Cars Mater-National

Last year, THQ released their video game tie-in for the smash hit Disney-Pixar film, Cars. The game sold very well, prompting THQ to ready a sequel to tie-in with the film’s recent launch on Blu-Ray disc. Cars: Mater-National Championship for the Nintendo DS is a racing game that offers new tracks and mini-games while revisiting the popular characters from the film.

The game offers voice work by some of the film’s stars (including Larry the Cable Guy reprising the role of Mater), and bright and colorful graphics that represent the film’s world quite well. However, the gameplay itself leaves quite a bit to be desired, with floaty handling and an overall lack of challenge. Still, younger fans of the movie might get a kick out of the game.

Cars Mater-National has Mater, the yokel tow truck from the film, starting up his own racing festival to celebrate the construction of Lighting McQueen’s new racing headquarters in Radiator Springs. The story isn’t much to get excited about as nothing terribly consequential happens at all.

You’ll play as a number of characters from the film, including Mater and Lightning McQueen himself, as you race through a variety of tracks both original and inspired by the movie. The tracks are pretty diverse, and have a good amount of shortcuts in them in order to help you get the lead on your opponents. You can also hit specific targets that will allow you to open up more areas on the track, letting you collect secret items and trophies. As you complete the races and gain bonuses, you’ll be able to unlock new characters to race with.

The racing mechanics leave a lot to be desired, not feeling the least bit challenging or realistic. All of the cars handle about the same, with the only real distinction between them being their look. If you memorize the shortcuts for each track, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t be able to wipe the floor with your opponents.

The game’s graphical presentation is its strongest point, with nice looking car models and colorful, detailed environments. Everything also moves at a smooth framerate as well, keeping the action fast.

The sound effects are Ok, with voice work from the original actors from the film. The music is MIDI-fied guitar riffs that grow a bit tedious and repetitive after a while. The sound quality also could use some work, as the voice acting (while pretty good) sounds a bit too compressed.

Cars Mater-National Championship won’t bring much of a challenge to more seasoned gamers, but will likely appeal to the younger, more casual crowd.

Gameplay: 6.0
Cars: Mater-National offers up a variety of tracks complete with shortcuts and environmental changes that the player can catalyze themselves to reach special items or get the drop on their opponents. Unfortunately, the driving mechanics are sub-par when compared to other cartoon racers on the market, like Mario Kart DS. The handling between the different characters is virtually indistinguishable and steering feels very floaty and unnatural.

Graphics: 8.0
The graphics look quite good, with a smooth framerate and nicely rendered characters. The environments also look quite good and have lots of details to them.

Sound: 6.0
The music is a bit repetitive and has the same MIDI-fied riffs playing over and over again. The voice work is pretty well done and features clips from several of the film’s actors, but sound a bit compressed and unrecognizable through the DS’s speakers.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 5.5
The game’s racing model is very simplistic, so anyone expecting any sort of challenge will be disappointed. The storyline doesn’t really add anything at all to the Cars universe.

Multiplayer: 5.5
The game allows you to race against up to three friends in a few different local wi-fi matches.

Overall: 6.0
Cars: Mater-National doesn’t add much to the racing genre, with unimpressive driving mechanics and simplistic gameplay. The game will be far too easy for all but the youngest set of players, making it hard to recommend for anyone but really young fans of the film.