Spoiled for Choice

In each case, select the kart that is best suited for the condition of a particular race track. Next choose the settings for the race, starting with the difficulty level (Figure 3): Beginner, Advanced, or Expert. Once you have mastered enough challenges and gained the necessary experience, you can also select the highest difficulty level, SuperTux.

Figure 3: In single-player mode, competing against the computer, you can determine the difficulty level: Beginner, Advanced, or Expert. Once you have mastered enough challenges and gained the necessary experience, you can also tackle the SuperTux level.

Initially, some karts are marked with a lock symbol. These karts are only unlocked after you have mastered certain challenges in the story. The same applies to race tracks and arenas.

The game is not limited to racing and comes with different game modes (Figure 4). In a normal race, you compete with other karts, with players trying to bump into each other. It's not only your driving skills that count but also your tactics.

Figure 4: SuperTuxKart offers more than just simple oval racing. Each of the different game modes comes with its own challenges.

In a timed race, the tactical element is missing, and you are not allowed to bump into other drivers here. Only your driving skills count. Follow-the-leader mode requires you to follow the front runner (and not overtake them). The engine designates one of the computer-controlled karts as the front runner, and you have to follow them from the start of the race while a clock counts down.

At the end of the countdown, the driver in last place is eliminated, as are all drivers ahead of the front runner. After that, a new countdown starts, and again the last-place driver and all drivers ahead of the leader are eliminated. This continues until only one kart remains in second place, plus the lead kart, and the second-place kart wins the race.

Alternatively, you can move the battle to an arena (Figure 5). There is no racing there, but you can collect objects to hit the other players with. By the way, if you're hit three times, you're out.

Figure 5: In the arena, the task is to collect items and hit opponents with them.

If you feel more like playing soccer or ice hockey than racing, that's no problem with SuperTuxKart: Just change the venue to a stadium and knock the ball or puck into your opponent's goal with your kart (Figure 6). The winning team either scores the most goals after a set amount of time or is the first to reach a certain number of goals.

Figure 6: In Soccer game mode, you can use your kart to knock the ball into your opponent's goal.

In the egg hunt, you are alone on the race track and can collect the eggs hidden there (Figure 7). This is how you can prove how familiar you are with a race track, because the eggs are well hidden, sometimes even off the official track, depending on the difficulty level.

Figure 7: In the egg hunt, you're the only one on the race track, and you collect the eggs hidden there.

In a ghost replay race, you compete against a prerecorded race, with a kart from a recorded race driving around the track as a ghost kart. The game comes with prerecorded races for this. To work on your own best times, you can record races yourself to compete against one of your own previous best laps.

Once you have set the difficulty level and game mode, choose a race track, arena, or stadium, depending on the game mode. You can also race in a Grand Prix. This means that you race on different tracks one after the other and are awarded depending on where you finish. The winner is the driver who collects the most points by the end of the Grand Prix. Some tracks for this competition are included, but you can create your own by clicking on the icon with the cup and the wrench at the bottom of the start screen.

Finally, depending on the type of race, you can configure some final settings, such as deciding on the number of computer-controlled karts and the number of laps in a race. Alternatively, you can drive on race tracks in the opposite direction. To do this, check Drive backwards before the start. Once all the settings are to your liking, you can start the race by clicking Start race. You can control your kart using the key commands listed in Table 1. If you prefer not to use the keyboard, you can control your kart more easily with a joystick, gamepad, or gaming steering wheel.

Clear the Way!

When you start a race, an eagle with a traffic light appears, and the start countdown begins (Figure 8): "On your marks … set … go!" If you are already accelerating when the countdown reaches "set," you can look forward to an extra boost of acceleration at the start.

Figure 8: Starting a race (on the Black Forest track here): "On your marks … set … go!"

Be careful not to accelerate too fast, though. If you press the accelerator before the countdown has reached "set," you will be given a time penalty and will not be allowed to start until later. On the other hand, if you react too slowly and only accelerate on "go" or later, you will miss out on the acceleration boost at the start.

At top left of the screen, you can see the icons for the other players in the order of their current position. Bottom left shows you the course of the race track and the current position of all the players on it.

Some race courses have alternative tracks (such as the Black Forest or Gran Paradiso Island tracks). In this case, you can try out the different courses to discover which you are more comfortable with or where you are faster. Some tracks include hidden paths that provide a shortcut, such as Oliver's Math Lesson (Figure 9). On others, there are hidden bonuses that help you complete the race more quickly.

Figure 9: If you leave the track at this point in Oliver's Math Lesson, turning left and driving under the chairs, you can cut out the entire upper turn of the course.

In the lower right corner of the screen, you will see a number indicating your current placement in the race. The yellow-red semicircle shows your current speed, and the blue semicircle shows your nitro supply.

Gifts and Bananas

On the roadway, you will find useful objects as well as obstacles. Hidden in the gift boxes (Figure 10) are items that you can use to attack opponents or help you move faster. Once you have collected a gift, a matching icon appears at the top of the screen. Use the space bar to shoot the item or enable it.

Figure 10: Gifts (top) contain various items that you can use to attack your opponents or help you move faster. Collect the nitro bottles (bottom) to top up your supply and give the kart an acceleration boost when needed.

For instance, if you get the bubble of chewing gum, the bubble surrounds your kart with a protective shield for some time. Once the time is up, or if you click B to look backwards, the bubble bursts, and you leave a sticky spot on the track. This slows down all the karts that drive over it.

If you collect a yellow-red arrow, you can use it to give your kart an extra boost of acceleration. A gift box with a banana is a converter that lets you revert aids and obstacles for a while. Gift boxes thus become bananas, nitro bottles turn into chewing gum, and vice versa.

If you find a parachute hidden in a gift, all the karts in front of you are slowed down by the parachute as soon as you deploy it. You can also shoot at other karts with a cupcake, a bowling ball, or a basketball. Basically, you fire these items forward. If you look backwards while firing, the shot will go off backwards, too.

You can use a cupcake to specifically target a nearby kart, which is knocked off the track on impact. A bowling ball rolls around the track until it hits a kart, which is then knocked out off the track on impact. A shot with a basketball primarily targets the front runner, who is knocked off the track on impact.

On its path to the front runner, the basketball rolls along the track. It can also flatten other karts en route, slowing them down for a while. A basketball can be deflected with a well-aimed bowling ball shot. If you shoot a suction cup forward, it will slow down your nearest opponent. If you shoot it backwards, it hits the opponent behind you in the face and obscures their view for a while. A flyswatter lets you flatten any karts that come near you, and that slows them down for some time. Fly swatters are also useful for getting rid of parachutes or bombs.

Make sure you steer clear of bananas. If you drive over a banana, an anchor, a parachute, or a bomb will be attached to your kart (Figure 11). An anchor slows the kart down abruptly, as does a parachute. The faster the kart is going, the more intense the effect is. You need to slow down to get rid of a parachute faster.

Figure 11: Avoid bananas that slow down your kart or place a bomb on your tail, as shown in the picture.

Bombs have a timer and explode when the time is up, throwing the kart off course. You need to bump into another kart to transfer the bomb to it.

As for fuel, you need to collect nitro bottles (Figure 10 bottom) to replenish your nitro supply. Injecting nitro by clicking the N button will give you an acceleration boost. The most effective way to use the limited nitro supply is to accelerate your kart with single short bursts of nitro. And if you drive behind another kart for a few seconds, you are given a slipstream bonus (indicated by the air lines around your kart) that helps you overtake the kart in front faster.