Cars 3: Driven to Win

Though not entirely big on Disney features, I was a bit anxious to see how this production would live up against its Pixar namesake. I was quite disappointed with the overall presentation of the game.

Graphics: 3.5

The game is entirely animated, although it doesn’t match up to the movie. It offers plenty of tricks and boosters to light up your screen, but the in-game commentary from the cars is a little too repetitive. A younger audience might appreciate the graphic simplicity and humorous pivot. The race track variety is a huge boost to the visual experience, although I was let down with the game constantly dipping below 30fps.

Gameplay: 3.5

Cars 3 offers six game modes:

• Race, where you simply race against other players.
• Battle Race, which is racing combined with weapons combat.
• Takedown, where you take out other racers with weapons and power-ups in a timed sequence.
• Stunt Showcase, where you perform stunts and tricks to score points and impress the crowd.
• Best Lap Challenge, where you are supposed to post the best lap time around a course.
• Playground, which is a sandbox challenge driving around the open world.

You can perform different tricks such as drifting, driving backward, riding on two wheels, or ramp jumps. All these have a comic effect to them, which takes away from any real thrill that would have come from such mechanics. Also noticeable is the fact that the various cars don’t offer you different abilities, as in typical racing games. Save for a thin storyline and a few cutscenes, there’s little to nothing to punctuate why you are playing in the first place.

Controls: 4.0

You can do drifts, drive backward or tilt the car with singular flicks of the game stick. You can also perform jumps with a simple touch of the A button. The controls are quite simple, and you’ll quickly get used to doing the various stunts, which is probably the most important part of this game. On-screen prompts are also a great help, especially if you’re playing purely with a joy-con controller.

Replay Value: 3.0

Though the game offers some comedic effects and has a bunch of neat tricks and stunts that you can easily execute, it still doesn’t make the cut for me. Some levels are overly difficult and clearly skewed in favor of AI racers. You can choose from Easy, Normal and Difficult modes, so this is a plus, especially for kids. The storyline introduced is poorly executed, and there are too many development issues with this game.

Conclusion

This game was probably made for the same audience who watched the movie: kids. The game packs a certain comic effect and contains neat tricks and stunts, but is quite underwhelming compared to its closest competitor on the Switch platform, Mario Kart. The developers could have struck a better balance, especially if they intended to appeal to older audiences that are concerned with the nuances of real car racing.

• Graphics 3.5
• Gameplay 3.5
• Controls 4
• Replay Value 3

Pros

Offers different play modes.
Features unlockable characters and tracks.
Performing tricks is easy.

Cons

Some levels are quite difficult.
Lackluster graphics.