Lightning McQueen Games

The following are all Lightning McQueen games from official Disney sites. I've played them all and given my opinion on ease of play. A couple are downright addictive no matter your age!

If you want to go directly to the game home pages, you can find those at Walt Disney Stuidos Home Entertainment and through Disney's main website. Disney Pixar Cars movie quotes can be found at IMDB.

Flo's V8 Game
Using just your mouse, move a gas can around to catch fuel running out of the gas pumps. When your gas can is full, empty it into the gas tank and then go back for more fuel. Race the clock and try to beat your high score. Absolutely not as easy as it looks but the simple controls make this a great game for younger kids. Hint: your computer has a mouse speed setting that sometimes makes it more difficult to play games like this. Slow down your mouse speed for your child so they don't overshoot the fuel supply.

Interactive Poster
An interactive poster that lets you move a magnifying glass around to zoom in on the cars and the town sites. Clicking on a car plays a short audio clip from that car. Really only cool for a minute or two but little ones might enjoy the easy controls and the quotes.

Maybe I should've uh... hooked him up to Bessie... and *then,* uh... then took the boot off. - Mater

Online Coloring Book
Eight black and white pictures of your favorite Cars' characters in an online coloring book. Just click on a color and click on a section of the car you want to paint and the game does the rest. Easy to erase and change colors with a few simple clicks. Kids should get a good 15-20 minutes of fun from this game.

Print Center
As a parent, this is by far my favorite online Cars activity application. You can print coloring pages, three posters, and even make a full year's calendar with Cars stick-ons. Click on reminder images like a music note to mark the day your child has music practice. Put a birthday cake on the date of a special birthday. Pick a different Cars photo image for each month and print at home to make your child his own Cars activity calendar. Easy enough for children 5+ to use themselves.

What? Did I forget to wipe my mud flaps? - Mack

Memory Matching Game
Traditional memory game in which you try to find the matching pair of upside down cards. Twelve cards to choose from. You can replay the game and the cards do change from game to game so you can't remember the pattern. A bit addictive even for me.

Luigi's Tire Shop Game
Use the left and right arrow keys and the space bar to move Luigi around so he catches falling tires. Then launch tires to make a tire tower at his shop. Simple but absolutely hysterical. I miss more tires than I catch. Race the clock and try to beat your high score. Great for all ages.

Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beemer. - Lightning McQueen

Bubble Jumble
A Cars trivia game in which you race the clock to answer obscure questions about the movie and the characters. This game is certainly for older kids and adults as spelling is required and I struggled to get more than 80% of the questions correct and I generally do very well with word games. Great accompanying music and sounds with the option to turn them off. This game makes your brain work and, at the same time, you learn more little tidbits about the movie than you thought possible.

Make a Page
Choose from four Cars backdrops and drag in characters to create your own movie scene. Add text, thought bubbles, and enlarge the characters. You can put them in the air, rotate them so they look like they're doing wheelies and then print your creations.

Boogity Boogity Boogity! Let's go racin'! - Darrel Cartrip

Lizzie's Curio Shop
Print coloring pages, mazes, and make your own car. Requires Adobe Acrobat for printing.

Video Game Demo Download
You have to download this one to play. It's a demo of an available video game and takes a couple of minutes to access. This link only takes you to the page from which you get the download. It will not download without your approval. However, there isn't much to this demo. If you want to check out the actual video game before buying, you might do better trying it out at the store. The demo does let you check out the graphics, which are great, but it really only lets you race the same track over and over. I didn't keep this one on my computer for long.

I already gave away my age in the intro so it should come as no surprise to you that there weren't a lot of video games in our household until I was older. We played board games and did puzzles and while I think all games - video or otherwise - serve some purpose in life, it's healthy to drag kids off of the computer and remind them that there are other sources of entertainment. These Lightning McQueen games do just that.


DISNEY CARS
Interactive Party Game
$ 19.99
Disney Pixar Cars Party Game Make it the most awesome party ever with the Cars party game! Press touch points for cool sounds. Up to 12 Players Requires 2 X AAA batteries (batteries included) Game board measures approx. 36 x 30 Ages 4+



DISNEY CARS
Tractor Tipping Game
$ 19.99
Disney Pixar Cars Champion Checkers Game Players race around the pasture board scaring tractors, being careful not to wake up Frank the Combine or they will lose points and have to go back to the starting line. Each tractor tips over to reveal points

I am not a fan of many animated movies. They need to be special, within my description of funny, and endearing. I may have only agreed to watch Cars because of my son...or because Owen Wison and Paul Newman were in the movie. I can't remember which was the driving factor but they likely all played a role in my finally settling down to watch. I've been hooked ever since. I think the writing was funny and smart and engaged audiences of all ages. More importantly, though, I thought the lessons underneath the funny lines and scenes were important life lessons for kids today.

Lightning McQueen, living in the spotlight and not lacking for ego, starts off very self-centered. As he soon discovers, the world does not revolve around him. These are the things I hope wormed their way into the subconsciousness of my children as they watched the movie:

If you break something that belongs to someone else, you're responsible for fixing what you broke.

If you do a half-baked job, you're going to have to do it all over again so put the effort into doing a job right the first time.

No, the world does not revolve around any one person.

Friends are more important than belongings, awards, fame or fortune.

Winning isn't everything.

Youth and strength do not beat old age, wisdom, and experience.

It's okay to ask for directions. (Well...I slipped that one in.)

Photo used under Creative Commons from kurros.

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