Disney Pixar's Cars (GameCube) Review

When it comes to quick turnarounds on games of this ilk, usually the presentation quality is lower than expected. Yet the graphics for this are not too shabby by most standards, especially those of younger children – the target audience for Cars. However, in all honesty, developer Rainbow Studios should have been able to tweak the GameCube to prevent so much pop-up from occurring. After all, we are no longer in the days of the PSone or even low-tech PS2 and the XBOX version looks impressive enough. But at least there is a nice selection of high quality video clips thrown in to offset the annoyance of invisible walls and horrible close-ups of the vehicles! As for the soundtrack, it is pretty much in the same vein as the movie itself, which is to say it proves to be very run-of-the-mill and totally forgettable. But, once again, the voice acting goes some way to countering this negative aspect.

Some of you may recognise the name ‘Rainbow Studios’ from its MX vs. ATV games. Unsurprisingly, though, the magic found in those is not entirely carried over to Cars. For some reason the game appears to have been dumbed-down, although thankfully manages to still lift itself above the seemingly endless mire of worthless movie tie-ins we are usually subjected to. Car the film is about racing, therefore by default the game is centred round driving, saving us from the pain of another average-to-poor platform outing.

However, it is not just simple racing throughout the whole game – there is actually more than a modicum of adventuring via mission-based gameplay. The setting is none other than Radiator Springs, the sleepy town featured in the movie, featuring all of the favourites from the film as you trundle along what is basically a large hub world. Sometimes, between missions, it is just fun to take a long run-up and slam into certain characters, since they all respond accordingly with amusing voice samples. Such is the joy of free-roaming…well, free other than for the invisible walls thrown at you. Before talking about what you can do in the game in general, it must be mentioned how the game controls quite well, but nowhere near as well as it should and with the amazing lack of any sense of speed, Cars gets frustrating after a while.

You can challenge other characters to races, accept various challenges that help move the story along and lead you towards the major competition that is the Piston Cup. But this is no Burnout, because as already stated the controls and various other aspects let things down. Drifting is basically a waste of time and there is a damn annoying 'off track' warning that proves to be very temperamental, popping up even if you slightly stray off route, quickly counting down from three to then make you disappear and then reappear elsewhere in the centre of the track (sometimes still in the lead, which is weird since it feels like the other racers stopped to let you get yourself right again). In addition, the computer cheats, just like back in Mario Kart. You can be miles ahead of the pack, but slow down slightly or bump into something and BAM, the computer has caught up to you. Disappointingly cheap...

But if you stick with the game you will unlock various new abilities, environments and numerous small games that actually can be much more fun than some of the main missions (an example being an obstacle course)! Customisation of the vehicles on offer may keep young ones entertained, whilst gamers wanting more bang for their buck will be pleased to know that you can unlock ten other racers with bonus points collected during the story mode. There are also more than two hundred trophies to be earned, concept art to be uncovered and lots of clips from the movie to be opened up, making it good value for anyone that can overlook the flaws here.

Oh, one last point; those looking to enjoy the multi-player racing aspect will feel cheated since the speed drops considerably, making the races feel like you are driving through treacle.