Any kid that grew up through the 2000s should recognize Disney-Pixar’s Lightning McQueen as a cultural phenomenon. Taking the world by storm when the hit movie Cars launched in 2006, McQueen has gone on to become both a star in the cinema and, perhaps even more so, the merchandise world. To an extent, all the collectible DLC cars in Rocket League can arguably be considered to be virtual merchandise.
The surprise announcement that McQueen is making his way into the popular multiplayer game is as fitting as it is unexpected.
“Ka-chow!” says the goalie
The Piston Cup star is blasting into the Rocket League roster by means of the Lightning McQueen Mega Bundle which will be available to purchase for a limited time from November 7 to 21.
This bundle includes the “Lightning McQueen Car,” as he (it?) is being described, and with it comes three fresh decals to choose from. The first is the classic #95 Rust-eze Decal, along with the Dinoco Decal. Finally there’s the retro inspired Cruisin’ Decal, derived from the special makeover Lightning got in Radiator Springs when he wanted to help out each member of the town’s community, near the climax of the original movie. Yes, I’m very much caught up on my Cars lore, thank you very much.
Other customisation options include three sets of wheels: Lightyear Racing Wheels, Lightyear Dinoco Wheels, and Lightyear Whitewall Wheels. Each of these match the aforementioned decals.
Along with the car(s) and its decals, it should be no surprise that both the Ka-chow Goal Explosion is also included, and is being joined by the “Life is a Highway” Player Anthem by none other than Rascal Flatts.
Lighting up the arena
As cool as this whole DLC release is for a Cars fan like myself, I can’t help but find its random arrival rather sudden, as alluded to earlier.
The Cars franchise has been mostly on cruise control these last few years. There were several videogame releases starting with the first based on the original film, and a variety of spin-offs following. The actual film series has only gotten three entries, with the last, Cars 3, having premiered all the way back in 2017. At that time, Rocket League already featured a steadily growing collection of collaboration vehicles.
As for the current situation, the latest somewhat film-related thing to come out of the Cars franchise is the Disney+ exclusive Cars on the Road TV show, which premiered back in 2022 and remains as just a one-season release. So, all things considered, this timing is odd, to say the least. Nevertheless, it’s still cool to see.
“Ka-ouch!” says your wallet
The Lightning McQueen Mega Bundle will be going for 2500 Credits in Rocket League, requiring you to spend real money to acquire.
On that note, seeing that Psyonix only sells Credits in specific bundles, the most affordable method is buying two packs of 1100 Credits for $9.99 USD each, followed by one pack of 500 Credits for $4.99. This comes to a total of just shy of $25. Alternatively, you could simply get a pack of 3000 Credits for $24.99.
Either way, is Lightning really worth this much? Well, this sounds like a different movie.
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