Cars 2: The Video Game (PC) vs Cars 2: Arcade

What is Cars 2: The Video Game (PC)?

Cars 2: The Video Game (PC), internally known as the Win32_Wii target, refers to the official Windows versions of the game available on Steam and physical CDs. It is essentially a stripped-down port of the Wii version that simultaneously introduces various post-processing effects and settings menus to improve the overall user experience. However, Win32_Wii is widely considered a botched port due to its inability to replicate original lighting and material properties in the Wii version.

What is Cars 2: Arcade?

Cars 2: Arcade, on the other hand, is a development build of the HD version of Cars 2: The Video Game, internally known as the Win32 target, which was heavily modified by Raw Thrills for use in arcade machines. Raw Thrills simplified the game down into a generic kart racer fit for arcade venues like Chuck E. Cheese, resulting in the removal of numerous gameplay features to accommodate the cabinet's limited control scheme. As a result, only traditional races are functional, and all other game modes are completely absent. Additionally, only 6 of the 15 original race courses are playable in Arcade, and all Arena maps have also been removed.

Why is this important?

Initially, it was assumed that the features missing from Cars 2: Arcade were impossible to restore because they had been either mutilated or stripped entirely from the game. This assumption, interestingly, proved false; rather than the features being fully removed or corrupted, many aspects of the original game's core functionality were merely disabled or bypassed by Raw Thrills' changes. This was a crucial distinction: the code for features like alternate game modes remained (mostly) intact, allowing them to be reactivated via binary patching.

Thus, ArcadeEssentials was developed to re-enable the majority of Arcade's disabled features and fix several issues introduced by Raw Thrills' various patches, effectively transforming Arcade into a proper native port of the HD version of the game for Windows.

Despite this, the missing maps and track assets remained a major barrier. To address this, various tools to endian-swap the missing assets from the Xbox 360 version of the game into Arcade-friendly formats were developed, and then used for Cars 2: Restorations. This filled in the last major gaps and brought the game closer than ever to a fully restored experience.

Where does this leave us now?

From late 2021 to mid 2025, the Win32_Wii version served as the primary modding platform for Cars 2: The Video Game. However, the combined efforts of ArcadeEssentials and Cars 2: Restorations have since established Arcade as the primary modding platform. Win32_Wii is now widely considered the legacy modding platform.