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Summary - One advantage to being an open source gamer is that you can play games that are still in development. If you find one you like, you can watch it improve and enjoy it more with time. Here is one such game. (1,700 words)
I've given up a lot of my time to games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding and Coolboarders on the Playstation. Flinging a character around at ridiculous speeds and performing death-defying tricks is something I seek out in a game. So it is no surprise that I found the high-speed snow sliding of Tux Racer a welcome change of pace from the strategy titles that seem to just pile up on my Linux box.
Tux Racer is a simulation in which you play the ice wizard, Tux himself. It is your job to steer him down the courses as fast as you can, avoiding trees and obstacles in your race against the clock. Excellent visuals and a fun, fast-paced snow-theme make an entertaining combination.
Features
Tux Racer sports a simple menu and a comforting preview of each level. There are nine pre-made levels in the latest release. Levels include trees, exposed mountain rocks, and ice slicks, all of which affect how fast Tux can speed down the hill. There are also nighttime tracks with thick fog that make play significantly harder.
Tux Racer has three different camera viewpoints that you can use to navigate Tux on the courses. There are two outside views that place you behind Tux and one penguin's-eye mode, where you see what he sees. I was looking forward to seeing Tux's belly and feet from this camera angle, but was sadly disappointed.
As Tux glides down the slopes at high speed, the aim of each level at this stage of development is to get to the bottom as fast as you can. A timer in the bottom left-hand corner lets you know how long it took you to do so.
Tux Racer is not just about racing against the clock, however. There are jumps and banked corners, and you'll have to do a little bit of thinking to overcome obstacles on some levels. The third track, which appears to be just an extra long slippery-dip,...