Introduction: Like the rest of the gaming community you were probably a little disappointed with the first Cars outing on the GBA, which was little more than an isometric racer. It sold quite well and even gained reasonably high marks from some of the media but you couldn't help thinking that the franchise deserved a great deal more. It was refreshing then, when THQ announced Mater National with none other than Tantalus taking on the development duties. From the initial screens it looked like the game we'd all been waiting for and, with our favorite Australian developer at the helm, it could only be a happy ending... couldn't it?

GamePlay: As you'd expect, Mater National features a series of races taken from the big screen outing of a few years back. These begin with you controlling Lightning McQueen with, generally, three other opponents to worry about. Not that they will keep you awake at night, as we managed to fly past all the other opponents only seconds into the races and, what's more, we never saw them again. This is generally how the whole thing plays out, with every three or so races turning into a challenge level where you must beat the lead car in order to win. While this is perfectly reasonable, all the cars perform exactly the same, so even if you do trade you're still likely to drive in exactly the same way. Unfortunately, that's it! No mini-games and, outside of the expert mode, no extended play. Well we didn't say it was Gran Tourismo did we?

Control: As with the majority of GBA titles, basic and very intuitive with the gas and brakes just where you'd expect them to be. It's all quite responsive too with your vehicle working noticeably harder as you drift away from the main track.

Graphics: Obviously, at this stage of the game, developers are all too aware of the GBA's limitations but they've also developed a number of powerful in-house game engines to overcome these shortcomings. Tantalus have demonstrated this on a number of occasions and here they've produced a smooth and powerful 3D engine to allow for some visually pleasing tracks, which bear a striking resemblance to those seen in the original movie. The car designs are also very pleasing although not nearly as fluid as their NDS cousins.

Sound & Music: While the soundtrack is of a very high quality there are only two tracks meaning that Mater National falls into the age old GBA trap of providing audio but making it far too repetitive to actually listen to and enjoy. Don't expect any voiceover work either, as there clearly wasn't enough time or room.

Final Comments: There's no question that, technically at least, Mater National is one of the better PIXAR games to appear on the GBA but while it looks and sounds great it's very one dimensional with similar tracks and little in the way of variety. In fact the only change you're likely to see in the gameplay is when you unlock the Expert Mode, which while a little more challenging, is simply more of the same. Still, there's more than enough here to entertain the pre-teen market and should you find yourself without a DS then this just about as good as you are going to get on the GBA.

Pro: Looks and Sounds Great for a GBA Title
Con: Gameplay Far Too Easy and Linear.
Final Score: 5.6

Reviewed by: Andrew Blanchard