

The visuals in the game don't differ radically from the current-gen game, although it looks more in line with the Xbox game than the GameCube game, albeit with a touch more aliasing. The environments are drawn from the film locales, and the cars sport a detailed appearance in line with their movie counterparts. The audio will stay true to the standard established in the console game and feature an authentic collection of voices from the film's cast.

Though there wasn't a lot to play of the game, the race we did play gave us a good idea of what to expect. The big Wii twist, the game's control, definitely takes advantage of one aspect of the controller's functionality. We would have liked to have seen some Wii-exclusive game content beyond the control scheme, but the game is well on its way to incorporating the controller. The version we played was still twitchy, but we're hoping as development wraps up and things get fine-tuned it will wind up feeling right. Cars is currently slated to ship this fall for the Wii.