 Preview By: Siou Choy |
Developer: | Incinerator Games |
| Publisher: | THQ | |
| Genre: | Racing | |
| ESRB: | Everyone | |
| # Of Players: | 1-2 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Nunchuk, Dolby Pro Logic II, HDTV (480p) | |
| Estimated Release: | 11/16/2006 |
Attention, Pixar fans: THQ will be releasing a Wii version of Cars, based once again on the animated feature film. For those who haven’t already read my review of the GameCube version, Cars follows the story of one "Lightning McQueen" (doubtless Steve McQueen is rolling over in his grave right now), an anthropomorphically inclined vehicle which finds itself determined to make it on the racing circuit.
The story unfolds throughout the course of the game by usage of the somewhat hackneyed device of a series of flashbacks, triggered by (or triggering) yet another race for the player to partake in. Somewhat unusually, once a track has been played, it remains unlocked for the gamer to practice on thereafter. This also holds true for any mini-games you come across along the way. Extra characters from the movie can also be unlocked, with such perks as new paint jobs available for purchase using coins you are expected to collect throughout the course of the game.
As you can tell from the foregoing, the Wii version will be rather similar to Cars franchise games already in release for current systems, but with one major difference: Cars on the Nintendo Wii will take advantage of the Wii's unique motion sensing controller. Like most racers on the system, gamers are forced to twist their controller around in some weird approximation of a steering wheel (which could prove rather distracting and embarrassing in mixed company). And now we paraphrase from the manual: A quick flip of the controller can cause your car to jump, a push to the right of the D-pad tilts your vehicle, and a nudge to the left of the D-pad performs a drift. Acceleration is handled by means of Button 2, Button 1 is used for boosting and the brake is done through the B button (zzzz…are we excited yet?). The game's mini-games will also utilize motion, with tilt functionality added to Tractor Tipping and motion mechanics added to the Pit Stop mini-game (the latter of which basically involves guiding a rogue part out of a car's innards).
Further redundancies addressed: as Cars will be released for the Wii, gamers can expect a concomitant improvement in graphics from the GameCube version. Cars is expected to release alongside the Nintendo Wii’s launch on November 19th, perhaps even hitting store shelves a few days early. And if that doesn’t get you to run out and buy a system on opening night…
Posted: 2006-10-23 11:54:03 PST