• Site: Disney/Pixar Cars: Mater-National
• Publisher: THQ
• Developer: Rainbow Studios
• Genre: Sports

By Brad Cook

When we last left Radiator Springs in the movie “Cars,” the sleepy town had lost its vitality, a victim of the bypassing of nearby Route 66. However, Lightning McQueen’s adventures there taught him to appreciate what Radiator Springs has to offer, and he vowed to return and set up his racing headquarters. The story continues in Cars: Mater-National, as Lightning makes good on his promise and dilapidated tow truck Mater organizes an international racing festival to celebrate the big event.

As in Cars: The Video Game, you travel around Radiator Springs, Ornament Valley, and Tailfin Pass to compete in races and mini-games. The scenery has changed, however, thanks to the area’s revitalization, allowing you to race on new tracks, with five different racing styles and the all-new Monster Truck mode available. Play as Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson, and many other familiar characters from the hit film.

You’ll also meet five new international racers, including the Italian Giovanni, who you’ll need to defeat if you want to win the Mater-National. Other characters from abroad include British rally car champ Emma, Swedish 80s rally car Gudmund, Japanese drift car Koji, and the high-strung German tuner car Otto, who has no use for speed limits. The game even features cameos by Mike and Sulley, the stars of “Monster Trucks, Inc.,” a Cars-themed variant on “Monsters, Inc.” that was seen playing at the drive-in during the end of the movie.

Focus. Speed.

Your success in races and mini-games earns you Bolt Banners; the better you do, the more you earn. Collect enough of them to enter races against the international champions at Lightning’s new stadium. Win those races to move closer to the final showdown against Giovanni.

While competing in races and mini-games, as well as while cruising around the game environment, you’ll also get the chance to scoop up bonus points. Collect the bolts, as well as new paint jobs and wheel sets, you’ll find scattered around Radiator Springs, Ornament Valley, and Tailspin Pass. During races, pulling off big jumps, gliding through turns with well-executed powerslides, and setting new records also bestow extra points. Use your accumulated bonus to unlock new cars and paint jobs, as well as game production artwork.

Between story mode sessions, arcade mode lets you revisit any of the races and mini-games you’ve completed, with any of the unlocked cars for you to choose from. If you want to go head-to-head against a friend in certain events, you can do so in Vs. mode.

Need some inspiration before you hit the track? Remember these words spoken by Lightning McQueen at the beginning of the movie: “Okay, here we go. Focus. Speed. I am speed. One winner, forty-two losers. I eat losers for breakfast.”

Bouncy, Bouncy. Use the up and down arrow keys to jump on the mattresses at the drive-in.

Monster Truck Sulley. In this mini-game, Cars-themed versions of Sulley and Mike race each other to collect laughing gas canisters.

Extreme Makeover, Mater-National Edition. Unlock paint jobs and visit Ramone to apply them.

If you liked this game, check out:

• Disney/Pixar Cars: The Video Game
• The Incredibles
• The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
• Ratatouille: The Video Game

System Requirements:

• Mac OS X version 10.4.10
• Intel Core Duo processor (Core 2 Duo processor recommended)
• 1GB of RAM
• 128MB video RAM (256MB recommended); Nvidia 7300 or ATI x1600 or higher (Intel GMA 950 chipset not supported)
• DVD drive