It also was well received, often being acclaimed for the graphics, fast-paced gameplay, and replayability, and was a fan favorite among Linux users and the free software community.

Tux can slide off slopes or charge his jumps to temporarily launch into midair, during which he can flap his flippers to fly farther and adjust his direction left or right.

Failing to meet all the criteria or aborting the race costs a life, and should the player lose all four lives, they must reenter the cup and start over.

During level selection, the player can choose daytime settings and weather conditions such as wind and fog that affect the gameplay.

Besides Tux, players can select one of three other characters to race as: Samuel the seal, Boris the polar bear, and Neva the penguin.

[5]: 10 Tux Racer was originally developed by Jasmin Patry, a student attending the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where he aimed to begin a career in the video game industry by pursuing a computer graphics degree.

[6] Continued development of the free version was swift; numerous elements such as herrings, jumping, and a soundtrack, as well as graphical improvements, were added in just three weeks.

[10] On February 5, 2002, Sunspire Studios released in retail a proprietary and commercial expansion of the game titled Tux Racer, with each CD designed to support both Linux and Windows operating systems.

[12][13] Improvements from the open-source version include a vastly enhanced engine and graphics, the ability to perform tricks, character selection, and competitive multiplayer.

[11] Tux Racer was well-received, with the latest version seeing over one million downloads as of October 2001 since its release in January, according to Sunspire Studios.

[27] Also in 2001, MacAddict compared the game's fast-paced style to podracing in Star Wars and summed up the Macintosh port as "more fun".

Andon Logvinov of Igromania described it as a "pure arcade game" featuring nothing but four selectable characters and a set of courses with fish scattered about.

He described the gameplay as calm and addictive and the music as relaxing, and praised the character models and track layout, with his only criticism being the system requirements.