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In Japan, sales charts are frequently dominated by Role-Playing
Games and quirky titles, whilst in America, Action and Sports games
rule. Back in Britain the Sales Charts show a disturbing trend,
despite a history of shocking production, mediocre porting and
little relevance to the
source material going as far back as the infamous ET for the
Atari 2600 back in 1983, the British public love their Film
Licences. Being arguably the kid’s film of the summer, Disney/Pixar:
Cars was always going to have a related game, on every platform
ever. PSP games are regularly cut-down versions of the home console
version, complete with extra soul crushing Loading Times. However,
Disney/Pixar: Cars is hoping to break that mould, and with
the GameCube and NintendoDS versions receiving decent reviews, let’s
hope THQ can pull-off the unthinkable, a decent PSP Film Licence.
Disney/Pixar: Cars is, unsurprisingly, a film about cars, so
predictably Disney/Pixar: Cars for PSP is a racing game. A
far cry from the likes of Gran Turismo, Disney/Pixar: Cars
is a story-driven Arcade Racing game with very child friendly
controls. Players must race around fairly simply designed tracks,
each representing various locations from Radiator Springs, the
setting from the film. However, unlike the home console versions,
Disney/Pixar: Cars for the PSP does not follow the plot of the
film. Instead the story revolves around a group of
 street racers
coming to Radiator Springs and challenging the inhabitants to
several races. Hardly Oscar winning stuff, but it does set the game
up for several races against other town residents before a
head-to-head against one of the rogue street racers. Initially
Disney/Pixar: Cars allows players to choose between Lightning
McQueen, Sally and Mater for the Story and Grand Prix Mode, before
unlocking extra Tracks and characters as the player advances.
Several of the cars are, unfortunately, identical in their speed and
handling though, despite their different Character Models.
As stated, driving the vehicles in Disney/Pixar: Cars is very
easy. Braking is rendered obsolete by the incredibly useful Power
Slide, initiated by pushing the R Trigger, which allows
a player to turn easily around basically every corner in the game.
To gain a short burst of speed, the player has access to a Boost
with a constantly recharging meter. This allows the player to drive
at almost
WipEout-esque speeds for prolonged periods,
something that certainly increases the fun-factor of the game.
However, despite the lack of challenge in the actual driving, there
are a few good ideas that help make Disney/Pixar: Cars
slightly more taxing than the driving set-up would suggest. Firstly
is the idea of Drafting: basically, by positioning yourself in the
Slipstream of another vehicle, your Boost meter recharges, whereas
the leading car’s meter decreases, very useful for keeping the
leading car from Boosting and allowing you to attain a speed
advantage. The other is the liberal amount of short-cuts that can be
taken on every Track and knowing the best route can become essential
in later Missions. Nevertheless, these shortcuts add a surprising
tactical element to the game and at the very least, show a level of
polish not frequently seen in the average tie-in title.
Disney/Pixar: Cars is no graphical masterpiece, but it’s
hardly sloppy. All of the Car Models are reasonably detailed and the
Lip-Synching is fairly impressive, especially during the well
animated Cut-Scenes. On the other hand, the tracks are fairly bland,
with predominantly brown and green textures and little in the way of
distinguishing features. The overall presentation of the title is
also of an above average standard. Unfortunately there are a few
physics and Collision Detection issues, namely the fact that hitting
any object at high speed usually results in an unrealistic change in
direction. Disney/Pixar: Cars features Voice-Acting from the
cast of the film and uses them the good effect in-game, although
admittedly they will start to grate eventually. The game also
features lively music from the film which gives the game an official
and well presented feel.
Shockingly, Disney/Pixar: Cars is actually quite a good game.
The Story Mode is challenging enough to keep children and adults
alike interested for a decent amount of time and the range of
unlockables and Ad-Hoc Multiplayer
should help prolong the enjoyment. Due to their simplicity, the
actual driving mechanics will become boring for experienced gamers
after prolonged play, but should entertain children for quite some
time. Disney/Pixar: Cars for PSP is unlikely to dominate
proceedings on a console already saturated with Racing titles, but
if all Film Licences were used this well, in a game of this
standard, perhaps the strange spending habit of British gamers would
be at least partially justified.
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