Bally offers arcaders the chance to step into Tron's hi-res combat boots in the second coin-op installment of Disney's science fiction adventure film. Disks of Tron gives players the chance to do battle with the evil Sark himself in 12 different variations of the head-to-head disk decathlon.
As in the past, Bally has designed an entirely new cabinet to help gamers feel even closer to the on-screen action. To square off against Sark, players enter a dimly-lit booth complete with cut-out sides, carpeted back for easy leaning, stereo sound effects, and large energy disk on the floor. "The idea," according to Disks of Tron's designer Bob Dinnerman, "is to place gamers into the arena so they feel more physically in the game."
After putting in the correct change, arcaders are treated to a breathtakingly realistic backdrop of a computer city, over which the game animation is projected. By resurrecting an old trick rarely seen since Deluxe Space Invaders, Bally has added a spectacular 3-D type effect to an already well-designed game.
The object of the game is to de-rezz Sark by hitting him twice with one of Tron's three flying disks. As the duel to the death begins, the arcader takes control of Tron, who appears in the foreground with his back to the player. Sark, depicted in devilish red, faces our hero from the opposite side of the arena. Both forces have to keep their balance on floating disks that are the only "floor" in the arena. One false move and the character falls over the side — permanently.
Like Tron, Sark has a supply of three disks. These missiles can be hurled one at a time, and up to three can be in the air at any one time. Each disk automatically boomerangs back to the character who threw it.
But Sark has a few extra tricks up his tights. He has the option of tossing Seekers in Tron's direction. These super homing devices chase Tron until they run out of energy. In order to destroy them, each must be hit twice.
This is a bit more difficult to do with Super Seekers, which have delicate inner cores protected by orbitors that can deflect even a well-aimed disk if the timing is wrong.
Sark is also equipped with energy pellets. Not only do these devices split into three missiles after passing the center of the arena, but they can go right through Tron's deflector shields. The best way to deal with the energy pellets is to destroy them completely and quickly — or else keep out of their way.
Tron has none of these fancy gimmicks at his disposal. The only means of defeating his archenemy are the standard three disks. Fortunately, Tron has a special ability to call his very own — the deflector shield. When activated, the shield protects him from being hit by Sark's disks and seekers (energy pellets can still get through, though). Arcaders can activate the deflectors twice per turn.
The first screen is a relatively simple face-off: Tron against his malefactor. Each competitor has to keep his footing on a target single disk floating alone above the void below. If Tron slips and falls — or if he's caught by one of Sark's many weapons — the super-villain lets out a deep, mocking laugh made all the more realistic by the game's excellent sound system. Two well-placed thwacks from Tron's energy disks de-rezzes the enemy and advances the player to the next level.
Subsequent screens feature two, then three disks at the computer gladiators' feet. Tron has to run back and forth across the disks if he expects to catch his wily nemesis in the crossfire. If one of Tron 's disks grazes Sark without actually hitting him, the evil genius is stunned for a second or two. A few well-placed shots at the frozen foe can put him on ice — permanently.
Advanced screens offer goodies such as: barriers that have to be shot around, multi-level floor disks, and walls that scroll.
Although whether it can top the phenomenal success of Tron remains to be seen. Disks of Tron is clearly a winner. The graphics are done in a laudable 3-D perspective as seen over Tron's shoulder, the sound effects and speech synthesis (especially Sark's laugh) are excellent.
Disks of Tron - how it plays:
The trigger-style joystick is used to move Tron back and forth across the floor disks. Move the stick right, left, up or down to maneuver the hero back and forth across the disks — and hopefully, out of harm's way.
On the joystick itself are two separate "fire" functions. The side-firing buttons are pressed to shoot off a flying disk, while the button marked "D" at the back of the stick activates Tron's deflector shield.
The paddle at the far left is used to aim Tron's disk at Sark, When arcaders move the paddle, a small targeting dot moves back and forth along the center of the wall behind Sark, The disk always flies to the place the target spot was when the fire button was pressed.
