SuperTux Advance is a free and open source 2D platform game with 16-bit style graphics. It is an unofficial sequel to SuperTux and SuperTuxKart. It features three playable characters: Tux, the mascot of the Linux kernel, Konqi, the mascot of the KDE desktop environment, and Midi Waffle, the mascot of the game's engine, Brux GDK. The plot involves Nolok kidnapping many of Tux's friends in order to keep Tux off his back long enough to build a superweapon called the Sliva Cannon, which he will use to hold the world ransom.
Development of the game can be followed here
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This game provides examples of:
- 100% Completion: Each level has a number of coins, enemies, and secrets to be found/defeated. Doing so earns a mark on the level's token on the overworld.
- 1-Up: Some item boxes will contain a bouncing doll that bears the appearance of the current player character. For Tux and Konqi, it will also reflect their elemental forms.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: Konqi only wears a bandana around his neck. Nolok only wears a helmet and cape.
- Action Bomb: Carl Boom and Haywire are living bombs.
- Aerith and Bob: Being mostly populated by open-source mascots, you'll find names ranging from normal-sounding ones like Penny and Rocky, to species-related names like Gnu and Python. Tux is named after a piece of clothing, and Midi is named after an audio file format. Konqi is short for "Konqueror", the name of the KDE browser.
- All There in the Manual: At least for now, the storyline for the game is found in the game's readme file.
- Animals Not to Scale: Just about everyone. Tux is somewhat large for a penguin, but is shorter than Midi, a squirrel. Konqi is between them, Xue is definitely larger than a real mouse, Gnu is about as tall as an average human male, and Python, if he were uncoiled, would appear massive. Sam is actually shorter than they should be, given that 32 pixels in their world does not equal 32 pixels in this world.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Mushrooms and oranges are just the common examples.
- Anti-Frustration Features:
- Exiting or restarting a level also will not effect the player's current powerup status.
- Blueberry muffins, which will restore 1 point of health, do not overwrite strawberry muffins, which restore 4 points of health, in the player's sub item box, while random muffin drops do not overwrite items in the box at all.
- Appropriate Animal Attire: Characters like Tux, Penny, Python, Rocy, and Xue don't wear any clothes at all.
- Author Appeal: Admitted by Kelvin Shadewing, Midi's presence is in part to iron out his mechanics for his next game, and in part because Kelvin enjoys putting Midi into as many games as he can.
- Badass Adorable: All three playable characters, especially Midi, who can throw bombs, and Konqi, for being a fire-breathing dragon.
- Badass Cape: Worn by Nolok.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Midi is fully clothed, except that he never wears shoes.
- Beak Attack: When sliding, Tux runs into enemies beak-first.
- Big Bad: Nolok, a crocodile who kidnaps the other mascots to keep Tux and friends busy so he can build his Superweapon to take over the world.
- Big Good: Gnu, the defacto leader of the open source mascots.
- Bottomless Pits: Marked in game with a black fog at the bottom of the map.
- Bystander Syndrome: Apart from Konqi and Midi, all the rescued mascots stay in Pennyton and simply talk to the player.
- CamelCase: The name, in part, SuperTux Advance.
- Carnivore Confusion: It's implied that talking snakes still eat mice by Python mentioning Xue is afraid of him.
- Continuing is Painful: If you're going for 100%, you'll have to collect all coins, defeat all enemies, and find all secrets again from the beginning if you die, even after a checkpoint. Since some levels don't even allow backtracking, this means having to start over without your checkpoint, even if you lost a life doing so.
- Convection, Schmonvection: Lava does not burn you until you touch it.
- Crippling Overspecialization: The ice flower lets you freeze enemies and move faster. It doesn't damage them unless they're made of fire, and the speed effect doesn't apply to Midi.
- Crystal Landscape: The second level, Crystal Pass, is full of large crystals.
- Darker and Edgier: Made so by Nolok's plan to hold the world hostage with a cannon that can shoot any point on the planet.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: There are no game overs at all. Even if you lose all your lives, you'll still respawn at the beginning of the level.
- Death Throws: Tux and Konqi fly off the screen when they die.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Midi explodes when he runs out of hit points, instead of having Death Throws like Tux and Konqi.
- Demoted to Extra: Penny was at least a damsel in distress in SuperTux, but now she's just an NPC. The same applies to most of the playable characters from SuperTuxKart.
- Elemental Powers: Tux and Konqi will get different forms based on what elemental powerups they find. Midi will get different elemental bombs.
- Evil Plan: Nolok's repeatedly kidnapping Tux's friends is all a distraction to let him work on his Sliva Cannon unfettered.
- Feather Fingers: Tux gains these when using the air feather.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: Midi's bombs take on these elements.
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Follow the Leader: The game draws much inspiration from Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World, with other playable characters Konqi borrowing from Spyro the Dragon, and Midi borrowing from Metroid. - Follow the Money: Coins are often used to guide players over pits and let them know there's somewhere that can be reached.
- Game Mod: Mods can be written and loaded by placing .nut files in the appropriate folder.
- The Goomba: Deathcaps, which even include a para-goomba counterpart with the Fly Amanita.
- Goomba Stomp: How most enemies are dealt with.
- Gotta Collect Them All: Achievements are given for collecting all the coins in a level.
- Ground Pound: Konqi can do this to break blocks underneath him.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Cannon Bobs will aim at the exact place the player is standing when they fire, assuming the player is within range.
- I Need No Ladders: Wall kicking can be used to circumvent ladders.
- Law of 100: 100 coins gives you an extra life.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Along with all the Funny Animal mascots, there are human characters, like Sam from Minetest.
- Mascot with Attitude: Midi is the mascot for Brux GDK, the software used to write SuperTux Advance. He is often portrayed as brash, energetic, and snarky.
- Playing with Fire: The fire flower gives fire-based elemental abilities. Konqi can also breath fire by default.
- Power-Up Food: Eating 64 strawberries gives you invincibility.
- Rocket Jump: Midi can do this by planting a mine and jumping while standing on it. It's also possible to use TNT and C4 blocks, as well as bomb-type enemies, to launch yourself when they explode.
- Shoulders of Doom: Nolok has large shoulder pads holding up his cape.
- Shout-Out: Cannon Bob to SMB's Bullet Bill.
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World: Antarctica and the Aurora Isles.
- Splash Damage: Caused by explosions, especially Midi's bombs.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Carl Boom and Haywire will explode shortly after being stomped or upon contact with flame, there are TNT and C4 blocks, and Midi's main weapon is an infinite supply of acorn bombs.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: All playable characters have unlimited air under water.
- Super Weapon: The Sliva Cannon, which can fire a laser at any point on Earth, despite being on the ground.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Par for the course with open source clones.
- Deathcaps and Fly Amanitas are this to Goombas and Para Goombas.
- Carl Boom is this to Bob-omb.
- Pipe snakes serve as the game's Pirahnna Plant, and even have a continuous chomping animation.
- Zig-zagged with Cannon Bob. Despite having a name that plays off of Bullet Bill and also being a piece of living ammunition, it is mechanically very different from the original.
- Oddly enough, oranges are this to the bouncing snowballs of SuperTux, substituting an enemy that already substitutes another enemy.
- Averted with the jumping fish. They do not appear from off-screen or disappear when they hit the water like either of this game's main inspirations do, but persist in the world until killed.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: Midi can throw bombs with impunity, at least as long as its his own explosion hitting him.
- Underground Level: These levels use different music from the above ground levels, and feature a cave background. Crystal Pass is the largest one to date.
- Under the Sea: There are levels that take place completely under water. Subsea is the player's first introduction to these levels.
- Video Game Flight: The air feather allows Tux and Konqi to jump higher, have lower gravity, and flap several times in the air, using the energy meter to show how many flaps remain. Energy recharges on the ground, or very slowly in the air.
- Video Game Sliding: Aside from jumping on enemies, this is Tux's main method of attack, and most effective means of increasing speed.
- Wall Crawl: Midi can climb up certain vertical surfaces. This allows him to stay in position to fire bombs at enemies.
- Wall Jump: All three main characters can jump off of walls.
