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Sonic fans will love this one! Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers builds upon the idea of its predecessor SRB2Kart, a kart racing game built on the fangame Sonic Robo Blast 2, itself based on a modified version of Doom Legacy. In the announcement they said it's taken 5 years to get here but it's finally out (although a Linux Flatpak is due "soon"). It's open source too under the GPL listed on GitHub.

More from the developer: "The meticulously crafted pixel and 3D art, catchy music and sounds, elaborate level design, and tightly tuned gameplay all come together into a complete product we are immensely proud to present to you, entirely for free." Features include:

  • A ludicrously long list of courses and playable characters.
  • A complete Grand Prix mode with CPU opponents and multiple difficulty levels.
  • New and revamped items.
  • Unique game systems and mechanics.
  • Local split-screen multiplayer up to 4 players, and online play up to 16.
  • A comprehensive Time Attack mode with replay support.
  • A wealth of secrets to find.

See their retro trailer below:

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More info on the official site.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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10 comments

fabertawe Apr 25
This looks great and for free too?

Is this likely to fall foul of copyright? At least it's out there in the wild now.
WYW Apr 25
Meanwhile Nintendo DMCA's Mario models in Garry's Mod.
Never thought I'd like Sega the company more than Nintendo but here we are.
Liam Dawe Apr 25
Quoting: fabertaweThis looks great and for free too?

Is this likely to fall foul of copyright? At least it's out there in the wild now.
SEGA are generally pretty great on fan games, as long as they're not for-profit.
Pengling Apr 25
Quoting: fabertaweThis looks great and for free too?

Is this likely to fall foul of copyright? At least it's out there in the wild now.
Quoting: Liam DaweSEGA are generally pretty great on fan games, as long as they're not for-profit.
Only Sonic, because they allowed the trademark protections on Sonic The Hedgehog to die in 1993 (presumably this is why the series is instead marketed as "Sonic the Hedgehog" nowadays) when they were looking to replace their mascot with something else only for that to subsequently not pan out. Anything else, they're just as strict as anyone else, with the most recent example being taking down the OpenBOR fan-game, Golden Axe Returns.


Last edited by Pengling on 25 April 2024 at 4:31 pm UTC
pilk Apr 26
Also worth pointing out in the whole DMCA conversation that Sonic Robo Blast 2 itself has been ongoing since 1998, and as far as I'm aware they haven't had legal trouble. I'm absolutely certain that Ring Racers will be fine.
Linux_Rocks Apr 26
The logo for the game looks like Eggman wants to touch Tails inappropriately. :x
ps3king1336 Apr 26
I'm wondering how this will be possible to play on other systems like 3ds and ps-vita?
Quoting: Linux_RocksThe logo for the game looks like Eggman wants to touch Tails inappropriately. :x
Well, Goo goo g' joob!
Pengling Apr 26
Quoting: ps3king1336I'm wondering how this will be possible to play on other systems like 3ds and ps-vita?
I'd imagine that would involve modding them in order to run outside software - that's a bit outside of the scope of a Linux-gaming site, though.
I've been lurking forever and now have an excuse to post!

For anyone wanting to go native without needing to wait for the flatpak, I was able to compile the game on my Linux Mint laptop. Just remember to pass -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release otherwise it'll run far too slowly.

I'll check it on Nobara later and over the weekend I'll try it on my main Garuda machine.

UPDATE: There's now a Flatpak: https://flathub.org/apps/org.kartkrew.RingRacers


Last edited by ShadowXeldron on 27 April 2024 at 10:35 am UTC
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