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⬅️ Previous capture (2023-01-29)
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Released in 1997 and re-released on GOG. Moto Racer is one of the very few games in the 'racing' category on that site (sadly it's one of the worst preserved genres of games, due to brands licensing crap). It costs about $1 and is described as a classic by a bunch of reviewers, so I decided to check it out.
Moto Racer showcases both dirt and street bikes, with tracks that fit each bike's acing style. Dirt bikes can race in a typical motocross stadium, which offers plenty of moguls and dirt ramps. In street racing, you'll go to more exotic locales, peeling out and burning rubber in a jungle setting and trying to figure out the best way to negotiate the curves of the Great Wall of China.
Yeah, I can see why this game was so beloved. Not too many tracks but they are all varied, and the physics are just loads of fun. I had some trouble with the canyon track earlier on in the tournament, but occasional difficulty spikes are par for the course in these old games, and Moto Racer was fun enough that I was satisfied with my win either way. I love the simplicity in the controls: you can ride normally and will never crash, or you can boost at any time but then are prone to crashing. This really balances well with the semi-realistic overall handling of the bikes.
The downside, I'd say, is that *actually completing* Moto Racer is tedious once you realize the game wants you to complete every track 4 times (normal, reverse, tiny bike, tiny bike reverse). I got more and more annoyed every time the game continued this loop. *6/10*, might have been a strong 7/10, however technical difficulties get in the way...
Some say that Linux is better at running old Windows games than Windows itself, but in this case they'd be wrong. Modern Linux environments just do not support 16-bit color out of the box, even though Wine itself does. This means Moto Racer would not run without some tinkering. TL;DR: I used Xephyr to create a virtual X display with 16-bit color, and then run the game in there. (plus you have to mess with DLL overrides in winecfg to get it to stop complaining about CD audio...)
gardenapple - 2022-10-16