Now, it’s fair to say that the computer game interpretations of Pixar’s animated masterpieces such as Toy Story or The Incredibles haven’t quite lived up to their cinematic counterparts.

In fact, that’s a slight understatement because they’ve been rather shoddy to say the least, especially given the grand nature of said films.

Cars has been fairly panned in the cinema press as the weakest work by the firm for some time but you might presume that the subject matter should ensure this PC version has strong ground to build on. And thankfully this is much better than the aforementioned titles.

The fundamental flaw with the game are the driving sequences, which you might consider a rather painful Achilles Heel given it’s based around, well racing cars.

It looks good and sounds fantastic, with accurate recreations of Lighting Mcqueen and co (all voiced with the familiar quips from the film by the actual actors – no dodgy soundalikes here), but flying around the tracks hardly offers TOCA-standard [/2152145] gameplay.

The tracks are a little dull, and the controls aren’t quite as polished as the presentation. You can slide off the track quite easily, and the kind of crafty manoeuvres developed from years of gaming are difficult to pull off.

But what lifts Cars out of cheap licensed cash-in territory is the developer’s decision to make the game a little more interactive and interesting with the addition of mini-games and an open-world based in the film’s cute town - Radiator Springs.

This means you get a respite from the repetitive racing and also makes the environment feel familiar to younger fans of the movie, especially with the many characters and their quirky charms (or age-old stereotypes as grumpies might say).

By undertaking challenges you can unlock new tracks, car parts and racing bonuses, while there are plenty of mini-games that differentiate from the traditional track-based racing formula.

These are a mixed bunch but most are charming enough and some had our younger co-player howling with laughter, especially the tractor tipping section, which is half-driving, half stealth action and all superb fun.

It’s relatively unchallenging, and even tiny tots are considered with a condensed version that leaves out some of the ‘trickier’ moments. But there’re enough charming elements to prevent this being a real problem.

While Cars is unlikely to offer much replay value once the film’s magic has worn off (although it might get a new lease of life come the inevitable Christmas DVD push), it’s still good fun and hammering it because it lacks the serious racing qualities of its more grown-up rivals is a little churlish.

And at £20, it’s not much more expensive than most of the licensed tat you’ll find clogging up your local Woolworths.

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