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Cars isn't a very difficult game, but its computer-controlled racers are just cheap. They use shortcuts a lot, which is OK, but their ability to keep pace with you seems a little more artificial than usual. More than once, we slammed on the turbo boost to pull ahead of an opponent we were neck-and-neck with, only to have them match speed with us like nothing had happened. Another time, we were pulling ahead of the pack when we suddenly saw two other competitors literally appear out of thin air in front of us. Did we get too far ahead for the computer's comfort, or were they just being re-spotted after slamming into an obstacle? We're not sure, but either way, we didn't like it.
If that weren't enough, the most inferior-seeming cars in each race often took the lead, which just made things even more frustrating. We realize this is supposed to be challenging, but we just can't swallow that a racecar like Lightning McQueen could ever lose first place to Luigi the Fiat or Lizzie the Model-T.
Problems with computer-controlled racers disappear during the four-player wireless ad-hoc matches, which makes multiplayer the best thing Cars has going for it. You'll still have to play through the story mode if you want to unlock new characters (you'll start out with just Lightning, his love interest Sally and - ugh - rusted-out tow truck Mater), but it's worth it to be able to lap your friends as one of the four neon street-racer "boss" cars.
