This review was originally written on 10/30/2018.

Technical Information

Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Release Date: June 21, 2011

Backward compatible with Xbox One!

As the name itself suggests, Cars 2 is a racing game. Based on the Disney animated film Cars 2, the game’s main “story” is mission-based, earning you points according to your performance. With these points, you unlock other sets of missions.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

I think the art is fine overall. Personally, I didn’t notice any discrepancies compared to the movie’s art style.
The tracks are well built, always featuring some obstacle for you to crash into and get frustrated with! hahaha

The UI and HUD are very easy to understand, they’re small and well positioned on the screen, but I was quite disappointed to discover that there’s no mini-map showing the track you’re racing on. 🙁
For me, this hurts the gameplay. I believe it was intentional, though, to encourage players to explore each circuit, since they all feature secret shortcuts and alternative paths.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Cute and cheerful music, each track themed around the country corresponding to the selected race. I didn’t find anything extraordinary, but it’s far from being purely average either. For a kids’ game, it’s great.
The characters are very charismatic, reacting to various things that happen during the race. I loved it! I thought it was super cute. It feels like you’re literally driving and chatting with them at the same time.

Gameplay

Smooth gameplay, with each car having its own speed and strength setup, giving players plenty of options to test and find the one that best fits their playstyle.

The game features a tutorial that’s very easy to comprehend and follow. However, the set of actions within the gameplay itself isn’t that simple. Besides accelerating and braking, you can also jump, shoot, drift (to build up nitro), shove cars driving alongside you, drive on two wheels, and even race in reverse (another way to build nitro).
On easier races, it’s not really necessary to use all these commands, but on harder ones, knowing when to use them —and mastering them— is essential if you want to finish among the top three.

In addition to the traditional racing mode, you’ll also find a battle mode (which is basically a race mode, but with weapons hahaha), a time attack, a hunter mode (where you must hit as many Lemons as possible on a track), and finally a mode called survival, in which you must destroy the Lemons that appear in front of you to keep racing.

Overall, this game surprised me a lot! I enjoyed it so much that I decided to write this review so you can give it a chance too! 🙂

Replayability and Game Retention

Whether you’re playing casually or going hardcore, you’ll definitely feel the urge to come back and finish all the missions and unlock every car.
Just the variety of missions and the fact that each little car has its own personality already makes you want to play again! <3