Reprise your role as Tommy and embark on another dark adventure to save the fate of the planet.

We take Lightning McQueen for a spin around the tracks in Disney Interactive’s game based on Pixar’s animated film of the same name.

As far as film-to-video game adaptations go, those based on Pixar’s animated works are on the more easily digestible end of the scale. With Pixar’s Cars 2 set for release later this year, Disney Interactive has knocked up a colourful arcade driving game based on the film, for ages 5 and up. We recently had the chance to sit down with a small demo of a very early build of the game.

At this stage, all the cutscenes we saw were still in the early stages of development (read: slow-moving drawings). but even though this is not what the final game will look like, it added a light and cartoony feel to the whole demo. Little is known about the story so far, but it looks like it will closely follow that of the film.

Because the main campaign is still being worked on, we were shown a few training missions from the start of the game, which are designed to get you acquainted with the different aspects of gameplay and the racing tracks in the game.

There’s an underlying spy theme running through the whole game, and so our first training mission took place in spy school. After picking from a variety of characters (Lightning McQueen, Finn, Sarge, Mater, and so on), we were shown a basic training mission that involves learning the controls of the game–steering, doing jumps and tricks, drifting, boosting, and so on.

Completing the missions well earns you points, which fill up an experience meter that can be used to unlock new missions and car skins. The best part about this bit was hearing actor Michael Caine’s voice giving curt, beautifully sarcastic instructions.

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We hold our breath and try to keep up as we get our first look at classic Sonic meets modern Sonic in Sonic Generations.

For a while now, Sega has been trying to reconcile its two contrasting portrayals of Sonic: the old-school Sonic, characterized by the fast-paced, side-scrolling action of the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis days; and the new 3D Sonic, a brighter, cheekier, and slightly more supersonic version (geddit?).

We’ve had old-school gameplay with 3D looks (Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1); 3D gameplay with a dash of side-scrolling (Sonic Colours); and finally, a Kinect-powered racing game (Sonic Free Riders). Now, still hoping to find the perfect balance, Sega has put the two Sonics together in Sonic Generations, a new platformer designed to celebrate the iconic mascot’s 20th anniversary. We recently had the chance to sit through a short demo of the game’s first two levels at Sega’s offices in Sydney.

At this stage, not much is known about Sonic Generations’ story. The game will encompass the 20 years of Sonic’s history and will be set across three defining eras: the 2D Mega Drive/Genesis era; the introduction of 3D in the Dreamcast era; and the modern-day HD graphics era. Instead of creating new levels, the developers have revamped a bunch of iconic stages throughout these eras in HD and given players the choice of playing each stage in either classic side-scrolling 2D or in modern-era 3D.

There will be two incarnations of Sonic to go with each of these options: a classic Sonic and a modern Sonic. Each incarnation will retain the character’s set of moves from whatever era he comes from, meaning the spin dash and spin attack for classic Sonic and the homing attack and sonic boost for modern Sonic.

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Plentiful new release slate led by puzzle, fighting, and shooting games; Conduit 2, Xbox Live Arcade Triple Pack, Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection also out.

It’s a busy week at retail, as a slew of high profile new releases make their debut on Tuesday including Valve’s long-awaited puzzle game and Warner Bros.’ fighter reboot.

Leading the pack this week is Valve Software’s Portal 2. The game follows the events of the first Portal, which saw gamers taking on the role of a human lab rat, Chell, who used a portal gun to create interdimensional openings on ceilings, walls, and floors in an effort to escape the Aperture Science labs. Along the way, players were guided through the diabolical tests by the deceptively sincere, yet altogether sadistic, artificial intelligence known as GLaDOS.

The game will feature a single-player campaign billed as being twice as long as the original’s, but the real focus is on the new multiplayer cooperative mode. The co-op mode will tell a parallel story to the single-player adventure and last roughly as long. In it, players will take control of two robots, named simply Blue and Orange, and work together to tackle their own set of portal-related problems.

Also debuting this Tuesday will be NetherRealm’s gruesome fighter reboot Mortal Kombat. The game’s roster will be a throwback of sorts, full of fighters pulled from the first three games in the series. There is one particularly notable exception, as the PlayStation 3 version will feature God of War protagonist Kratos as a playable character.

Gamers looking to pick up a new contemporary shooter can grab SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs this week for the PlayStation 3. The game is set in Southeast Asia after a revolution endangers a vital shipping lane similar to the Strait of Malacca. Players assume the role of the commander of a five-man squad of NATO commandos dispatched to prevent international trade from being disrupted. Their mission will only last six days, a time limit that Sony says will add urgency into the campaign.

As is a staple for the series, SOCOM 4 will have an extensive multiplayer component, allowing for teams of players to shoot it out in 32-player matches. Terrain types will include a hostile jungle and half-ruined cities.

Wii owners wishing to continue their effort through the Conduit universe can grab the often delayed Conduit 2 this week. The single-player mode of Conduit 2 will pick up the original game’s alien invasion storyline, with Sega promising dynamic environments, player customization options, and giant boss enemies. As for multiplayer, Sega will introduce new co-op modes for online play, or offline with up to four players sharing a split-screen. The publisher is also promising “increased multiplayer security” for the game, in light of the cheating that undermined the online play of the original game.

On-the-go Final Fantasy fans can pick up Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection on Tuesday. This set includes Final Fantasy IV–with revamped visuals to take advantage of the PSP’s widescreen format–as well as its epilogue, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. The episodic series of downloadable titles was originally released in 2009 on the Wii; this will mark the first time it has been available as part of a retail product.

Gamers looking to bundle up this week can pick up the Xbox Live Arcade Triple Pack, which contains Limbo, Trials HD, and Splosion Man, as well as 160 MS points, and a 48-hour Xbox Live Gold card.

Another bundle out this week is the Prince of Persia Classic Trilogy Pack HD for the PS3, which includes Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and Two Thrones.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19
Arcana Heart 3–PS3–Aksys Games
Assassin’s Creed: Ultimate Collection–PC–Encore Software Inc.
Brothers in Arms: Complete Collection–PC–Encore Software Inc.
Conduit 2–Wii–Sega
Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection–PSP–Square Enix
Majesty 2 Collection–PC–Paradox Interactive
Mortal Kombat–PS3, X360–Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Portal 2–X360, PS3, PC, Mac–Valve Software
Prince of Persia: Classic Trilogy HD–PS3–Ubisoft
SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs–PS3–SCEA
Triple Pack: Xbox Live Arcade Compilation–X360–Microsoft Game Studios

In Serious Sam 3: BFE, “Serious” Sam Stone is gearing up for his third tour of duty against the evil Notorious Mental. Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric gives us the first details.

2001′s arcade-style shooter Serious Sam: The First Encounter seemed like a breath of fresh air for first-person shooter players, who, at the time, had otherwise pretty much been stuck having their virtual gun battles in brown sewers, gray warehouses, gray sewers, or brown warehouses, all full of more crates than you could shake a stick at.

It was, in fact, this novelty that led independent game site Old Man Murray to first discover the game and make it known to the public–and the rest is history. The unusual shooter, developed by Croatian studio Croteam, placed its action-hero protagonist, “Serious” Sam Stone, in enormous outdoor environments and pitted him against a gigantic army of completely insane alien monsters led by Notorious Mental, an alien overlord bent on taking over the universe.

Now, Serious Sam is getting ready for his newest adventure in Serious Sam 3: BFE. Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric explains.

GameSpot: Give us an overview of Serious Sam 3. What’s planned for the new game? Bigger fights against crazy enemies in even bigger outdoor environments? How will the game improve on the previous games in the series? And, what new areas will it explore?

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This trailer shows off an urban environment as drivers deftly maneuver their racing machines through crowded city streets.

New version of original game’s popular “Tackle Alley” mode exclusively hitting Microsoft’s online store this summer; price, release date TBA.

505 Games’ arcade style football game Backbreaker was released last summer to middling reception. The game was, however, lauded for its Tackle Alley game mode, which was later spun off into an iOS game. Now, that mode is getting a release all its own this summer exclusively on the Xbox Live Arcade.

The news stems from Backbreaker’s official Facebook page, which confirms Backbreaker: Vengeance and redirects players to a preview of the new game at Cheat Code Central.

If Vengeance replicates the Tackle Alley mode found in the original Backbreaker, in the game players will start 100 yards away from the end zone with the ball and must avoid a slew of oncoming bruisers by evading and effective juking.

Vengeance is powered by the Euphoria game engine, which was also used in hot Rockstar properties like Grand Theft Auto: IV and Red Dead Redemption.

Currently, Backbreaker: Vengeance is slated for a “summer” premiere on XBLA. Unfortunately, 505 Games has not placed a specific release date or price on the game.

Here’s the launch trailer for Section 8: Prejudice, available April 20, a sci-fi shooter featuring online team-based multiplayer.

Take a look at the brand-new launch trailer for Sniper: Ghost Warrior.

The trailer offers the first glimpse into the stylized world and jaw-dropping combat visuals designed by graphic-novel titan, Todd McFarlane, which players will experience as they embark on their journey to define their fate in Reckoning.