I sat down with Cars for the Wii.  One thing you notice right away is that the graphics for this game look really nice.  In fact this game I believe sets the bar for what the first generation and second generation of Wii games should strive to achieve.  If you have seen the movie the other thing you will notice is that all the voice acting was done by the original actors and actresses of the movie, which in my mind is a really big plus.  Allot of the humor from the movie is incorporated into the game, so if you liked the movie there is a real good chance you will like the game also.  The other area where this game really excels is the game controls.  The motion sensing capabilities of the Wiimote are integrated dare I say perfectly.  In the racing aspects of the game the tilt control just feels right, I feel the button layout could have been done a little better but I suspect that this would vary from person to person.  I really wish developers would allow users to customize the controls of a game to fit how they like to play games.  If I want the brake to be the “A” button I should be able to setup my controls to do that, and if my friend wants to the brake to be the “2” button that should how he gets to play the game.  But enough of that little rant, back to the game Cars.  As I was saying the motion controls are integrated extremely well racing, but some of the mini games I think tried to force the motion controls a little bit.  In the cow tipping mini games I felt like the motion controls were forced on me.  I found it hard to control the car and make it stop in a certain place while trying to sneak around.  I think using the D-Pad would have been a much better solution here to move around instead of trying to do small controller movements.  But that is a pretty small aspect of the game, and definitely should not deter you from buying or playing this game.

This is predominately a child friendly racing game.  As I said before the controls are very easy to pick up, some of the move advanced moves you will have to do some finger dancing on the controller but that is what separates the good from the great.  The other feature I think allot of younger players will enjoy is the fact that if you get to far off course or get too far behind the game simply places you back on the track and points you in the right direction.  This gives younger gamers the chance to make mistakes and learn from them, but not get completely frustrated and give on the game.  For the parents this means there is a much better chance that this game will spend more time spinning around inside the Wii itself entertaining the children instead of collecting dust in corner. 

I am very happy that the game does support multi-player, a feature that is sadly missed in some of the other games based on the children’s movies for the Nintendo Wii.  Split screen is the only option currently available, no multi player over the internet just yet.  But I guess that split screen multiplayer is better then just a single player story mode game.

Driving games like Cars but also Need for Speed Carbon, Excite Truck, Monster 4 X 4 and others are best enjoyed with the driving wheel add on.  You can check out our review of this product for more details, but the simple description is a plastic steering wheel add on that your Wiimote snaps into.  This really helps the player to get a sense of how tilt and maneuver the Wiimote, and cuts down on over compensating.  Holding the steering wheel also adds another level of immersion into the environment of the game.  While I think that the $19.99 price tag is a little high for this item I did see on GameStop’s website that a less expensive version may be coming in March.

I like to compare this game to allot of the Bugs Bunny cartoons.  Children enjoy them on one level, and adults can enjoy them on a completely different level.  Unlike games like Ice Age 2: The Meltdown and other games aimed almost specifically at children that adults will mostly like tire of very quickly or not enjoy at all, Cars is one of those games that gamers of all ages and experience levels will be able to enjoy.  Although the high end tuner, and hard core driving simulator fans will probably not find enough to hold their interest in this game for very long.  In the end it is a fun arcade racer that everyone in the family will enjoy.  I highly recommend purchasing this game, and at the very least give it a rental.

After being released for almost a week, Super Paper Mario finally found its way into my Nintendo Wii.  I picked it up over lunch, and being chained to my desk all afternoon knowing that Super Paper Mario was in my truck waiting to be played made time crawl by even slower then normal.

So I slid in the game clicked on the channel, and then … had to sit and read text on cut scenes for 25 minutes.  It seemed like there were cut scenes trying to explain the last cut scene.  Honestly Nintendo dig into that mattress and spend some of that moldy money you have and pay for some voice actors.  But that is about the end of my complaining on this review because once the game actually gets going, it is allot of fun to play.  It plays just like the old side scrolling Super Mario Brothers…well for the most part.  You go along running, and jumping, breaking blocks by jumping under them, and jumping on top of enemies.  You can even morph into a giant pixilated version of the original Mario from Super Mario Brothers and go stomping and crashing through part of the level like Rosie O’Donnell at the Buffet.  At first I found myself dying quite often due to some area of the level that was impossible to get past.  Then I remembered that I had to flip into 3D space and the answer usually became quite clear.  There are a host of old school enemies as well as a bunch of new enemies that are trying to stand in the way of Mario saving Princess Peach from a fate worst then any known death.  The controls are really well done, you hold the Wiimote sideways like a classic NES Pad.  Motion sensitive controls seem a little tacked on but not as bad as some other games I have reviewed.  One really great feature about the game is you can point the Wiimote at any item on the screen and your trusty side kick will then explain what that is and how you can interact with it.

Over all this is a great game.  In typical Nintendo fashion they have revitalized an old franchise with some simple but very creative ideas and have a great game on their system.  While I do not think that this is a must have game for the Wii, it is definitely one that most Wii owners should consider eventually getting into their library of games.  If you liked any of the Mario Brothers games you will definitely like this game.  Most gamers who enjoy platformers will also consider this a game worth buying.  If Nintendo can get just a couple more big hits like this game, their console may very well be hard to find on store shelves all the way into the next holiday season.

So after playing a couple of cross platform games I have found that I have not had great experiences for the most part.  There have has been a couple of exceptions, but for the most part it cross platform games are not a strength of the Nintendo Wii.  The Wii’s little brother the Nintendo DS also struggled with cross platform games.  Games like Madden, Splinter Cell, Need for Speed and other cross platform games have never been real strong on the Nintendo DS.  Unique titles like Nintendogs, Brain Age, Elite Beat Agents and Hotel Dusk have been the driving force for the legendary sales of the Nintendo DS.  I think the Nintendo Wii will find success in similar unique titles.  But right now developers seem content to be shoveling ports from XBox 360, PS3, PS2, and even the PSP onto the Nintendo Wii platform, then throwing some sort of waggle feature in and calling it a Nintendo Wii title.  I really hope that developers take a chance and try some crazy idea that truly utilizes the Wiimote functionality in some creative way.  With the sales numbers that the Nintendo Wii is generating a simple title could end up a massive hit, and being the next Halo or God of War series.