Cars Race O Rama
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Game
Reviewed: Cars Race-O-Rama
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Incinerator Games
Reviewer: Cecil
Platform: Wii (also on PS2
PS3, PSP, DS & Xbox 360)
ERSB Rating: E
Game
Description
Lightning McQueen’s
new racing academy is in the sights of Chick Hicks and he is going to
do
whatever it takes to win. Gathering together a group of sneaky,
souped-up cars,
Hicks plans to knock McQueen and the folks of Radiator Springs out of
the
running.
Drive as McQueen
and the team of Radiator Springs to beat out other racecars to keep the
academy
in the spotlight and Chick from stealing all the students. Race against
the
likes of “El Machismo,” made bigger-than-life by the voice of Macho-man
Randy
Savage, and the strong, silent type of Stinger. Throw in the clones of
Autovia,
rival academy students, and the fun and loveable citizens of Radiator
Springs
and you have a racing circuit like none other.
Join Flo,
Doc,
Mater and the rest of the gang, as McQueen takes on the infamous Chick
Hicks in
a new and exciting racing series complete with special events from
“Photo Ops”
to “Car Toons” gaining extras and unlocking more Car’s
characters. Race as Mater in “Bucket Bash” or compete against other
mini-cars
in “Guido’s Cart Race” to win extras for the Cars crew. Finish in the
top three
in Gold events to take on the next big rival and unlock new body kit
parts,
wheels, and paint jobs for McQueen to put the “Kachow” back into real
racing.
What Parents Need to Know
Violence
Cars
do crash and bump into each other, often resulting in
responses such as “Ow! That hurt!” No damage is seen and cars are not
otherwise
harmed.
Language
No Bad Language
Sexual Content
No Sexual content.
Spiritual Content
No Spiritual Content
Misc
Play the story mode
first. While there is the option to play “arcade mode,” where players
can race
against each other, options are limited until you play through the
story mode.
Story mode also teaches the player a lot about maneuvering as well as
earning
extras like special characters (e.g.: Monster Truck McQueen) and paint
jobs to
personalize your particular Cars
character.
In terms of game
mechanics, there are parts that can be frustrating to the player. While
the
environment seems unrestricted and open, there are places where the
cars can
get stuck or relocated. Going “off-track” in a race will cause the game
to
relocate your character, often placing you at the back of the pack.
However, in
beginner mode, this is made up by stalling or slowing the lead cars
(even in
arcade mode) to let the player catch up.
The Wii version
also offers three control options – WiiWheel, WiiMote, and Nunchuk.
Each lends
its own feel and strengths or weaknesses to the game, so be sure to try
out
each style to determine which is best.
Reviewers Thoughts
Race-O-Rama
picks up where the Cars movie left off with a whole new story line, new
characters, and new
places to visit. Some of the original voice cast from the movie added
their
talent to bring the quality and feel of the film into the video game
market.
And where the original can’t be found, new or close representations
keep the
standard high. However, not all the characters are included. At the
very least,
Sally, was not included along with a couple others like Red, Lizzie and
“The
King.”
THQ and Incinerator
Games did do
an awesome job of incorporating a multifaceted mix of events and styles
from
monster trucks to Cars-ified versions of other iconic Pixar
characters like Mike from Monsters
Inc., not to mention humorous
cinematics.
Overall,
this game
is money well spent and certainly would make a great gift to any Cars fan, young or old. And the wide
variety of events and customization
allows for Race-O-Rama to have
great replay appeal.
