Former (and current) Amiga users will no doubt remember "Skidmarks" and "Super Skidmarks" - the above-view racing games in which players raced around tracks in Minis, F1 cars, bananas and cows. Still great fun, they are neither easy to get running on modern machines or take advantage of the Internet for multiplayer gaming.
In comes "Turbo Sliders" (http://www.jollygoodgames.com/turbosliders/index.htm), a shareware game from Jolly Good Games. In the same vein as the aforementioned Amiga games, "Turbo Sliders" pits the player against up to nineteen other people (no computer-controlled players here - it's multiplayer only), racing around various tracks in various cars. It's simple but nonetheless very, very addictive.
It comes in two flavours: Windows and Linux. The version that I've tried is the latter, and it ran perfectly on my Slackware 10 box (once I'd set the permissions on the files correctly...)
(http://www.jollygoodgames.com/turbosliders/images/screen07.jpg)
Whilst the graphics may not reflect the current state of art images in other games, they are more than functional. Not that this matters whatsoever: "Turbo Sliders" is all about gameplay, and it has this in bucketloads. I have not had so much fun in an above-view racing game since "Skidmarks". The key to the game is the sliding, hence the name. The game comes with six different cars (and many more can be downloaded), but even the car named an "Easy Slider" is anything but - for the novice at least. At first it feels as if the track is coated in ice, but whilst this may be overcome quickly, becoming really quick is another matter.
(http://www.jollygoodgames.com/turbosliders/images/screen04.jpg)
"Turbo Sliders" has a thriving online community that races in tournaments and designs new cars and tracks. Understandably, in my opinion, as the game is really that good. The demo version is the same as the full version, apart from the fact that only a couple of tracks are available and additonal caars and tracks cannot be downloaded. Until the end of December 2004, the game is only US$12.95 (as opposed to US$19.95). If you have problems, the game's author, Antti Mannisto, responds quickly and helpfully to emails.
What else can I say? Get the demo, then get the full version. You won't regret it - hell, you'll even leave your arcade cabinet alone for a while...
*****/5 stars.
P.S. Australians and New Zealanders, if you like it, let's get a local league together, so that we don't have to fight net lag. Message me if you are interested.