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.