Posted by Marcus Sellars follow him on Twitter
The Cars Franchise started out in 2006 and was a massive hit which made over $350 million and has led on to multiple games and movies since. To say the series is successful is an understatement as it has won many awards and is beloved by so many. In the Cars Universe the world is populated by anthropomorphic vehicles which each have a fun comedic look to them. The game is heavily targeted towards younger kids but is loved by all age ranges. However Cars 3: Driven To Win is directed towards kids or people who really enjoy the movies and want more from them.
The game is very easy to say the least as the target demographic is the people who enjoy the movies and only really get the game due to the Cars brand. Apart from that I cant see many people wanting the game as there is no online mode which racing games normally depend on and the game lacks content too. The game-play is fun however all the cars seem fairly balanced which is good. The HD rumble is very good in this game and you especially feel it when you start the race as you have to rev your car and you feel it building up. When you’re racing you can take lots of shortcuts to get a faster tiresome, these are fairly easy to spot but some you only find after you’ve played that course a few times. There are blue lines which indicate you have to do a special trick on them the lines which go straight mean you have to drive backwards which increases your boost meter. The lines which curve around the corner mean you have to drive on your two side wheels which is really fun! This is very unique and something that I’ve never seen in a racing game before which makes it stand out from Mario Kart. You can also jump over obstacles and jump on ramps and perform tricks to gain boost. You can use your boost when you the meter turns red but if you save it up and wait till its full you can turn invincible and drive into the other players knocking them flying across the course. This I found was the most effective way of using your boost as it doesn’t take to long to get it full. The animation is really good as you look like a red flame speeding off into the distance.
While racing you can jump from side to side to knock other players but you cant pull it off you slow down so it’s slightly risky. The environment looks great and the detail is superb. It is one of the best looking games so far on the Switch but most are retro looking games which are either 8 or 16 Bit. All the cars look like they do in the film as well and they capture the personality of all the racers which is important as you feel you are continuing on the film and are immersed in the game. I wish there were fully animated cut scenes in the game, you only ever see one and that is when you first start right at the beginning of the game. All the voices in the game are mostly the same voice actors in the actual movie which I thought was a nice touch as it would have been odd if lighting McQueen’s voice was different. There is plenty of tracks and cars to choose from which you have to unlock which keeps you coming back to the game. Especially since there is no online mode so it gives you more content to play.
Apart from a few modes and courses you really don’t have much to play. So after you complete all the Grand Prix’s all you can do is play them again or with someone else as it has local multiplayer. The local multiplayer is great and is definitely how you are meant to play this game. I had a lot of fun with my friend playing as we are both into racing games and it’s really easy to pick up and play. When you do local co-op the screen splits and normally your vision is impacted as you don’t have the full screen but this wasn’t an issue with Cars as it’s not like a shooter where you have to use two sticks and turn around fast. The loading times in the game were really fast and the menus are quick and easy to look at. With many games they have massive menus which take forever to find what you are looking for but the menus are fairly basic for ease of use. The only major issue with this game is price for content as £40 is a little steep for what you get especially with no online or leader boards.
Overall this game is for the person who loves cars or have younger children. I wouldn’t recommend this game if you’re looking for a racing game in switch as there is much better options at lower prices.
