What's a summer blockbuster movie without a movie tie-in game? Pixar's latest film – Cars – opened not too long ago, and though not my favorite of the Pixar films, it was still a strong offering that had its moments. In many ways, the Cars game is the same, but not exactly on par with the film.

THE STORY SO FAR

In an interesting turn of events, instead of attempting what many movie tie-in games do, Cars decided to buck the trend and take the more Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay route, in which the game plays as a side story to the film instead of replicating the exact story and events. The Cars videogame was developed as a sequel, so there are plenty of nods to the film, though you aren't required to have seen the film first before you can enjoy the game; it helps, as some events or references might be lost on you, but not being privy to the movie doesn't hurt the experience.

Taking place right after the film, Cars sees are favorite Lightning McQueen as he settles into his life at Radiator Springs, which has found a new life since Lightning helped put it back on the map. With the next season of the Piston Cup about to begin, Lightning prepares by partaking in fetch quests for the patrons of the town, learning new abilities to help with upcoming events, running a few local races through and around the town with cars that came looking for a challenge, and ultimately heading out to run the various races in the Piston Cup circuit so you can be the champion you were meant to be.

Spaced throughout the game, typically viewable before events the first time you play them, in-game cutscenes do a good job of replicating the look of the film as well as the humor. Every cutscene features quality voicework, but I'm a bit unsure as to whether the actual actors from the movie provided their own voices for their characters or whether good imitators were hired; either way, the voicework is excellent.

SINGLE PLAYER: GAMEPLAY

Single player is all about experiencing the story, which I just detailed for you in the above section, but don't go thinking everything is instantly open for you right from the word go. Instead, since you know the Piston Cup races are the main goal of the game, you'll instead have to compete in a myriad of different races and minigames to get enough credits to qualify for the Piston Cup races. So, say, to get to race the next stage in the Piston Cup circuit, you need a total of 40 credits – it's time to run around town, completing minigames or racing smaller around the town races, and the better you do at each the more credits you get. Get enough credits, race a Piston Cup race, then gather more credits until you qualify for the next. Rinse and repeat.

The races, for the most part, are the same ones over and over, though you'll take several different detours to get to your final destination, but don't be surprised when after racing across a bridge in one race you race across that same bridge in the next race you do. Given the game skews to the younger audience, I never really felt the game offer me a challenge. There is a bit of bumping and grinding right when a race begins, but after pulling out far enough it's typically just the other cars eating your dust.

The Piston Cup races, on the other hand, caused me a few problems, but only because unlike the other races "rubber band" AI seemed to be prevalent. The Piston Cup races run for 12 laps, with a whole field of cars (just like a NASCAR race) and you trying to work your way through the ranks until you hopefully finish first. Unlike the other races, you'll actually have to pit at about the six or seven-lap mark, which boils down to a minigame. As you pull into your pits, your little forklift buddy appears and does things like fuel your car, change your tires, and wipe your windshield. The actions for the minigames mix up from one Piston Cup race to the next, so while to fuel your car in one race might mean you slamming on two buttons alternately, the next time could have you swiveling your left thumbstick in a circle, or rapidly pressing one button over and over until you fill a meter.

The minigames I actually disliked for the most part, as they just weren't very fun, and you'll have to do them a lot in order to amass enough credits to finish the Piston Cup circuit and the game. Minigames include scouring the town to find postcards (I found one before quitting), gathering tires (eh), tractor tipping (too dark to see what you are doing since you are sneaking around in a pasture at night), and chasing speedsters (kinda fun, but fairly difficult since making precision turns isn't the easiest thing).

Controls are pretty well done, but nothing amazing. You've got your typical gas and brake, emergency break, reverse, and then your more arcadey powerslides, which I could never get used to as they never feel as if they work absolutely perfectly. You can also race backwards by double pressing a button to flip your car over, jumping in the air by pulling back on the left thumbstick and flicking it forward, boosting with the left trigger, and leaning on your side. The side lean I thought was a gimmicky move to gather points from the races, but then through sheer accident I figured out that it was used to make rather sharp L-turns you'll experience during the race, and it also works well for the speedsters chases as the car can double back on itself fairly quickly.

For a more seasoned gamer – like myself – the controls weren't necessarily terrible, but they weren't great. The game doesn't have any challenge, but perhaps that is because the game is meant for a younger audience. I still had a good amount of fun, but it mostly came from experiencing the story rather than playing the game.

MULTIPLAYER: GAMEPLAY

Pick a car and race against a friend over a variety of courses. Honestly, not much more than that. If you've got a kid or niece or nephew though, this mode will get the job done so the little one can race to their heart's delight and you can play along with them.

GRAPHICS

The graphics don't push the Xbox's power, but it replicates the look of the film perfectly. The eyes and mouths move just like they do in the film, the environments look good enough, and there are little touches like a ton of moving cars in the audience at the Piston Cup races that are pretty neat to see as you are racing around.

SOUND

I've already commented regarding my impressions of the voicework, but to say it once again, it is very solid. The voice quips do repeat themselves a little too often for my taste. You can only hear Lightning say "Ka-chow" so many times before it wears out its welcome. The soundtrack is mostly licensed music about cars and driving from the film, so nothing bad here.

IN CONCLUSION

Don't go into this game expecting a challenge, because frankly, you won't get one. It's important to keep the age in mind when looking at the game, as for an older Cars fan it won't impress too much, but for the younger kids out there they'll probably enjoy the game a great deal. My nephew has brought over several games in the past in which I've just not wanted to play them, but if he were to bring Cars over, I'd happily sit down and play some with him. And that's exactly what the game is – it isn't one you'll want to play day after day, but it is one you'll gladly play if it will put a smile on a child's face.

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