Cars is a rip-roaring good time for fans of the movie.
Gameplay:
Cars is basically a driving game with a mix of sandbox-style story mode and an arcade mode. The story mode works just like Grand Theft Autos and all those other sandbox-style games in that you drive freely to the next mission while having the ability to explore and speed at your own leisure. The missions are all mainly driving games, except for tractor tipping, which really plays like a puzzle game. The game does have its share of great cutscene work that tells the story of the title, but what about the racing itself. Well, it actually depends on what type of race it is. A "speedway" race features a 20-car race and limits your actions by removing the options to boost and drift and also has 12 laps. A "off road" race is made up of 5 or less cars, allows all controls, and also varies the amount of laps. The off-road races are actually the most fun races since its the most kid-friendly races and also has the most exciting controls for the game. The speedway races, however, are probably the most frustrating part of game. These races can become extremely challenging near the end, leaving some players to restart the event over and over. These also have some collision difficulty since anything you hit will pretty much allow like 3 drivers behind you to pass almost instantly. Doesn't that seem a tad too much for a punishment? Speaking of collision problems, i noticed the game has this glitchy problem when you hit small object, kind of like when i played Ratatouille for 360, leading me to wonder if this developer tends to slack when it comes to such things as collision detection.
Graphics:
This game is actually really nice to look. The car models for all the characters are extremely polished, with a nice shiny coat and amazing facial expressions for a budget movie game. However, this all really falls flat when you take a look at the environment. The game's background is definitely a pain on the eyes with its Playstation 2-quality in textures. However, this is expected since the game originally came from PS2. Still, seeing how the game was in the development cycle longer, you would think it would get more prettier than this?
Sound:
This was pretty amazing to me. The music was very catchy thanks to the many licensed tracks being played. It also felt very nice with the cars driving around and during races as well. The voice acting was all really well done, despite some of the actors not providing their voice work and excellent stand-ins were used. Finally, the car engines were very nicely done. I loved how you could tell the difference between the engine's quality sound designs.
Story:
The story of Cars: the game is actually the aftermath story of the movie, with Lightning now residing in Radiator springs with Mater and friends. The story is very lighthearted and has a good amount laughs along the way. Fans of the movie will definitely like hearing how the gang is doing a year later.
Overall: 8.0/10.0
Slightly higher than I expected, but the game really doesn't feature too many flaws. However, I will say the ones it do have not only flatter the experience, but actually make this a hard recommendation for children. However, Fans of the movie really shouldn't think about this purchase twice, seeing how its down to around $15 in game stores these days. For those who nev4er saw the movie, I will say go see the movie first. Finally, for those who didn't like the movie, why are you even bothering reading this review? like your going to buy it...