Info about Video Games
Cars Race O Rama
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen… we are back at Radiator Springs! Cars Race O Rama places players back in the role of Lightning McQueen as he prepares his racing academy for the Race O Rama Trophy. After a successful win in the first round, players are introduced to McQueen’s rival, Chick Hicks. Hicks is determined to have his racing academy beat out McQueen’s academy at any cost, including the use of dirty tricks.
The player will have the chance to unlock and collect thirty characters. All the characters from the film and past games and fifteen new characters are scattered through the various racing worlds. Players will also have to race across seven race worlds. This includes three new racing worlds created for this title. With all racing games these days comes the chance for players to customise their ride. The customisations are fairly limited here, with players only being able to make changes to the hood, skirting, spoilers and colours.
As players move through the various racing worlds they are presented with a customized McQueen. These customisations are tailored towards the racing terrain, like off road tires for rally racing worlds or a sleek body for fast street racing. With the Race O Rama Cup up for grabs, players will need to best the game’s very competitive AI system. This AI system is designed to have racers from other racing academies employ a variety of tricks, as well as cheat, to take the flag in each race.
Once players arrive at a new racing world they will have a set of challenges they need to beat in order to progress. These new challenges change the game play and allow for a fresh take on racing titles of this nature. Some of these challenges call for the player to perform a stunt-like jump while holding a pose for photographs taken by the racing paparazzi lining the track, as an example. Cars Race O Rama supports two player local multiplayer, with seven categories of mini games to challenge players. These games include off-road monster truck races, relay races and circuit races designed to test skills under pressure.
The most dominating feature of this title is the emphasis on drifting and the player’s ability to drift. If we all think back to the movie we will remember that it was the drifting that won McQueen the race. Why should this game be any different?
Players are encouraged to drift on every turn and track deviation, and even down straight sections. Intuitive on screen displays allow for players to monitor their angles in the drift to maximise the effectiveness, as well as giving players the added chance of racking up points. On the Achievements front, Cars Race O Rama offers a challenging 22 achievements... Ranging from collecting all the spark plugs in all the races to the “OVER ACHIEVER!” achievement for earning all the other achievements.
Cars Race O Rama certainly is no Need for Speed: Shift, however it does offer hours of family fun. The difficulty level is scalable to add a challenge for even the most seasoned racing veterans. But then again, games are meant to be fun and Cars Race O Rama delivers enjoyment all the way to the checkered flag.
• AT A GLANCE:
Although it seems to be yet another exploitation of the Disney franchise, this game is still rather fun.
• Platform
• Xbox360
• PS3
• Wii
• DS
• PSP