Customer Reviews

Cars: Mater-National

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was searching for a game that my 4 year old can play on the Wii, since most of the popular games are aimed at older players. The draw was that the Wii remote can be used to steer the car like a steering wheel, rather than using the nunchuk. Nunchuk steering is a little tricky. Setting up to steer with the remote is not obvious. The sequence is the following:
(1) plug in the nunchuk
(2) main menu
(3) options
(4) player one/two controls. Control settings are shown.
(5) choose "preset 2".
From then on, that remote has to be held sideways, and the nunchuk can be disconnected.

The difficulty for young kids is that the accelerator is all or nothing (e.g. you can't have the pedal half-way down). so, it's a little tricky for them to learn how to go at a reasonable speed that allows steering accuracy. But the game is very forgiving as crashing into things does not do major damage, other than time lost in recovering.

We've noticed weirdness where plants protrude thru cars and such. But not a major issue. The game is fun for older kids. But this is not the game for younger players.

I am an "older" gamer. I got back to gaming because of Pac Man World and Crash Team Racing.

I thought CTR was one of the greatest games ever. I have tried to find simialr games since and nothing came close until Cars - Maternational!

You drive around the main town going from race to race and mini games. Unclocking new races and courses as you progress.

The mini games that I have played so far are:
1. a game of tag - reminds me of Smugglers Run
2. relay races - you drive three different cars during a race.
3. match the beat. you have to hit the keys on the controllers to a beat to earn a flag.
4. Dont run out of gas - you have to race around the track three times without runing out gas. there are gas tangs spread out and you have to hit the right ones.

The only thing missing is there is no crates to crash to get new powerups and such but it works well without it!

I purchased the first Cars game for the Wii and with the cheat codes it was a great game, once you got to access all levels. The only problem with the last one was it was so hard to steer. They have fixed the problem with Mater National by letting you steer with the nunchuck. They have thrown in fun characters like Mike & Sully from monsters Inc (seen at the end of cars in Cars form) and added a few new fun mini games and races that were not in the first. Cheat codes are readily available on line for this one as well. Overall both games I'd rate the same for fun, this one is a drop higher b/c younger ones will find it easier to play.

Games: Racing and tip the tractors. Not sure what else since we got too frustrated with it to continue playing anymore. Oversteering in racing is difficult at best to try and control. Tractor tipping game is hard to control direction you are going also. 5-yr-old and 9-yr old don't bother with this game at all anymore despite the characters being just like the ones in the great movie.

I am unsure if older kids would like this game, but I think kids 5-9 will LOVE IT! Mine sure did! So glad I did not listen to the reviews of some on here...I think those are older kids looking for more stimulation and more PG or R rated gaming. This game is totally for KIDS with good, clean, racing and driving around nowhere fun. Lots of fun, trust me!

This game isn't all that bad. I wish that you could use the steering wheel with it, but instead it has to be a regular controller and a nunchuck. I bought it for my 3 year old son and 4 year old daughter, and my daughter does okay on it but it's hard to advance on the game to a new board, and even I've tried it. I guess for the price, it's not all that bad.

We purchased this because the review's said you didn't need the nun chuck. Well, you do! We got it for my son's 2nd birthday thinking he could stick it in a steering wheel and drive around aimlessly, well, not so. He likes it ok, and it turns out we can give him the remote and we steer, so it's rewarding, but I was disappointed. Waste of $10 on a steering wheel that could have gone toward another nun-chuck so two kids could play. Because of this we haven't played it much. The kids seem to enjoy it while they play.

I really like this game. I don't think it is fair to rate a race games against others so I am rating it based on how much I and my 4 year old son enjoyed playing it. For me a good racing game does not allow you to get stuck, easy turnaround when going the wrong way, responsive turning and interesting scenery. This game has all of that. Even nicer is that it has levels of expertise. My son and I are playing on the Rookie level so he can do well in the race. He really enjoys the Story mode as he can pretty much drive all over and not need to stay on a road. The only bad part is that he is not very patient and wants to make McQueen into a Monster McQueen, but does not want to find the key to make that happen. Guess I gotta find some cheat codes. :)

Out of my 4 kids my 5yr old son was the only one not really interested in the Wii, until I bought him this game. He loves the movie Cars and Lghtning McQueen so that drew him to the game to begin with. Now he has so much fun racing and driving the different cars around. Usually to unlock new items he has to have my older son or husband win a race but he still thoroughly playing and racing without the help.

My parents and i had a BLAST trying this out before my nephew got it for christmas! My nephew loves it too!