Cars

"Another game based on a movie..."

Yet another video game franchise based on a movie, that in my humble opinion, was not very good. Surprisingly, despite the lame storyline, it makes for a valuable addition to a GBA racing game.

Story:

It doesn't really follow the movie at all. Which is good, but also gives it a random feeling. All you do is race various cars show cased in the movie. Followed with horrible side comments, and impossibly lame retorts it makes for a very 'kiddy' experience. 3/10

Sound:

Vrooming of cars, a little music that you really don't hear, and the menu buttons bleeping. Average. 8/10

Controls:

You press A to move forward and B to stop. That's it. They included an option to switch them if you're fanatical about that. Oh yes, they went over the top and let you press R to draft, which was interesting, and added variety to the gameplay. 6/10

Physics:

It's not 3D, so physics don't have much to do with that. You can knock over safety cones though, and that looks nice... 5/10

Gamplay:

You race along a ton of nearly similar tracks, doing linear tasks, picking up coins, racing cars, time trials, ect. Unbelievably, it works rather well on the GBA, using the curves nicely and separating the cars well according to their speed, acceleration, and turning. An interesting addition is the ability to draft. When you press R behind another car, on the race tracks, then you will charge up a meter, that when you release R, will give you a boost of speed, hopefully enough to zoom past the next car. An interesting feature that definitely adds to the Gameplay value. 8/10

Frustration:

It's very easy. But a 6 year old might have a few problems. 2/10

Replay:

You are able to unlock a bonus track, but only with a cheat. But then, racing games are based on Replay value. You'll probably want to go through the tracks a couple more times when you are in the mood. It would have added a lot more if they had bothered to change the backgrounds for each race. 7/10

A valuable addition to any GBA given to the limited racing genres on the system. You'll at least want to try it out.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/07