Back in 2006, Pixar released
their feature film Cars into theatres as a follow up to their near
masterpiece, The Incredibles (2004). Cars didn’t prove to be as
nearly successful, but with any Pixar film, the movie delivered revered quality
that continues to be delivered by Pixar on a consistent basis. Now, a year
later and with one platinum hit already published by THQ based on the franchise
(the self-titled Cars in 2006), Rainbow Studios delivers a sequel to the
first installment on the Xbox 360.
To dig deep into Rainbow
Studios’ games library, they have worked on several racing games in the past
including the original Cars title. Being acquired by THQ in 2001, they
have worked on titles such as: MX vs. ATV Unleashed, MX Unleashed,
Splashdown, ATV Offroad-Fury and many others. With all that said,
you can see it in the blueprints that Rainbow Studios has had enough work in the
racing genre to deliver another valuable racer. Well, if you came to that
conclusion then you were tricked as Cars Mater-National was an all-around
disappointment.
The storyline pits players in
competing at the first ever race held at Radiator Springs titled the
Mater-National. Being the home of everybody’s favorite Lightning McQueen,
players can expect many of the habitants to show their pretty faces in the
game. With the inclusion of the usual suspects, Rainbow Studios also included
Mike and Sully, from Monsters Inc., to the delight of fans of the movie.
Besides those two notable additions, there are a few other new characters
introduced into the series, but not many of them stuck out besides the drift car
named Koji. In total, there are six new competitors to take for a spin on the
track.
Playing as Lightning McQueen,
you’ll have to qualify for the Mater-National which is of course hosted my Mater
himself. To qualify, you must compete in smaller races and mini-games found in
the game world. Winning those races and mini-games will earn players flags; and
with winning enough flags, players will be able to unlock a new location,
mini-gamers, and several other miscellaneous things.
Outside of familiar faces,
Cars Mater-National doesn’t have a lot going for it. Being a racer, players
should be able to pick up and play without too much difficulty. The actual
racing mechanics resemble a simulation title with a few arcade traits included
in it. Never having any troubles with driving around the race tracks, I found
the game insanely easy. This is definitely geared more for younger players that
are still learning the tricks of racing titles.
For added replay, players can
go on a hunt to find hidden tokens in the game world. Many of the times, the
game will have players using the jump ability to find the tokens, but they
shouldn’t fret on being frustrated since collecting the tokens is simple.
Though, what may end up making it a much harder task is there are over 350 flags
in total that players can go back after completing the Mater-National to collect
if they didn’t the first time through. But tokens aside, you could possibly beat
the game within one sit down period of six or so hours.
Pictures speak a thousand words
and it’s apparent that there are a thousand words that describe dull and boring
since Cars Mater-National is just plain drab. Actually, the graphics are
on par with what I experienced with the previous installment, so if you enjoyed
the first, maybe you’ll enjoy it again – it’s just that I can’t stand for the
lack of improvement. The only area of the graphics portion that looked halfway
decent was the environments as they did a good job of conveying the scenic
Midwestern themes quite well. As for the voice-acting, Owen Wilson doesn’t
return to fill the role of Lightning which depresses me. The rest of the audio
also suffers with a horrible soundtrack. If I have to hear Rascal Flatts sing
“Life is a Highway” one more time, I swear I am going to hurt someone.
|
Review Scoring Details for Cars Mater-National |
Gameplay: 5.4
If you enjoyed how the first
game controlled, then you shouldn’t have any problems picking up Cars
Mater-National and finding something to like out of it.
Graphics: 5.0
Uglier than my beater I call a
car – the game doesn’t take advantage of the Xbox 360’s power.
Sound: 4.0
For the sake of everyone’s
health, no more Rascal Flatts! Capisce?
Difficulty: Easy
If you are buying this for your
children, then you should have no worries about the difficulty – it’s simple as
Simon.
Concept: 3.0
Rinse, recycle, and repeat –
the basic premise of Cars Mater-National.
Multiplayer: 5.5
If you have friends that
enjoyed the movie, then somehow convince them to play with you as this will be
the only enjoyable moments you’ll have from the game.
Overall: 5.1
At times it’s charming, but for
the most part, it was just aggravating to experience such monotony. While I am
definitely not apart of the demographic they are trying to target – namely
children – I wish they did more to appeal to the adult gamer.
