Every gamer who saw the Disney movie "Tron" probably yearned to slip inside the amazing computer world to do battle with the enemy Sark and the Master Control Program. This isn't quite possible yet, but the stand-alone game of Tron may be the next best thing. Race Sark in the light cycles and do battle in the disc-toss game. Then come face to face with the Master Control Program deep inside the heart of the computer. It's man against machine in these electronic contests. The enemy will get you in the end, but see how many points Tron can amass before Sark destroys him.
Tron features three games in one, but you've got a regular army of on-screen heroes to help you in the battles. Four Tron figures line the left side of the screen, faced by four Sarks with the MCP backing every move.
The first contest is the Light Cycle Game. The blue cycle belongs to Tron, the gamer's on-screen counter part, and the red cycle is piloted by Sark The gamer uses a four-direction control button to drive his cycle. Holding down the speed button accelerates. Each light cycle leaves a wall behind it as it travels across the screen. Try to destroy Sark's cycle by making it crash into a wall, while the computer-driven cycle works equally hard at making Tron crash into Sark's cycle or a wall. The race continues until all three enemy light cycles are destroyed, or until all of Tron's cycles are gone. If you successfully defeat three of Sark's light cycles, the next screen appears, showing the number of surviving Trons and Sarks eligible to play the ring game. Each Tron has four rings. Sark moves vertically up and down the screen, then tosses the disk. Move Tron into position to catch the ring and hurl it back at Sark. Try to release it so that he can't reach the disk in time to intercept it. The game moves to the next level when Sark loses all four rings, or ends if the arcader runs out of on-screen heroes to fight his battle.
Last is the attack on the MCP. Tron is on the left, facing the Master Control Program on the right. Surrounding the MCP is a barrier which Tron must break through using disks left from the ring game. Throw the first one to create an opening in the barrier. The walls of the barrier will begin to move up and down, and it takes careful timing to release another disk that will penetrate the opening and destroy the MCP. Miss the opening and the barrier repairs itself. Try again, by using a disk to create an opening, then attempt to slip another ring through it.
If you use all the disks without destroying the MCP, the game ends. Destroy the MCP, and the game begins again with the Light Cycle game, but this time the cycles move faster. Reaching a score of 2000 gains an additional Tron figure, with a maximum of five Trons at one time. The game continues until all Trons are killed.
The animation for Tron is very pretty. Tron's light cycles are blue, while Sark's are red and green. The figures of Tron and Sark are humanoid and very convincing in the ring toss game. And the MCP sits in regal green and red splendor, leering at all the action throughout the entire contest. Successfully completing all three trials makes the speed increase the next time through. The game speeds up six times and then remains level in subsequent rounds.
Tron isn't very difficult. It's easy to outmaneuver Sark in the cycle game. Then the ring toss game can be quickly won because Sark's throws follow an easily determined pattern. The arcader can usually manage to put Tron into the correct position to catch the rings Sark throws.
The third game is the hardest, but even it yields easily to a little strategy. As the barrier around the MCP moves up and down, a shadow falls across the face of the computer monster. Time each throw, using the shadow as a guide. Upper levels of the game are faster, but releasing each disk when the shadow across MCP's face is in the same spot, will wipe that silly smirk off his mug. This is a very clever adaptation of some of the best elements of the Walt Disney movie. Tron may not be the most challenging game you've ever played, but the cuteness of the animation makes up for a lot.
