Games based on kid-themed flicks don’t normally cause so much as a half-raised eyebrow from the "hardcore" gaming set, but Cars was a better movie than most, and with Rainbow Studios at the developmental helm, this is actually a darn fine slab o’ software. The Wii version follows the pace set by Cars on other platforms, but is held back a tad by the very thing that’s supposed to net it the checkered flag: motion control.

For the uninitiated, you play as Lightning McQueen (courtesy of Owen "the funnier but not as handsome" Wilson), a local hero known for his racing prowess. As Lightning, you travel the dusty trail around your hometown, taking on all comers and preparing for pro races. It’s got a nice free-roaming slant, made serviceable with plenty of point-boosting pick-ups and 20 postcards to find, though you may just want to keep exploration to a minimum in favor of the core game.

Races range from informal street contests to oval-track opuses. Either way, you’re the speediest car in the field, and you’ll be weaving through traffic to finish first. Using the Wii Remote in Cars is more intuitive than in Need for Speed Carbon, though the main reason is because it sacrifices so much speed. "Lightning" is more like a light bulb, but the action is still thrilling enough that it won’t bug you much. The ability to jump -- by popping up the remote -- is a nice touch.

The rest of the general control is decent: hit a D-pad direction to powerslide, hold 2 for gas, etc. However, I kept wanting the 1 button to be brake, instead of A -- mainly because I used it most while slipping in and out of powerslides, and I couldn’t do both at once. As a kid-targeted game, the difficulty is pretty low, but the doses of humor and nice flow in the story mode, along with satisfactory visuals, make it a good play for just about anyone.

I wasn’t very fond of the tractor-tipping mini-game in other versions (in part because you hear so much of Larry the Cable Guy), but it’s worse on Wii. Instead of the typical control, you treat Mater like a marble on a silver platter, teetering the controller to move him in the desired direction. As this is a stealth mini-game, being able to stop on a dime is imperative. That’s all but impossible here, and with no camera control, you never know where Frank is patrolling. The worst part, though, is how much it messed me up when I went back to controlling Lightning.

Multiplayer is decent, though it’s pretty typical of racing-game fare. Without a story tying things together and an open world to blow off steam in, race types just start to blend together over time. It would’ve been nice to see some more creative matches that take advantage of the big worlds, a la another Rainbow Studios game, MX Unleashed.

I get the feeling racing-game ports on the Wii won’t get any better than Cars. That’s more a downer to the console than a boost to this game. Using the remote to steer will never be as accurate or as smooth as an analog stick, and developers have to maneuver around that in clever ways -- which they rarely have time to do when porting the game from other consoles.

Cars on Wii does a lot right: It looks good, it’s clever and upbeat, and it’s well-balanced for the target audience. The remote just doesn’t add much to what’s already come out on other platforms, and in fact brings down the overall game in some areas. This is the last console to get Cars, and that’s the place it finishes in as well.